Hi, I’m Alex!
Alexandra Jackman is a 3L at the University of Michigan Law School. Alex grew up in New Jersey before receiving her B.A. in Psychology and Certificate in American Sign Language from The University of Pennsylvania.
Before law school, Alex worked with 15-19-year-olds who had been arrested in New York City, advocating in court for their participation in an alternative-to-incarceration program. She is passionate about inclusion of people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities and is interested in immigration rights, housing justice, and criminal justice reform.
In her free time, Alex loves exploring coffee shops, reading books by Khaled Hosseini, and finding roadside attractions.
My Story
When I was 8, I met a girl with cerebral palsy at camp. I didn’t understand why she sat only with an aide away from the rest of the group, or why she was in a wheelchair. So, I went up and asked if I could sit with them. I learned that her name was Jamie, and that she communicated not through words, but through hand signals. I really liked her, and we became friends and swam in the pool and ate meals together. From her mom, I learned about her feeding tubes and the challenges and expenses of a wheelchair accessible van. After seeing Jamie and me interact, the other girls in our group started including her in activities too. From this experience, I realized that if I hadn’t been curious, I would have missed out on getting to know a friend just because she had a disability.
When I returned to school, I noticed that people in my middle school were not nice to our classmate with autism, not because they were trying to be mean, but because they didn’t understand their differences. I wanted to change that. I created a video on autism (in English and Spanish) to increase acceptance at my school.
Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to travel and speak about inclusion and anti-bullying, host monthly parties for teens with and without disabilities, run my University’s Chapter of Best Buddies, create a program for virtual friendship, and work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are sharing their stories through public speaking and presentations to educate the world.
Experience
Engagements
Middle schoolers on anti-bullying at an assembly celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
High schoolers in a sociology class on the bystander effect
Members of the Latino Psychology Association in Spanish
Medical professionals at a conference about using media as an advocacy tool
High school athletes for a fundraiser kickoff
Hospital patients and their families at a Children’s Hospital
United Methodist Church congregation members at a Symposium on ways to make religious spaces more inclusive
Past Projects
During the 2024 election, a friend with cerebral palsy expressed that he didn’t know how to register to vote or how to find accessible voting booths, and I realized that he was not the only one. I worked on an accessible voting educational tool and arranged for a guide from the local disability group to be emailed to 100+ people with disabilities and their families in Michigan.
In 2020, I created a “FaceTime Buddies” program in response to social isolation amplified by COVID restrictions on in-person social programming. We created pairings of people with and without disabilities to facilitate virtual support and companionship.
Current Projects
A few friends with disabilities have expressed a desire to learn more about stranger danger and recognizing when someone is a scammer. We’ve spoken about red flags, for example, when someone asks you to send a picture of yourself, says that they are a famous person, or asks for money. My friend asked me to find a video or book geared towards adults with autism to explain these concepts, and I have not been able to find one. So, the next order of business is creating a resource on internet safety and a how-to guide for identifying red flags.
Interested in working together? Reach out!