Cruelty, Harm, and Acquiescence: Disability Microaggressions in a University Graduate Program

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Preparation at the Intersections of Disability Studies

Abstract

Disabled graduate students face sedimentary biases in colleges despite holding potential of effecting societal changes vital for promoting disability rights and culture. Authors focus on experiences of a graduate disabled student at a Carnegie research one university to examine how ableist structures in graduate programs affect access to quality education and graduation, and mull over entwinement of low levels of educational attainment and low quality of life. We employ intersectional analyses to discuss the manifestations of disability microaggressions and to interrogate normalization of academic transgressive practices that repress graduate disabled students. We recommend instituting cultural and structural reforms is needed to authenticate disability culture, validate students’ rights to education, decolonize academics from ableism, and create a disability-friendly university environment.

Authors

• Theo Ressa, Wayne State University

• Scot Danforth, Chapman University