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In Memoriam of Meredith Brison-Brown, NEADS Nova Scotia Director

The National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) deeply regrets to inform our community of the passing of our Nova Scotia Director, Meredith Brison-Brown.

After learning late last week that Meredith passed away at home on July 15th 2024, we wish to take this time to express our sincerest condolences, reflect on her countless accomplishments, and honour her memory.

Our National Coordinator, Frank Smith, shares his personal tribute: "We are all shocked and saddened by Meredith's passing. She was an incredibly accomplished, passionate and compassionate person. Meredith was a recipient of the NEADS Student Award 2023, having applied for the award before she joined our Board of Directors. She said that the funding was enabling her to afford to return to school this past Spring. It's such a tremendous loss to the disability community in Nova Scotia and nationally. Meredith will be greatly missed."

Meredith first came into our lives at NEADS in her capacity as the President of the Dalhousie Accessibility & Inclusion Society (DAIS), where we partnered together to present the Halifax stop of our State of the Schools Tour in November of 2022.

The very second we stepped foot on Dalhousie campus, we were able to see firsthand the undeniable impact Meredith had in creating such a disability-inclusive campus, and such a powerful network of disabled students' groups.

Their presentation on behalf of DAIS expertly summarized how accessibility legislation and plans across Nova Scotia were directly impacting disabled students - an approach so impactful and effective, we would later embed in our future tour stops.

In the very same presentation, Meredith artfully captured how institutions had begun to focus on accessibility over disability in a term she coined as "access-washing" - a deeply influential term and perspective that further shaped our approach to advocacy with post-secondary institutions.

It took less than 15 minutes for Meredith to significantly alter how we approach our advocacy efforts and understand the disabled student context. And we were so lucky to have so much more time with them than that.

In June of 2023, Meredith joined our Board of Directors as Nova Scotia Director, further bringing her extensive experience in disability issues, her unrelentless commitment to pushing for change, and her gentle, radiant energy to our team despite the challenges and barriers she faced.

In her biography dating back to 2022, Meredith explains what led them to disability advocacy, and what keeps them driving forward: "As a post-secondary student with complex health conditions, I experience disability daily as part of student life. Being a disability rights advocate brings me a sense of self-efficacy and social belonging. For me, it is a form of self-care and community care."

To have such a prolific disabled student advocate with a strong background in advocacy work and foundation in community join our board was an absolute privilege. A privilege we planned to enjoy for many years to come.

While Meredith's life was cut unexpectedly and unfairly short, we know they accomplished more in their 40 years than the vast majority will in twice the time.

Aside from her involvement with NEADS and DAIS, Meredith was an accomplished academic in her studies at Dalhousie University and Holland College - earning a Bachelor's in Environmental Sustainability and International Studies, a certificate in Wildlife Technology, and a Master's in Occupational Therapy with numerous awards and honours.

Like at NEADS, they were once again a standout community member and colleague as a rehabilitator at Hope for Wildlife, and as an OT as Classic Physio in Halifax. They hoped to one day combine these two callings by establishing an animal therapy farm.

The impact Meredith had on such diverse fields, workplaces, and communities speaks to the magnitude of her character - and we will remember her for her relentlessly warm and kind heart, her unyielding commitment to improving disability inclusion and accessibility, and the lengths they took to make everyone feel welcomed and included.

To read her obituary, share a memory, make a donation, send flowers to their family, or plant a tree in her memory, please see the official obituary at https://allenfh.ca/tribute/details/811/Meredith-Brison-Brown/obituary.html#content-start 

Carly Fox (she/her/elle), carly.fox@neads.ca, NEADS Communications and Partnerships Director |Directrice des communications et des partenariats de NEADS

National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS)
Rm. 514 Unicentre, Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6

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