Joey Ramp-Adams

[Image Description]: Joey smiles at and pets her service dog Sampson, who wears a red service dog vest. Joey has long grey hair.

[Image Description]: Joey stands in a neuroscience lab wearing a lab coat and goggles. Her service dog, Sampson, wears goggles and a red service dog vest.

[Image Description]: Joey is seated on a chair and smiling at the camera, leaning over her service dog Sampson, who’s paws are on Joey’s lap.

Meet Joey-Ramp Adams, an advocate for disability services with a focus on individuals with service dogs, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

You can find Joey’s disability access personal consulting at Empower Ability Consulting.

Tell us about your journey in STEM!

My initial goal, going into neuroscience, was that I had experienced a brain injury, and no one could explain to me what was happening in my own head. I decided I was going to study neuroscience and figure it out for myself (which was very difficult to do because of the brain injury, I lost the ability to understand spoken language (although I could read), and I lost the ability to communicate verbally; I couldn't communicate at all during that time!)

I have a Bachelor's degree in Biocognitive Neuroscience. I hoped to go on to a Ph.D. and study the neurological underpinnings of post-traumatic stress disorder after traumatic brain injury and its correlation with progressive cognitive decline. People tend to think that a person with a brain injury instantly has deficits, and then they improve from there. But for someone like myself who had a closed head injury and the injury went untreated, I declined over the course of two to three years. I was misdiagnosed with all kinds of things, including early-onset dementia before we finally understood what was happening.

Going into school to study neuroscience, though - I had to have a service dog for balance, for brace, and medical alerts. I can't drop my head below my waist, so he picks things up for me, otherwise I’ll black out. I never thought there would be a problem with a service dog, and I was instantly faced with the “a service dog can't enter a laboratory” attitude. I had to problem-solve from day one. My entire Ph.D. pursuit was derailed by systemic bias.

They said that my service dog would fundamentally alter any kind of rodent work, for instance, because of prey/predator issues. I wanted to run a research study on this. I received $50,000 in independent funding, a lab to work in, and a private primary investigator willing to take me into his lab. We were denied three separate times by the oversight committee, the Institute for Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the University of Illinois. We were told the study had no scientific merit because “no one with a disability would be seeking these opportunities.” One, I am a human being and a person seeking this opportunity. And two, you're wrong because I'm getting these emails all the time from people who are being denied access. I got out of my field after graduating, not because I still did not desire to complete my Ph.D., but because of the obstacles and resistance I faced.

My STEM work went from actively being a researcher to now being an advocate and liaison for people with disabilities going into science. I developed a company called Empower Ability Consulting, Inc. (see Empower Ability Consulting) that provides guidance and direction for disability access for those entering science, either academics or the science industry. I have a very strong focus on people who have service dogs. We also work directly with universities and governmental agencies to develop inclusive policies.

What tips and tricks help you do your work?

I need my service dog to make it through every single day. My disability is very invisible unless you spend a lot of time with me. My brain can no longer regulate environmental stimulation - due to the brain injury.

We talk about the fight or flight instinct or PTSD response: someone gets triggered, and all of their brain chemicals go into survival mode. Most people, if they go to a haunted house or see a scary movie, their brain can automatically regulate all of the stuff causing adrenaline spikes in a matter of minutes.

My brain can't do that anymore. Once anything happens, if I'm startled or get overstimulated in an environment (something like too many people talking to me too fast), my brain just spikes out, and it will stay that way for 3 to 10 days. It becomes very hard to function. But I have certain tells, and I start tapping my fingers, tapping my foot, or rubbing my hands in a peculiar way and Sampson sees this, and he alerts me. Then I can look around my environment, and it might just be something as simple as some lab mates telling an animated joke, but my nervous system says, ‘Oh, there's a threat here because there are loud voices’. But then I can go, Okay, I'm fine. Or I can walk outside and take a break. Then brain chemicals calm down, and I’m able to work. This keeps me engaged in life, effective in my job, and independent.

Sampson also helps me with balance and brace. Because of my brain injury, my left leg doesn’t always get the right message, so I fall. Or I can’t pick something up off the floor; if I drop something, he automatically picks it up and hands it to me. But he also knows that if we’re in the lab, he can't do that- he can tell the difference between everyday life and lab working life when he puts on his working lab gear. He knows he can't pick up anything off the floor. He can brace for me, so I can bend down and pick it up, and that also keeps me independent.

What is your current work to support service dog entry into STEM labs?

I do risk assessments for labs. Universities call on me to tell them to look at their space and let them know how to make it accessible for people who have service dogs going into labs or reviewing their policies.

My service dog never enters a lab without wearing boots. I am a big advocate of boots with tread on the bottom, or you can put some disposable rubber over them so they’re not tracking anything out. Boots don't equal gloves; I get that question often. If I don't have to wear gloves in this lab, why does my dog not have to wear boots? Because you have to wear shoes.

Otherwise, whatever someone must wear for safety on a given day, their service dog should wear the same. If you have to wear goggles, your dog should also have to. And that protection has to be equal to what their handler is wearing.

If you have to wear a lab coat to protect your clothing, then your dog should have some sort of protection on them. Previously, I used just an old lab coat that I had him step into, and I buttoned it down the back and kind of tied it up. It protected his underbelly. I worked with a manufacturer to develop a custom-fit lab coat for service dogs with a snood to protect the next, an optional head covering, an optional tail covering, and a completely covers the dog for protection with room to move. Custom Dog Coats: https://www.customdogcoats.com/labcoat

Also, ensure your dog is lying on a mat with a rubber backing, their whole body fits on it, and their nose isn't lying on the floor. Make sure there's a bench they can rest under, even if you have to move a table to the end of a row where the dog can rest underneath. First, that's protection for them, but second, they’re not a trip hazard. Make sure there are no chemicals above the dog when you’re working. Those are very easy accommodations to make to ensure the dog is safe.

Now, if you're talking about using chemicals with very strong odors, ensure there's a fume hood in the room. Cadaver labs are an excellent example of this. Dog noses are 500 times more sensitive than ours, and if you’ve been in a cadaver lab, you’ll know that the smell is very strong. In this case, keep the dog to the back of the room, or if there’s an adjacent room where the dog can still be in direct sight of their handler, have the dog stay there, maybe even in a small crate.

Suppose the handler can be without their service dog for a short amount of time (whether it be that they can manage their disability, that they can manage it with medication, or that they can use a personal assistant for a short amount of time). In that case, we should be able to provide a safe space for the dog to rest, either in an office (or in a nurses' station if you're working in clinicals). Then the dog can be safe and protected while you do the work you need to do, but the dog is still accessible if needed.

I even work with a student currently working in a Biosafety 3 Laboratory (BSL-3). BSL1 labs are your general chemistry labs - it can work based on risk assessment. That's where risk assessments come in. There are still other things we have to take into consideration. Welding labs, for instance, have a lot of flying material. Many engineering labs have moving equipment, as well as cogs and wheels where a dog’s tail may get caught. We just have to look at the environment. Maybe the student can work away from that equipment or work with a lab partner who can do work on the piece so the service dog doesn’t need to go up to it, or conversely, that person could watch the dog while the handler takes a turn. It's just a matter of taking the time to look at what the real issues are; we can’t just say that something is off-limits without a valid reason.

What do you wish people knew about being disabled in STEM?

I wish that people who are unfamiliar with disabilities or who haven't experienced disability themselves don't place limitations on someone based on opinion or implicit biases. People with disabilities have a lot to offer; they are, first and foremost, human beings who are seeking an education or equitable opportunities. They are intelligent, problem-solving individuals who face adversity every day. We are generally loyal, hard-working, and very driven individuals. But I do say that with caution because I don't want the perception that someone with a disability has to bring something ‘extra and special’ because of their disability. We need equal opportunities and equal access. Equal and equitable, though, are two different things. 

We need to start looking at not only making things inclusive but also making them equitable and accessible across the board for all. I'm actively working on that right now as part of Empower Ability Consulting, trying to get broader guidelines and policies in place that are more inclusive in STEM in general.