Dis/abling Autistic Student in the Context of Community College

• In Event: Roundtable Session 116
  In Roundtable Session: Transformations of Teachers, Learners, and Identities

Abstract

This paper explores learning experiences of a young high-functioning autistic student in the context of a community college (CC) with he goal to explore the dialectical relationships between learning, self-development and autism. Drawing on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Disability Studies, processes of learning, self, and autism are approached in this study as social practices produced in the CC activity system. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a student and other participants of activity system. Findings revel complex ways in which disability, specifically autism, self-development and learning intersect. Findings support the case that learning difficulties do not stem exclusively from primary impairments but rather from engagements in learning activities in which participants position themselves and others.

Author

• Dusana Podlucka, The Graduate Center - CUNY