Character Bios

Reading time: approximately 3 minutes.

The biography of the characters in the ACTon stories (instructor and student videos) are provided below. Our characters were deliberately chosen to reflect experiences that came out in the research. It may be worthwhile to look through these characters and see if you relate to their experience.

Instructor Videos

Character Bios Performer
South Asian woman with long brown hair. She is smiling and wearing a blue duffle coat and peach coloured shirt. Cindi Bhata is a main character in the instructor video. Cindi has one year of experience as a contract placement instructor in Clinical Nursing. She is a dedicated instructor who cares about her students’ learning and well-being while in placement. However, she has limited experience accommodating disabled students in placement. Puneet Bajwa
Black woman with black hair pulled back from her face. She is smiling and wearing a light pink top with lace. Tyra has five years experience as a contract placement instructor and has recently started as a tenure-track teaching-stream professor at a School of Nursing. She is a passionate instructor who seeks out professional development wherever possible. Rosina Ferede
Black man with black goatee and short hair, wearing a collared shirt with a small blue flower print. He is shown sitting in profile at a table with a to-go coffee cup and his hand is raised in a wave. George has been a contract placement instructor in Clinical Nursing for the past four years. George enjoys working with students and caring for patients. He believes that more institutional support for contract instructors is needed. George has lived experience with disability but is not comfortable talking about his impairments. Henry Shikongo 
Biracial individual with long black hair pulled into a bun on top of their head. They are smiling and wearing a beige cardigan over blue hospital scrubs. Gemma is a first-year nursing student who is about to start their first clinical placement. They are a strong student with excellent communication skills. They identify as a disabled student. Faith Andrew
White woman with blonde hair pulled in a poney tail. She is smiling and wearing a light blue t-shirt. Claire is a first-year nursing student who is about to start her first clinical placement. Claire is  warm and gregarious and easily connects with her patients. She has invisible impairments that impact her learning but does not identify as a disabled student. Olivia Tilley 
White woman with shoulder-length brown hair and bangs. Her facial expression is serious and is wearing a white lab coat. June is a clinical nurse in a hospital geriatric unit and has been a placement supervisor for 12 years. As a placement supervisor, students shadow June while she provides patient care. She supports students in learning and practicing their clinical skills, providing patient care, patient documentation and charting, and meeting their placement learning objectives. She has no experience accommodating disabled students in placement. Vallerie Carrier 
White woman with white/blonde should-length hair and glasses. She is wearing a mask and a blue top with a long silver necklace. A Student Access Counsellor is assigned to every student who is registered with Student Accessibility Services. These counsellors work with the students to determine appropriate accommodation and learning needs in their courses. Brenda Orazietti 

Student Videos

Character Bios Performer
Chinese woman with Long black hair worn in a low poney tale and glasses. She is smiling and wearing a burgundy collared shirt. Aaleyah, the primary character in the student video,  is about to start her first placement. Aleyah is excited to practice her skills and work with clients. She identifies with a disability but her accommodation letter does not identify any accommodation needs for a placement course. Edwina Chu 
White, non-binary person with short blonde wavey hair. They are looking serious and wearing a burgundy poncho and blue t-shirt. Sam is Aaleyah’s friend and a disability activist. Their lived experience of disability has made them keenly aware of how institutional gatekeeping regarding accessibility policy can put the onus of access to accommodation on the student. Wesley Magee-Saxton 
White male with short brown hair. He is wearing a white t-shirt and looking serious. Max, Aaleyah’s friend, is an able-bodied student who is passionate about social justice and activism. Mesha Mykitiuk 
White male with short white hair. He is smiling and wearing a blue collared shirt and tie. Pat is Aaleyah’s placement instructor. Pat has 10 years of experience supervising students in placement. He most enjoys checking in on students while in placement and seeing how they have advanced through the program. Daniel Coo 
White woman with long brown hair pulled back in a low poney tale. She is smiling with her chin resting in her hand and wearing a black suit jacket over a white collared shirt. Joan is Aaleyah’s placement supervisor. Joan is responsible for overseeing Aaleyah’s day-to-day activities while in placement. She has supervised several placement students over the last five years, but none have requested accommodations. Joan has a hands-on management style and when faced with a difficult situation prefers to face it head on. Sabrina Knappett 
Golden lab service dog with white fur. She is wearing a black head collar and red service dog harness. Cameo is Sam’s service dog.  Cameo

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ACTon: Disability Accommodation Stories in Placement Copyright © by ACTon, York University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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