Toni Saia

• Phone: (619) 594-3427
• Email: tsaia@sdsu.edu

Dr. Saia is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Rehabilitation Technology Certificate at San Diego State University within the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education. She is a disabled woman with a deep commitment to social justice, inclusion, and equity for all. Her professional work history has involved advocating for a progressive understanding of disability within the applied fields. A shift from diagnosis to disability as a culture and identity. One worth choosing and celebrating.

In 2019, she graduated from the University of Arizona with her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. Her dissertation focused on the role of disability cultural centers in higher education — one of the only studies on this topic from the perspective of disabled students. She is one of the originators of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA) Disability-Related Counseling Competencies informing the work of 55,000 counselors nationally. She also serves on the board of the Society for Disability Studies and Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Association (RCEA).