Project LETS chapters are led by and for Disabled, Mad, neurodivergent students — and those who live at the intersection of complex identities as trauma survivors, psychiatric and medical survivors, and folks who have been labeled or identify with the language of mental illness.
Our focuses are:
Peer Support and Community Care
Political Education
Organizing and advocating for tangible change
Mutual aid
First and foremost, Project LETS chapter leaders, members, and peer support advocates build power, community, and connection with each other.
Start here:
“Haadia Khan Art for Disabled And Here.” A diabetic Pakistani woman sits in a pizza restaurant with a childhood friend, using a pump to inject some insulin before eating. The friend carries on the conversation while holding a slice of pizza, and is a Pakistani woman with wavy hair, a pink shirt, and high-rise jeans. The woman on the right wears a blue hijab paired with a floral pink dress. Their table is filled with pizza, fries, and fresh-squeezed fruit drinks.
What’s happening on campus?
The number of students experiencing mental distress and psychiatric/emotional crises are at an all time high — and colleges are ill equipped to handle our needs.
The last time national data was collected in 2012, 64% of students who dropped out of college left school due to complications with their mental illness.
In educational settings, Disabled, Mad, neurodivergent, and mentally ill students face many intersecting forms of ableism and sansim that impact our ability to access an equitable education.
Many structural barriers exist within the current model of mental health care that prevent our community members from accessing competent care, and from attempting to access care in the first place.