Meet The College Freshman Advocating For Disabled Students’ Rights

After Kira Tiller realized that the flashing lights from her school’s fire drills could put her at risk of a seizure because of her epilepsy, she knew she had to make a change. The Virginia native, who had been involved in political organizing, founded Disabled Disruptors, a student-led organization that advocates for disability rights legislation. “Once I created that space, a lot of young people came and said ‘I’ve never seen a space like this before,’” she says.

Now, Tiller’s nearly two-year-old youth-led organization is national, and she’s written a bill on emergency preparedness accessibility to help other disabled students get accommodations in emergency situations. She’s also a college freshman. The 18-year-old is balancing her activism with schoolwork at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.

Elite Daily caught up with Tiller, at the White House’s International Day of the Girl celebration, where she was named a 2024 “Girls Leading Change” honoree in an event hosted by First Lady Jill Biden on Oct. 10. Below, the disability rights activist tells us about her organization, writing bills, and being a college student.

Elite Daily: What does it mean to you to be honored at the White House today?

Kira Tiller: I was honestly so shocked when I got the call — I was in disbelief. Getting this award validates the youth disability movement as a whole because I feel like it doesn’t have the same visibility that a lot of other movements have. So this means a lot because this means that we’re changing the conversation and we’re ensuring that the rights of young disabled people and disabled students are a part of the conversation.

Almost every disabled student I spoke with had some sort of negative experience with emergency situations at their schools.

ED: What did you hear from other students when you started advocating for disability rights?

KT: We were able to openly talk about the ableism that we had faced in school and in society. A lot of us had just never had those conversations before or had never had those conversations with people who had had similar experiences. I think it was validating and empowering for us. We realized that united, we could do a lot more than we thought we could do.

When I started the process of writing legislation, I honestly didn’t really know what I was doing.

ED: What led you to write this legislation?

KT: Having the support of so many fellow disabled students and talking to them about their experiences, we realized that this was essentially a universal issue among disabled students. Whether they have epilepsy like me and flashing lights were a trigger, or if they were a wheelchair user in a school that was inaccessible, or if they had a sensory disability where loud sounds were triggering to them, almost every disabled student I spoke with had some sort of negative experience with emergency situations at their schools.

Just realizing that and getting to connect with my peers in a way that I hadn't gotten to before inspired me to write this legislation. This is an issue of life or death for disabled students.

ED: What was that process of writing it like?

KT: When I started the process of writing legislation, I honestly didn’t really know what I was doing. People always ask me, “How did you write a bill? What experience do you need for that?” And my honest answer is yes, it’s definitely difficult. But it’s not something that you need years and years of experience to do. You just need to be passionate, driven, and dedicated. A lot of people don’t see the movement that goes behind the legislation.

The easy part is having an idea, writing the legislation, and finding a legislator who’ll sponsor your bill. The harder part is building a movement behind it, raising visibility in the news, and getting other students to organize around the issue and educate their communities. To have public policy success, you need mass support behind it. Coalition building is by far the most important thing in policy.

It’s OK if people say no. A lot of people are going to say no to you.

ED: You’re a freshman at UNC now! What are you studying and how do you hope it’ll help your advocacy work?

KT: I’m a political science major. I hope the skills I learn in my political science classes, especially the history behind organizing, can help me become a more effective organizer. I think it’s important to get organizing experience in different areas. Organizing in the D.C. area, where I’m from, looks completely different from organizing in the South. So one thing that’s been valuable has been learning from my peers and learning what it means to advocate for disability rights on a college campus.

ED: What has it been like to balance school and Disabled Disruptors?

KT: A lot of my work has been in Virginia. So, it’s hard adjusting to doing that virtually and keeping up with my Disabled Disruptors commitments. Just being a disabled person in college has been hard. Accommodations in college oftentimes look very different than accommodations in high school. And there are just so many things you have to take into account — the accessibility of your campus, if you have health flare-ups. There’s not really a road map for young disabled people when it comes to adulting. Figuring that out has been difficult, but Disabled Disruptors is still my priority.

You don’t have to have the answers right away.

ED: What are some of your goals for Disabled Disruptors?

KT: We definitely have pretty big goals for Disabled Disruptors. I’m trying to expand this bill to as many states as possible. And then we’re also looking at this issue on the national level too — we’re looking to work with the Department of Education.

We also want to increase our membership and expand our organization. We’re a student-led organization, so we think we could expand and address more students’ issues by having chapters at middle schools, high schools, and colleges.

ED: What’s your advice to young girls who want to make a change in their communities but don’t know where to begin?

KT: Always believe in yourself and your ideas even if other people don’t. It’s OK if people say no. A lot of people are going to say no to you. I’ve had teachers, legislators, and organizations say no to me, and that’s OK — that doesn’t mean that your ideas are bad. If you recognize that your ideas are worth something, then eventually other people will too.

It can be easy to doubt yourself because you can feel like you’re seeing this issue but you don’t know how to solve it, you don’t have the answers. And no one does. No one does when they first learn about an issue. Talk to other people and see what their thoughts are. Don’t be afraid to lean on other people and find experts in this issue to help you craft meaningful solutions. You don’t have to have the answers right away.

It’s important to find your people. Connecting with like-minded people and people who are willing to support you on your journey will take you far. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support system I’ve built.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.