Living with IDD profile: T.J. Gordon – Advocating for health at the intersection of race and IDD

Natalie McGill

T.J. Gordon, at left with megaphone, encourages health and medical professionals to “respect and nurture and support the talents of people with IDD.”

Photo courtesy T.J. Gordon

Being a person of color in America comes with its own set of challenges in relation to achieving health and racial equity.

Those challenges are no different for people of color with intellectual and developmental disabilities such as Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr., MFA, MS, a research associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute on Disability and Human Development.

Gordon, who has autism, co-founded the Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition in 2018.

How has your coalition fought for disability justice?

From a disability justice standpoint, we help provide information on important advocacy topics but create more webinars, town halls and discussion meetings. We fought for maintaining community and support and dignity during the pandemic and civil unrest as a result of how the nation addresses police violence.

It was a time of fear, uncertainty and a lot of misinformation going around. Not only on COVID-19, but a lot of fear because of the violence and the result of how the nation is handling police violence.

So part of the disability justice in our work during that time period was to bring the disability community together to talk about disability and race. That’s rarely discussed.

I would like to give a shoutout to the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute on Disability and Human Development, because they provided us a lot of tools and resources they already have on various disability topics.

And we as a coalition translated the information into information about disability topics such as the right to work, exploring healthy relationships, sexuality and gender identity, identifying as a disabled person, finding accommodations for work and school and so much more.

What can health workers do better to support people of color with IDD?

Health workers should listen and understand people of color with disabilities, especially people of color with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and treat our wants and what we have to say with respect and know that no matter how much you may not understand, our wants and needs are valid.

When it comes to the intersection of race and IDDs, what do workers need to know?

Having the respect to listen to people from various cultures and try to understand what the person needs — not only from a human perspective but also a disability and racial-cultural-ethics standpoint as well — will go a long way. And also while listening, create supports that are disability and identity affirmative.

Let’s take diabetes, for example. How can health workers not only create interventions that are beneficial to the person, but also does not fat shame, does not shame a person’s culture, does not shame the person with an IDD?

How has being a person with an IDD led you to the work you do today?

From a personal standpoint, I became a career researcher advocate because, honestly, I don’t know what life for people with autism looks like after between 21 and 30.

My pie-in-the-sky goal as a researcher advocate is to create opportunities for people like myself, especially BIPOC people with autism, to not only live and enjoy the life they want to experience, pursue the passion they want to pursue, but also find and ask and advocate for health supports that will get them through not only teenage years, college/transitional age, but also mid-30s, 40s and 50s, and 50 and beyond.

What do you want people to know about IDD?

If you want your community to be stronger, respect and nurture and support the talents of people with IDD.

Yes, we may need more supports. We may need more connections. But if you give us a chance to thrive, we will succeed not only for ourselves but for our communities too.