Disability Policy Country Reports
Chloë Atkins, Caroline Casinelli, Rachel Desborough, and Isabelle Avakumovic-Pointon created reports on the current disability policies in five countries: Canada, France, Belgium, the US, and the UK.
Broadcastability Season 1
“Broadcastability,” is a podcast by, for, and about persons with disabilities in the workforce. Season 1 is hosted by Chloë Atkins and Andrea Whiteley. Through this 8-episode podcast season, we want to share the “hands-on” experience of people with disabilities in the workplace. Their knowledge of how different types of attitudes, behaviours and policies encourage their participation in the workforce and make their ongoing remunerative employment possible. In doing so, we are partnering with Easter Seals of Canada under their “Reimagine Employability Initiative” which offers multiple resources to employers to encourage the hiring of individuals with disabilities. The program also seeks to act as a link between scholarly research efforts in the area of disability and employment and the community of employers and job-seekers.
Bibliometric Literature Review on Disability and Employment
Chloë Atkins, Andrea Whiteley, and Brenna Leslie conducted a quantitative literature review to understand the publishing landscape in the area of disability and employment. Using the Web of Science, Google Scholar, and qualitative ways of understanding the literature, this research team is analyzing more than 1,500 publications. Preliminary analysis has confirmed that current bibliometric tools, such as Web of Science, are not sufficient, given that a good deal of research in this area is published in books rather than journals:
Martín-Martín, A., Orduna-Malea, E., Thelwall, M., and Delgado López-Cózar, E. 2018. “Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus: A systematic comparison of citations in 252 subject categories.” Journal of Informetrics 12, no 4. (November): 1160-1177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2018.09.002
Fall Institute
In November of 2025, PROUD participated in Eviance’s Fall Institute: Co-creating Leadership Spaces with Youth with Disabilities, a four-day virtual opportunity which took place on November 12, 13, 17, and 18 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.
Led by Eviance, the Institute features trainings, panels, workshops, and research presentations designed to engage youth and young researchers with disabilities in leadership spaces. Day three included research presentations, featuring a young researcher showcase in partnership with the PROUD Project. Chloë G. K. Atkins (Co-Executive Director), Isabelle Avakumovic-Pointon (Research Associate), Kayla Saunders (2025 PROUD Fellow), and Ness Maloney (2025 PROUD Fellow) all presented their research findings during the Institute.
The Institute aimed to enhance leadership and community-based research skills, foster dialogue, and connect participants with disabilities and their allies across Canada.