Sxdni Small (they/ze) dove into social justice early through identifying texts that public schools were using for stereotypes. Their fascination with books led to questions about bias and representation. Sxdni’s childhood enrollment in Special Education for speech and language issues contributed to their development as a self-advocate. College life led to self-initiated testing for learning disabilities, which confirmed their suspicions of long-undiagnosed dyscalculia. After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Spanish, they obtained a case management job in Milwaukee, where they learned from people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Sxdni’s experiences as both a client and caseworker give them particular insight regarding advocacy and inclusion. Their background as a trauma survivor and neuroqueer/trans Jewish adult with non-apparent disabilities can offer an additional perspective to the Disability Training and Consulting Bureau.
Sxdni is a member of the Wisconsin Writers Association. They currently help write and edit their synagogue’s newsletter. They also hope to write for RespectAbility and are working on a children’s picture book. Sxd is also an enthusiast of all things canine and always learning as a positive reinforcement-based dog trainer. Other interests include rock climbing, and languages in general. They are excited to be part of RespectAbility’s team of change makers!
