I-CREATE YOUTH Connects and Empowers Disabled Youth

Born with a visual impairment, Jessica Kim spent her childhood trying to revert attention away from her eyes. For Jessica, getting ready for kindergarten meant spending an hour each morning trying to wear her contact lenses. At school, she held her head down so that none of her classmates mocked her involuntarily convulsing eyes. On days when her classmates did ask questions like “why are you looking at me like that” or “what’s wrong with your eyes,” Jessica shrugged them off with a sheepish smile that later turned into tears.

Youth with disabilities and special needs feel alienated by their classmates, communities, and even their family. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the isolation they face, as education for students with special needs has become a solitary endeavor. Shifting to online learning, both in general and special education classes, has posed challenges for students and teachers alike, with students struggling to face a computer screen for six hours a day or with teachers being limited in their capacity to offer academic support for students with special needs. Beyond school, mental health for youth with physical and developmental disabilities has become a nationwide concern along with the life-threatening virus which poses a higher threat to children with disabilities, according to UNICEF.

Feeling more disconnected than ever in a global pandemic, Jessica wanted to create a platform that can unite disabled students by offering educational opportunities online, educating the public through storytelling, and pairing students all around the world with mentors and peers. In a spirit to make her activism for disabled youth a collective one, she founded I-CREATE YOUTH in June 2020, to empower, educate, and connect disabled youth through language in its various forms.

Together with a small team of international youth, Jessica first started creating syllabi for creative writing classes. These month-long classes introduce students to poetry, fantasy, and autobiographical writing to allow youth to share their celebrations and struggles in an authentic way. Three months prior to the creation of I-CREATE YOUTH, Jessica wrote her first poem as a response to the fear that the American public faced when they were confined to their bedrooms. Poetry became a gateway to storytelling that enabled her to empower herself and her community.

“Disabled youth have been misrepresented in almost all forms of art, but poetry was the perfect way to write narratives on disability into existence. I-CREATE YOUTH is a representation of that story,” Jessica remarks.

I-CREATE YOUTH has since worked with over 300 students through virtual letter exchanges and encouragement galleries, the creation of Kalonopia Collective and the #DISABILITYPRIDE anthology to publish work by disabled writers, and monthly exhibitions such as “Women’s History Month for disabled women.” In the spring of 2021, they launched a fellowship program that explored disability in the arts through research projects, with the fellows publishing papers and presentations ranging from eco-ableism to chronic illness. The fellowship program has returned this past spring and expanded to explore STEM as well, ranging from projects that explore women’s representation in literature to accessible chrome extensions.

This summer, Jessica is directing I-CREATE YOUTH’s Research Scholars Program, which allows selected scholars to work on a research presentation on the topic of their choice with an experienced mentor. July is also Disability Pride Month and she is planning to share the achievements of disabled people through exhibitions, social media posts, and special projects. Stay tuned on @icreateyouth and icreateyouth.com.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article belong to the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or Global Changemakers.