(He/Him) 2025

imotheus “T.J.” Gordon Jr., MFA, MS, is a research associate at the Institute on Disability and Human Development at University of Illinois Chicago. Gordon utilizes his passion for self-advocacy, racial equity, disability culture, and autism acceptance to create webinars, training sessions, and publications on topics including autism and race, inclusion in communities of color, exploring sexuality within the disability community, coping with the 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 promotes 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, the “Code of the Freaks” documentary, and ADA 30 in Color.