Two Voices: The Discourses on Disability Disclosure in Higher Education

• In Event: 25.068 - Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: 25.068-15 - Navigating Postsecondary Places and Spaces

Abstract

The discourses on disability disclosure embody a significant presence in democratic educational opportunities for students with disabilities in higher education. Especially for graduate students with disabilities, there is minimal research on their experiences with disability disclosure. Engaging in a collaborative autoethnography, two doctoral students with disabilities engaged in a critical dialogue about how disability disclosure operates within everyday interactions. Through our narratives, we demonstrated how Freire’s dialogue and praxis is crucial in highlighting how acts of disability disclosure continuously construct the notion of disability, democracy, citizenship, and empowerment in higher education. In turn, critically reexamining disability disclosure may present insight in future directions that need to occur to move towards and ensure equal educational opportunities, attainment and achievements for all.

Authors

• Holly Pearson, Framingham State University

• Lisa Boskovich