All About the DSHN Youth Advisors
Teko Aziaba
16 • Arlington, VA • he/him
Why did you join the Youth Advisory Board? Why are you passionate about/believe in the importance of disability-inclusive sexual health?
I joined because I felt that as a disabled black teenager, my voice still has power and I can still fight for change.
What are some of your passions, hobbies, interests, and/or skills?
I am a multi-instrumental musician, I hope to one day be a pilot.
What do you want people to know about the DSHN Youth Advisory Board?
That we are a group of accepting individuals who are educating while also being educated.
Maddie Fowler
22 • Chapel Hill, NC • she/they
Why did you join the Youth Advisory Board? Why are you passionate about/believe in the importance of disability-inclusive sexual health?
I just graduated with a degree in Disability Studies and Ethical Mental Health Care from Duke University, where I learned about the importance of disability-centered healthcare. As someone with personal experiences of disability and mental health conditions, this work means a lot to me.
What are some of your passions, hobbies, interests, and/or skills?
Piccolo, Photography, Hiking
What aspects of the Youth Advisory Board and your work are you most excited about/want to highlight?
The Youth Advisory Board brings together people invested in disability, who are the experts on their own care. I am very excited to collaborate as a team to create an environment that celebrates disability identity and culture while working together on the issues that affect our community.
Abby Garber
Shenandoah Valley, VA • she/her
Why did you join the Youth Advisory Board? Why are you passionate about/believe in the importance of disability-inclusive sexual health?
I believe that comprehensive sex education is crucial for our entire society, but it is especially important for persons with disabilities who are so often left behind. I am eager to get to work with the Youth Advisory Board to help develop tools for persons with disabilities so that they are able to have access to complete sex education.
What aspects of the Youth Advisory Board and your work are you most excited about/want to highlight?
I look forward to being able to utilize social media as a tool in engaging persons with disabilities in sex education. I believe that we must meet people where they are, and as our community moves online, so should we.
Amy Stone
26 • Ashburn, VA • she/her
Why did you join the Youth Advisory Board? Why are you passionate about/believe in the importance of disability-inclusive sexual health?
What are some of your passions, hobbies, interests, and/or skills?
What aspects of the Youth Advisory Board and your work are you most excited about/want to highlight?
Alexandra "Zandy" Wong
18 • Alexandria, VA • she/her
Why did you join the Youth Advisory Board? Why are you passionate about/believe in the importance of disability-inclusive sexual health?
I joined the Youth Advisory Board because I wanted to help advance sexual health for youth with disabilities at the state level. I want to shatter the stereotype that disabled people are feeble and don't have or cannot have healthy relationships. I also wanted to learn more about disability-inclusive sexual health because I had no idea before I joined DSHN how sexual health education is created.
What are some of your passions, hobbies, interests, and/or skills?
My passions are conducting auditory neuroscience research, advocating for access to accommodations through policy interventions and community outreach, and sharing my story of living with hearing loss to encourage acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities. I aspire to help create a world where accommodations are standard and where having a disability is seen as a sign of pride instead of a burden.
Hobbies: playing the piano, journaling, and searching for cream puffs
Academic Interests: auditory neuroscience, disability history, disability policy, and disability public health
Skills: Public speaking, Java, Python, MATLAB, and JavaScript"
What aspects of the Youth Advisory Board and your work are you most excited about/want to highlight?
What I love about the Youth Advisory Board is that it feels so welcoming and comforting. Sexual health and disability were not subjects I was that comfortable talking about before joining the DSHN Youth Advisory Board because I didn't know much about sexual health and was still coming to terms with my disability and my role as a disability advocate. My experience on the DSHN's Youth Advisory Board has taught me a lot about sexual health in an inclusive community where I feel open to share my experiences and ask questions with people who can relate to my disabled identity.
Any other info you want to share?
Some of my current work outside of DSHN includes partnering with Engineering Tomorrow to make STEM education for 11,000+ students across 20 states fully accessible, working as a policy fellow with the National Hearing Loss Association of America to advocate for policy solutions surrounding hearing loss healthcare/accommodations issues, and distributing free assistive technologies to Deaf/Hard-of-hearing individuals across 8 Virginia counties with the Northern Virginia Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. I have spoken on the TEDx stage, podcasts, industry panels, and with international youth nonprofits to share my story of growing up with hearing loss.
My work has been recognized by the NIH/NINDS, Cochlear Americas, and the Johns Hopkins Neuroscience Scholars Program. My story has also been featured in international news coverage from the Johns Hopkins HUB, the 1 Million Women in STEM campaign, Liputan 6, and the Zebra Press.
I am happy to chat about disability, disability policy, neuroscience, and the latest season of the Bachelorette! And...even though I am a hard-of-hearing person and hearing loss has defined most of my life, I am still a person, a normal person who just might ask you to repeat yourself again or speak up. At the end of the day, even though my work and how I hope my work helps create a more inclusive and accessible society is directly framed around my background as a disabled person, it's important to recognize that disability is a big part of my life, but it's not my only identity.