2025 MH | Group 2 | Coded Conflict

Description

Our team is creating a computer/coding skills program for school-aged youth. During a meeting focused on marketing strategies, the conversation shifts to the importance of promoting the program to disabled youth. Ashley Morrison, a school-based child and youth care practitioner, feels a personal and professional responsibility to ensure that the programming is accessible to all youth regardless of ability. Askhar, a computer science major, is the lead instructor for the coding program and is concerned with the practical and technical feasibility of delivering the program to disabled youth, given the current limitations of resources and support staff. Anthony is tasked with marketing the program to as many youth as possible within the limited financial resources available. Asmith, a sociology major, is serving as an outreach advisor for the team, championing equity and inclusivity to meet the needs of all youth, particularly those who are marginalized. Conflict arises as team members discuss how their roles and responsibilities to the program are impacted by the decision to provide an inclusive and accessible service to the youth in the community, which are hindered by financial, staffing, and time constraints. The team members' strong opinions on accessibility expose deeper societal issues. Conflict escalates because the team holds different ideas about what accessibility really means and whether it can even be done on this project, highlighting how society's structural systems keep disabled people out whenever we choose to stay quiet. The multidisciplinary team collaborates to address the challenges in marketing and facilitating a program for disabled youth in a way that enables transformative change.