Creating anti-ableist counterspaces in the physics classroom: getting started with inclusive curricular design

Academia has a history of ableism, effects of which are evident in retention and graduation rates for disabled students as well as their lived disability experiences in physics courses. Relatively recent in history, there has been a push for access in higher education spaces from the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 to the Digital Accessibility Ruling in 2024. Since then, many resources have been developed, aimed at supporting inclusive design efforts for a variety of different classroom curricula and contexts, ranging from course policies, assessments, and in-class interactions to accessible digital and non-digital curricular materials. However, combined with the plethora of different disability types and impacts, the task of "making my classroom and curriculum accessible" can feel daunting and overwhelming, especially for the many instructors that are new to accessible design strategies. In this presentation, I will share from student focus group interviews how disabled physics students are often disadvantaged by traditional classroom spaces, and strategies used by the Courses to Careers research team to create an inclusive, student- focused meeting space. I will then discuss some starting points for how to reflect on, utilize, and implement inclusive design strategies for a typical physics classroom in a way that offers concrete, actionable solutions for any physics instructor thinking about inclusiveness in their classroom.