[citation needed] Swenor started her academic career at Johns Hopkins University, where she founded the Disability Health Research Center.
[14] This included peer-reviewed research and a sign-on letter campaign with Dr. Jae Kennedy from Washington State University and former Congressman Tony Coelho, which yielded over 1,500 signatures in less than 48 hours.
Scott Landes from Syracuse University and Jean Hall from the University of Kansas, Swenor co-led research and national advocacy opposing the US Census Bureau's proposed changes to disability questions in the American Community Survey (ACS) and calling for a need to engage with the disability community.
[17] These efforts led to the submission of over 12,000 public comments opposing this change in response to a related Federal Register Notice.
As a result, the US Census Bureau halted the process of changing these questions and pledged to improve efforts to include disabled people.