Society For Disability Studies

What Society For Disability Studies does

The Society for Disability Studies (SDS) is a non-profit, interdisciplinary, and international scholarly organization founded in 1986 to promote Disability Studies and advocate for emancipatory social change on behalf of disabled people. It is the only major professional organization dedicated exclusively to Disability Studies as an academic field and serves a community of over 700 members spanning scholars, activists, artists, and students across all seniority levels, of whom roughly half are paid supporters. The organization is headquartered in Eureka, California and staffed by a part-time administrative team of approximately six people, with day-to-day operations led by an elected Board of Directors.

SDS's core product is Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ), a peer-reviewed scholarly journal active since 1980 that has published more than 175 issues and 1,948 articles, reviews, and creative works since 2000, hosted in partnership with The Ohio State University Libraries. Beyond the journal, SDS operates an annual virtual conference (next scheduled April 23–24, 2027), a member-supported awards program, and Collaborative Community Hours for ongoing member engagement, with accessibility provisions including ASL interpretation and CART captioning. The underlying technology stack is minimal: two WordPress-style websites, a Patreon membership platform, a Discord server, a Google Group mailing list, and standard video conferencing — there is no proprietary software, AI/ML capability, or developer-facing API.

Revenue is generated entirely from individual contributions through three streams: annual Patreon membership dues, donations collected via PayPal (including a December 2025 Giving Tuesday campaign with a $30,000 goal), and conference fees. The organization's own materials indicate it does not accrue enough funds to fully fund the DSQ editorship, signaling a structurally thin operating budget. Marketing and distribution are community-led and event-driven across social platforms including Twitter/X, Instagram, BlueSky, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord, with the website serving as the primary content hub. The organization claims a global footprint spanning the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, India, and Ireland through its virtual programming.

Name

Society For Disability Studies

Legal name

Society for Disability Studies

Website

https://disstudies.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Society for Disability Studies is a non-profit scholarly organization founded in 1986 that promotes Disability Studies through its peer-reviewed journal (DSQ), annual virtual conference, awards, and a 700+ member community of scholars, activists, artists, and students worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Scholarly Association

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAGAFAK

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

SECONDARYBPAGADAH

Special Education, Disability Support & Inclusive Education Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

Keywords

• Disability studies scholarship
• Academic journal publishing
• Scholarly professional association
• Interdisciplinary academic conferences
• Disability advocacy community

Headquarters

HQ city

Not specified

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: SDS generates revenue through annual membership dues collected via Patreon platform. Members can renew yearly dues or gift memberships to students through Patreon.
2. Donations: The organization solicits tax-deductible donations via PayPal account. A Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign in December 2025 aimed to raise $30,000 for funding editorships, staff contracts, accessibility services, website/platform costs, and award endowments.
3. Conference Fees: SDS historically raised funds through conference fees in addition to membership dues. Conference fees contribute to funding the DSQ editorship and organizational activities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

The Society for Disability Studies is a non-profit, interdisciplinary scholarly organization that promotes disability studies through the peer-reviewed Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) journal, an annual virtual conference, an awards program, and member community engagement. Its core deliverables are scholarly publication, convening of researchers and activists, recognition of outstanding contributions to the field, and resource directories for the global disability studies community.

Product overview

The Society for Disability Studies is a non-profit interdisciplinary scholarly organization that promotes disability studies through multiple interconnected offerings. The core portfolio includes the Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) journal—a peer-reviewed publication active since 1980—alongside the annual SDS Conference, an awards program recognizing excellence in research and service, and virtual Collaborative Community Hours. Membership is facilitated through Patreon with member-only Discord access. The organization also maintains resource directories including a U.S. disability studies programs database and an international directory of disability studies organizations, journals, advocacy networks, and cultural centers. SDS has over 700 members and a 45+ year history in the field.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ): Peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to disability studies scholarship, published continuously since 1980 under careful stewardship of more than 20 editors.

Products and services

• Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) A peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to disability studies, published by the Society for Disability Studies since 1980 in partnership with The Ohio State University Libraries. The journal features academic articles, reviews, and creative works examining disability in social, cultural, and political contexts, and serves scholars, activists, artists, and students of Disability Studies.
• SDS Annual Conference An annual virtual conference bringing together scholars, activists, artists, and students to present research and discuss disability studies topics. The 2027 conference is scheduled for April 23-24, 2027 with the theme 'Here and There, Then and Now: Disability Studies at the End of the World.'
• SDS Awards Program Annual awards program recognizing outstanding contributions to disability studies in research, mentorship, creative work, and service. Various award categories are reviewed by appointed committees.
• Collaborative Community Hours Virtual collaborative discussion events for SDS members to shape the future of the organization, with sessions including ASL and CART accessibility accommodations.
• SDS Membership Platform Annual membership services operated through Patreon, providing member-only communications, Discord server access, and annual membership renewals, with options for student gift memberships.
• Disability Studies Programs Database A Google Sheets-based database cataloging disability studies programs across universities in the United States.
• Disability Studies Beyond SDS Resource Directory A comprehensive listing of disability studies organizations, networks, journals, advocacy groups, research centers, cultural centers, and conferences worldwide.

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ)coreOthersDSQ is the official journal of the Society for Disability Studies, published in partnership with The Ohio State University Libraries. The journal has published over 175 issues since 1980 and is central to SDS's mission of fostering disability studies scholarship.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Modern Language Association: MLA is a large scholarly association with peer-reviewed journals, annual conventions, and member governance. While focused on language and literature, it shares SDS's model of an interdisciplinary scholarly society publishing journals and convening members.
• American Historical Association: AHA is a long-standing scholarly association with journals, an annual meeting, and member-driven governance. Comparable to SDS in its focus on academic publishing and convening a community of scholars across subfields.
• Society for Research on Adolescence: SRA is an interdisciplinary scholarly association with peer-reviewed journals, annual meetings, and member governance. Its structural model — member dues, journal, conference, awards — mirrors SDS's operations.
• American Sociological Association: ASA is a scholarly society that publishes peer-reviewed journals, hosts an annual meeting, and supports member-driven research communities. Its operating model — member dues, journals, annual conference, sections/interest groups — closely mirrors SDS's structure.
• American Educational Research Association: AERA is a major interdisciplinary scholarly society that publishes multiple peer-reviewed journals and hosts an annual conference. It is comparable to SDS in its membership-based scholarly association model, journal publishing operation, and academic community-building role, though it operates in education research broadly rather than disability studies specifically.
• Association for the Study of Higher Education: ASHE is a scholarly society that publishes peer-reviewed journals and hosts an annual conference. Comparable to SDS in scale, governance (elected board), and member-driven publishing activities.
• Society for the Study of Social Problems: SSSP is an interdisciplinary scholarly society addressing social problems, with a peer-reviewed journal and annual meeting. Closely comparable to SDS as a smaller, interdisciplinary scholarly community that bridges research and social change.
• Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management: APPAM is an interdisciplinary scholarly association publishing peer-reviewed journals and hosting an annual conference. Its operating model — membership, journal, conference, interest groups — is structurally similar to SDS.

Broad incumbents

• National Council on Disability: NCD is an independent federal agency advising on disability policy. It is comparable to SDS as a leading institution in the U.S. disability ecosystem, though it operates in policy and government advisory roles rather than academic publishing.
• American Association of People with Disabilities: AAPD is a larger, cross-disability advocacy organization that engages disabled people, policymakers, and the public. Comparable to SDS in its disability-focused mission and community-building, but it operates at a much larger scale and is centered on policy advocacy rather than scholarship.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dis_studies
• Facebookfacebook.com/SocietyforDisabilityStudies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/society-for-disability-studies
• Instagraminstagram.com/dis_studies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Society For Disability Studies