Greetings! My name is Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr. I am a researcher at the Institute on Disability and Human Development at UIC, a former Illinois High School Association (IHSA) student-athlete, and an autistic self-advocate. I am a part of the fifth Illinois Partners in Policymaking fellowship class, where I am learning how to present my advocacy issues to legislators, businesses, and other stakeholders with decision-making powers. Each year, people in the class create an advocacy project. My advocacy project involves collecting stories of former student-athletes with disabilities who played sports in their high school under IHSA and other high school associations/sports leagues in the United States and either graduated in 2022 or before 2022. The goal is to not only share those stories on a YouTube/Facebook page or a website dedicated to inclusion in high school sports, but also use the stories to encourage high schools, coaching staff members, school districts, and other high school sports stakeholders to create resources and measures to increase inclusion of student-athletes with disabilities. If you are a former high school student-athlete with ANY disability and graduated from an Illinois high school, this is the place to share your experience! Please complete the survey and share your story by Wednesday, June 5th, 2024, at 11:59 pm CT on one of the two links: - Former Illinois High School Student-Athletes with Disabilities: https://go.uic.edu/IHSA_Sports_Inclusion_Story_Series - Former U.S. High School Students-Athletes with Disabilities in states and territories other than Illinois: https://go.uic.edu/US_HighSchool_Inclusion_Story_Series If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at tgordo7@uic.edu. Respond to the email separately. Timotheus "T.J." Gordon, Jr. [image: A button with "Hear my name" text for name playback in email signature] <https://www.name-coach.com/timotheus-gordonjr> He/his/him/el Visiting Research Associate II at the Institute on Disability and Human Development Student Life Liaison at the UIC Co-Op Program Co-Founder of Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition (Chicagoland DPOCC) P: (312) 413-7949 E: tgordo7@uic.edu | W: idhd.ahs.uic.edu 1640 W. Roosevelt Rd. | 436 DHSP, MC 626 | Chicago, IL 60608 <http://idhd.ahs.uic.edu> [image: facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/UICDHD>[image: twitter] <https://twitter.com/idhd_uic> <https://www.linkedin.com/school/uicahs> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMNdT8akmBb2ZXzpKc_aNdg> *Note: Effective May 31st, 2022, I will hold hybrid office hours on Mondays - Fridays from 9:00am CT to 5:00pm CT. Any e-mail correspondence before or after office hours will be answered in the next business day, unless it is urgent. *