Discovering What's "Behind the Cabinet": Instructional Conversations Among English Learners With Autism

• In Event: 29.060 - Uncovering Complexity: Intersectionality and Interdisciplinary Approaches

Abstract

The United States Departments of Education and Justice have identified English learners with disabilities as a distinct population with the right to “meaningfully participate” in public education. The labels English learner and students with disabilities, however, are contested terms that are deficit-oriented and stigmatized. Instruction for English learners with disabilities is therefore often reductionist and teacher-directed, limiting the voice of students. Drawing from disability studies in education and the assertion that English learner is socially constructed, this study looks at what is possible when instruction for three English learners with autism resists traditional, reductive approaches and instead illuminates student voice. Specifically, this paper reveals the rich communication of English learners with autism who participated in a series of instructional conversations.

Author

• Soyoung Park, University of Texas at Austin