Harvard alumna uses movement to promote access for the differently abled
Kerry Thompson, Ed.M. ’08, didn’t start a dance program to promote human rights. But after seeing how dance brought people together around a common interest — whether they had disabilities or not — her program gracefully pivoted in that direction. Thompson, a Louisiana native, expanded her nonprofit, Silent Rhythms, from including people with disabilities in dance to using dance to promote inclusion in society. It’s a paradigm shift, she feels, that will help change how people perceive those with disabilities, who often face discrimination and barriers restricting them from fully participating in society. “Inclusion is still not a given in the U.S.” said Thompson, “and that’s why rather than accept that to be a fact, our society has to address it, challenge it.” So Thompson, who earned her master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is deaf and blind, set out to do her part to move society forward. “I love...