Disabled Girls of Color: Deliberate Collaborators for Educational Problem Solving

• In Event: Critical Understandings Through Identity: Building Bridges Across Educational Contexts

Abstract

Grounded in Disability Critical Race Theory and sociocultural theory, this study expands current understandings of schooling mechanisms for disabled youth of color broadly by considering the unique intersectional educational trajectories of girls of color with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through their photographs, maps, and counter-narratives, nine disabled girls of color revealed how materializations (e.g., processes that result in school geographies, classroom layouts, learning tools, texts) did impact their academic and social opportunities at school. This study adds to the current literature with an intentional focus on the gifts, strengths, and solutions of disabled girls of color. Ultimately, the participants illuminated the need to center girls of color with intellectual and developmental disabilities as deliberate partners in pedagogy and scholarship.

Author

• Amanda L. Miller, Wayne State University