Youth CoDesign Project
Aligna with OSPI
Designing Strategies for Inclusion
Learn how Washington State students with disabilities, ages 15-22, collaborated through codesign in Winter-Spring 2025 through Aligna (formerly CoDesign Works) and OSPI’s Inclusionary Practices Technical Assistance Network (IPTN) to create powerful inclusion-focused materials. These resources come from their own perspectives on navigating the social and academic experiences of being young adults. Thanks to Alexza (Wenatchee), Braxton (Ridgefield), Danny (Seattle & Walla Walla), Faith (Seattle), Lily (Shoreline), Malachi (Kent), Malley (Tacoma), Mikayla (Monroe), and Simeon (Tacoma).
Youth CoDesign Project Summary & Structure
Using design justice and a liberatory design approach, CoDesign Works’/Aligna’s Principal and Founder Carrie Basas convened disabled students over five weeks to find ideas to increase inclusion for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and Black students with disabilities. These groups have faced lower rates of inclusive schooling compared to other disabled students, even with statewide efforts.
At the core of codesign is the idea that communities most affected know best how to move forward. When discussing disability without including students with disabilities, we miss chances for new ideas and understanding. To respect the valuable knowledge of people with disabilities, CoDesign Works gave stipends to participants.
Steps, In Brief:
- Prep: Design & implementation of accessible recruitment process for disabled youth
- After Outreach: Review & Selection
- Wk 1: Kickoff — Introductions & Relationship-Building
- Wk 2: Seeing the System
- Wk 3: Imagining & Empathizing
- Wk 4: Building & Trying
- Wk 5: Refining & Sharing
Timeline
1. Project Launch
In late February 2025, CoDesign Works (now Aligna) created an easy recruitment process for disabled youth, reaching young people aged 15-22 across Washington. We also prepared clear releases, a stipend policy, and other support materials for the upcoming weeks.
2. Review & Selection
We received 274 applications in a little over a week by reaching out through partner groups. After reviewing all the applications, we interviewed a smaller group of young people.
3. CoDESIGN BEGINS (April)
Nine students joined the team.
- In Week 1, we worked on building relationships and created community agreements.
- In Week 2, we shared things we were proud of making or doing, and then focused on understanding the system.
- Our aim was to turn individual ideas into ways to change the system. We asked where we could make the biggest difference in increasing inclusion for youth, especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and Black students with all types of disabilities.
4. Forming Design Groups and deliverables (May)
Over the last three weeks, we divided youth into two design groups based on their interests and messaging goals. They wanted to challenge myths about disability and suggest ways for educators, peers, and others to repair relationships after mistakes.
- Week 3 focused on Imagining & Empathizing and refining the group’s tasks.
- Week 4 was about finding their roles in the design team through Building & Trying.
- In Week 5, Refining & Sharing, they improved their projects, recorded reflection videos, and planned distribution of their messages.
What the Youth Created
The youth focused on crafting resources to promote inclusion in schools. We encourage you to share these resources widely on social media and in your communities. Watch the students share their reflections about what they hope adults, their disabled and non-disabled peers, and policymakers will understand about inclusion and belonging.
Other hopes the students had for distribution included: school district newsletters, community centers, classroom discussions, teacher training programs, conferences, and mainstream media (including outlets focused on teens). Print posters for your school or community space.
How to Engage
You can listen to some of the participants (below) reflect on what they want others to know about promoting inclusion.
Prefer Something Shorter?
We also have a 1-minute highlight reel available.
Inclusion Posters
Two poster series:
Share the low-contrast/low-stimulating (first half of each document) and higher-contrast/accessible posters the students designed that are intended to encourage inclusion. Please tell us how you use these materials. The links below will open the full PDFs in a separate window.
Disability Myths Poster Set
Ableism & How to Repair Poster
Watch the 6-Minute Video
Several of the students shared what codesign felt like and what they hoped others would learn from their messages and resources. Watch the video now.
