Approximating "Normal": A Critical Examination of Racial Privilege and Mental Disability

• In Event: 15.061 - MTCC Roundtable Session Two
  In Roundtable Session: 15.061-1 - Special Education and (Dis)Ability at the Intersections

Abstract

Guided by critical whiteness studies and critical race disability theory, this paper seeks to interrogate the precarious lines that separate advocating for one’s needs from wielding privilege. We do this through an examination of literature as well as the critical examination of a vignette of an encounter between a young woman with her mother and a mid-size university's disability services office. We emphasize the ways in which white cisgender female membership contributes to an expectation of beneficence and entitlement that exceeds what others expect in the same spaces. We use discourse analysis to examine how the language-in-use (Gee, 2005) serves to reify the assumed benefits of White femininity and establish a behavioral point of departure for those with mental disabilities.

Authors

• Elena Hatton Silverman, Indiana University - IUPUI

• Maureen Negrelli Coomer, Indiana University - Indianapolis

• Mercedes Adell Cannon, Indiana University - Indianapolis