Stephanie W. Cawthon, PhD, wrote a guest blog post for NWEA on the case for including disability in conversations about race — and vice versa. She writes:
If we want to truly improve equity in education, we must expand our thinking about what diversity is to include disability—and we must expand our thinking about racism in our work around disabilities—particularly when talking about inclusion, equity, and access to opportunity. Why? Because intersectionality is an important part of equity work. A term first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality refers to the reality that we are not just one thing; that is, that several things, including race and ability, make up our entire identity.
To better understand disability and its place in equity work, Dr. Cawthon expands upon these five strategies in her post:
-
Begin by defining “disability.” In her course at The University of Texas at Austin called “Culture of Disability in Education,” Dr. Cawthon begins by asking “what does being disabled or having a disability mean?” Students — and any other group or team — benefit from a chance to work through a range of possible responses.
-
Acknowledge that disability is complex. “Especially for those of us in education, it can be easy to default to the diagnostic approach to understanding disability. But disability as a lived experience is so much more nuanced than a categorical approach can capture,” explains Dr. Cawthon. Disability is variable, contextual, embedded in culture, and not neutral.
-
Address ableism and language. Ableist phrases often use disability status as a way of putting someone or something down, such as “the blind leading the blind.” Avoiding ableist language—just like avoiding racist language—can be an important step in thinking about disability, equity, and inclusion in your school or district.
-
Keep intersectionality front and center. From research to practice, the differential impact of systemic barriers for disabled students of color is frequently overlooked. The understanding that one size doesn’t fit all is foundational to work in special education, yet is rarely explicit about how this concept applies to intersectional experiences related to race and gender.
-
Be wary of “helper” mentality. Ableism can often masquerade as “helping” (quotes very intentional) instead of truly advocating or practicing allyship. A helper mentality means that an abled person does something “for” a disabled person, instead of providing a place for disabled people to have their own agency and develop skills.
Dr. Cawthon’s guest blog post for NWEA, a research-based, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide, is a broad overview of some key points she addressed in her presentation for the Harper College 2020 Diversity Symposium.
Her virtual presentation was prerecorded in American Sign Language in conjunction with a spoken presentation by Dr. Rich Reddick, her colleague in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin. The recorded presentations were followed by a live panel where we jointly answered questions from the webinar audience.