Timotheus (T.J.) Gordon, Jr., MFA, MS
Visiting Research Associate II
Co-Founder of Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition (Chicagoland DPOCC)
Disability and Human Development
Pronouns: he/his/him/el
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1640 W. Roosevelt Rd.
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About
Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon Jr., MFA, MS, is a research associate at the Institute on Disability and Human Development at University of Illinois at Chicago. Gordon uses his passion for self-advocacy, racial equity, disability culture, and autism acceptance to create webinars, training sessions, and publications on autism and race, inclusion in communities of color, exploration of sexuality in the disability community, coping with COVID-19 pandemic, mental health emergency services, and more.
He is also a co-founder of Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition (Chicagoland DPOCC), which is supported by the Institute on Disability and Human Development. Chicagoland DPOCC is a group of disabled people of color in the Chicagoland area that promote disability pride, self-advocacy, and inclusion in communities of color throughout the Chicagoland area.
In addition to his self-advocacy work, Gordon has also written essays and reviews related to disability and race. His writings and cultural insights appear in the Disability Studies Review, the “All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism” anthology, "Code of the Freaks" documentary, and ADA 30 in Color.
Selected Publications
Gordon Jr., T. (2022). Creating an inclusive intramural, recreation, and club sports program on campus. Partners for Youth with Disabilities.
Gordon Jr., T. (2018). Book review: Bodyminds reimagined by sami schalk. Ethnic Studies Review, 41(1–2), 65–68. https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2018.411209
Gordon Jr, T. (2020, July 27). #BlackAutisticJoy in ADA 30. Disability Visibility Project. https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2020/07/19/blackautisticjoy-in-ada-30
Smith, M. J., Merle, J. L., Baker-Ericzén, M., Sherwood, K., Bornheimer, L. A., Ross, B.,
Harrington, M., Sharma, A., Brown, C., Gordon, T. (., Telfer, D., Reese, J., Hirst, J., Oulvey, E. A., Dignadice, V., Williams, E., Magaña, S., Hume, K., Sung, C., . . . Smith, J. D. (2024). A type 1 hybrid multi-site randomized controlled trial protocol for evaluating virtual interview training among autistic transition-age youth. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 42, 101384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2024.101384
Kearl, B. and Gordon Jr., T. (2023 April 15). Black Autistic Joy: or, Special Education Inside Out. Paper presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Retrieved 2024 January 18 from the AERA Online Paper Repository.
The Harriet Tubman Collective. (2020). Disability solidarity: Completing the “vision for black lives” [E-book]. In A. Wong (Ed.), Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century (pp. 236–242). Vintage Books. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook?sid=0beaba5c-da15-473d-ab8c-45ae2cc5f513%40redis&ppid=Page-__-134&vid=0&format=EK
Professional Leadership
Member and 2022 Fellow, Disability Lead
Board Member, Illinois Statewide Independent Living Council
Founding Board Member, Autism Society of Greater Chicagoland
Notable Honors
2022, 2022 Crain's Notable Black Leaders and Executives, Crain's Chicago Business
2021, Morley-Williams Advocacy Award, Access Living
Education
MS, Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2019
MFA, Writing, Savannah College of Art and Design at Atlanta, 2014
BA, English (concentration in Creative Writing/Poetry), University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 2010