Biography
Emily Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, speaker, and digital communications consultant whose career began at the age of 10, when she appeared on several episodes of Sesame Street to educate children about her life with a physical disability. A native of Long Island, New York, Emily graduated with a B.A. in English from Adelphi University in 2013. In 2017, she was named as one of Adelphi’s 10 Under 10 Young Alumni. In 2018, she was awarded the Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Emily is the Editor in Chief of the Rooted in Rights Blog, a platform dedicated to amplifying authentic narratives on the disability experience through an intersectional lens. She also provides consultation and editorial services and manages online presence and communications strategies for multiple disability-related organizations and initiatives. And, she co-hosts “The Accessible Stall Podcast,†a show that dives into disability issues.
Emily’s writing has been published in outlets including The New York Times, SELF, Salon, Vice, and HuffPost and she has served as a source for outlets including NPR, Vox, and Washington Post. Emily has spoken before numerous audiences across the United States, ranging from lectures at universities to conference keynote presentations. At the core of her work is a focus on disability identity, sharing our stories, and harnessing the powers of communication and social media as tools for people to become engaged in disability and social justice issues.
More about Emily’s work can be found on her website, Words I Wheel By. Follow her on Twitter at @emily_ladau.