Look Both Ways: Exploring Disability with Brooke Ellison

Brooke Ellison — Disability rights advocate, author, and professor at Stony Brook University. Brooke became a ventilator-using quadriplegic at age 11 after being hit by a car, graduated from Harvard, and ran for the New York State Senate; her work matters because she pushes us to see disability as strength, redesign systems with universal design, and center disability across all policy areas. Brooke Ellison joins Think Inclusive to talk about her book Look Both Ways, sharing how living with quadriplegia reshaped her understanding of disability—from shame and pity to resilience and empowerment. She calls for disability to be treated as a cross‑cutting policy issue, highlights the power of universal design, and reminds educators and communities that inclusion benefits everyone. Complete show notes and transcript: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/look-both-ways-exploring-disability-with-brooke-ellison/