"The question posed by disability studies ask us to think carefully about language and its effects, to understand the role of the body in learning and writing, to view bodies and minds as inherently and wonderfully divergent, to consider issues of access and exclusion in policies and in the environment, and to reengage with theories of difference and diversity...We suggest that if teachers do not learn about disability from the perspective of the disabled, they will not recognize a need to change their pedagogy." (1).
"In short, disability studies uses disability as a critical lens to interrogate history, art, literature, rhetoric, religion, philosophy, popular culture, political science, communications, speech therapy, nursing, education, architecture--indeed, all the disciplines of a university. As writing teachers learn about this rich field of study, they will start to see its applicability to composition and rhetoric and possibilities for future growth" (2).
--Acknowledging Disability, and Its Myths and Tensions
The enrollment of students with disabilities is increasing, but many don't self-identify or seek help from disability resources because they fear the stigma attached to being identified as disabled.
"because the disabled do not form a single, visible category with a set of common, identifiable features, people with disabilities typically are not construed as a unified group. As educators, we can and should all acknowledge and affirm the presence and the importance of embodied difference" (2).
"Disability is not necessarily a curse or a horrible affliction, it is not a static state, and it is not always something to be cured" (3).
"Another common assumption we hope to dispel is that when disabled students do show up in college classrooms they 'just want to be treated the same' and that ignoring their disabilities is, therefore, the best and fairest policy for instructors...another powerful myth: that the successes or failures of students with disabilities are entirely the result of individual effort and motivation, and institutional and material barriers...play no role in their successes or failures" (3).
"One of the first realities they encounter is that they no longer have the legal protections afforded to public-school K-12 students. They are not guaranteed a right to education at the college level, they must themselves pay for any testing needed to document a disability, and they may ask for but not necessarily receive specific accommodations" (3-4). This self-reporting and non-guaranteed paradigm often results in "dire academic consequences."
"When professors lack access to disability history, theories, and perspectives, and when they don't critically examine common assumptions about teaching and learning, it becomes all too easy to believe that students with disabilities cannot do the work or that they do not belong in college" (4).
"Making writing classrooms and curricula inclusive and accessible to those with disabilities means employing flexible and diverse approaches to the teaching of reading and writing to ensure pedagogical as well as physical access; using multiple teaching and learning formats; welcoming students who are disabled within the required disability statement on course syllabi; and including disability issues or perspectives in course content and faculty development workshops" (4)
--Rethinking Expectations and Practices
"The critical concepts of disability studies help us and our students examine language and images with these issues in mind, thereby improving literacy skills and leading writers to give greater consideration to their rhetorical choices and the effects their choices may have on people and practices" (4).
"Such sorting (learning disability, basic writer, ESL) reaffirms the idea of disqualification and deficiency while also allowing the so-called mainstream to continue in its rutted parth with few changes made to its practices" (5).
--Negotiating Pedagogy and Research in the Classroom
"Rather than approaching a student with a disability as a 'problem' needing a particular cure that brings the student back to conformity with the 'normal way of doing things,' the inclusion of students with disabilities and the topic of disability offer an opportunity to change teaching methods and content so that they provide more flexibility and choice for various kinds of students. Universal Design for Learning (UDL), developed out a the accessibility movement of the ADA, emphasizes a range of flexible, multimodal practices and a philosophy for teaching that stresses the importance of addressing different learning needs and styles by offering many pathways to achieve class goals" (6).
The authors don't believe they can prescribe universal "solutions" for disabled students because disabilities are so varied. Instead they recommend designing courses and pedagogies that relate to varied learning styles and different learners.
They recommend conferencing with students to better understand how teachers can help meet the student's needs.
"When students and teachers recognize that disability is always a part of our culture, our society, out relationships, and our lives, then the fictional perspective of an 'able' world shifts. In this shift, a new space emerges. The new space is one we may not previously have recognized as our own, but it is, nevertheless, a place we have actually inhabited all of our lives, one where disability is everywhere a part of our life" (9).
No comments:
Post a Comment