Joy Zabala Spirit Award
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 ATIA 2025 whose sessions have been selected as exemplifying the passion Joy brought to her work in AT and education.
The 2025 Joy Zabala Spirit Award recipients are:
- Kristen Monroe and Claire Martin for CHOPPED: AT Edition
- Mai Ling Chan, Lateef McLeod, Caroline Musselwhite, and Carole Zangari for What is Your AT Leadership Path?
- Joshua Anderson and Brian Norton for Off the Shelf Accommodations for Aging
- Christine Baudin and Michael Dicpinigaitis for Switch-Adapted Toys and AAC – There is a Connection!
- Debra Fitzgibbons, Toni Nickell, and Meghan Nilsen for Advocating For My Accessible Educational Materials: An AEM Guide for Students
- Austin Garilli and Michelle Schladant for Mission AT: Leading the Charge for Implementation in the Preschool Classroom
- David Banes and Gamal Halaga for DAT Matters – The Case for Provision of Digital AT for All
- Daniel Cochrane for Preparing Students for Self-Determination of AT in Postsecondary Education
- Ezra Reynolds for Reusing PCs as Low-Cost Video Magnifiers and Scan-and-Read Solutions
List of Previous Winners
Joy Zabala Spirit Award Celebration at ATIA 2025: Friday, January 31
Please join us to congratulate the Joy Zabala Spirit Award recipients on Friday, January 31, at the ATIA 2025 conference in Orlando. We will be celebrating the awardees during the ATIA 2025 Highlights Session in the Crystal H Ballroom from 8:00 – 8:20 a.m.
Honoring Joy 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.