Joy Zabala Spirit Award Previous Recipients

The Joy Zabala Spirit Award is a recognition program, hosted by ATIA, that celebrates Joy Zabala’s work in assistive technology and education. Joy served as ATIA Conference Education Chair for many years and led the talented team of ATIA Strand Advisors, leaders, and experts in their content areas in curating the conference education program and ensured each education session met the diverse needs of conference attendees.

The Joy Zabala Spirit Award is awarded to speakers at the annual ATIA Conference whose sessions have been selected as exemplifying the passion Joy brought to her work in AT and education.

The 2024 Joy Zabala Spirit Award recipients were:

  • Elena Remillard, Tracy Mitzner, Laura Rice, and Jon Sanford for Designing User-Centered Technologies to Support Aging with Disability
  • J. Teresa Giardina and Courtney Grimes for It’s My Party and I’ll Adapt It If I Want To
  • Vicki Clarke and Stephanie Ekis for Empowering AAC Professionals for Lasting Impact: Effective Strategies and Habits
  • Dawn Merth-Johnson, Stacy Duffy, Kathy White, Daniel Parker, Laura Plummer, Iris Jacobson, and Jennifer Schubring for Moving Assistive Technology Forward Statewide
  • Cynthia Carmina, Brooke Newman, Kristiana Martin, Anna Kovalich, Ricca O’Connor, and Rusty Canny for Keep Calm and Cruise On: Building AT Capacity in Your Division
  • Rick Ferrie, Bruce Alter, and Kelli Suding for No Hype! Practical Ways AI Can Help Teachers & Struggling Students RIGHT NOW
  • Anya Evmenova, Roba Hrisseh, and Boris Gafurov for Graphic Organizers to the Rescue! Supporting Students Across Content Areas
  • Julie Dutchess for Combining DIY and Purchased AT for Possible Workplace Solutions
  • Donna McNear and Andrea Wallace for Pedagogy in the Context of Complex Accessibility Demands: Teaching with Fidelity

Honoring Joy ZabalaJoy Zabala

Dr. Joy Smiley Zabala was a special educator who worked with students, families, education agencies, and others across the U.S. and abroad for more than 25 years to expand the use of assistive technology to increase the communication, participation, and productivity of people with disabilities. She was a strong supporter of Universal Design for Learning as the foundational support for the education of all students and of assistive technology and accessible materials and technologies as complementary supports for those students who require them for active participation and achievement in UDL environments. Joy was the ATIA Education Program Chair for many years, the developer of the SETT Framework, a former president of the Technology and Media division of CEC, a founder of QIAT, and the co-director of the Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES) at CAST.

Joy embodied all those things that make us better by having known her. Few professionals reach rock star prominence as Joy did and she did so humbly and graciously, sharing her knowledge and deep commitment to building access for children with disabilities. Regardless of how and where you may have met her or heard her, we all knew Joy had important things to share.