Navigating Ableism Together

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Disability Studies Perspectives in Higher Education

Abstract

We use Explanatory Legitimacy Theory (ELT) to organize our students’ writing about their experiences at two college campuses in the same university system. While in courses that taught about ableism, eight students “came out” to us to discuss their stories in more depth. Through the three elements of ELT, we offer a language to explore the complexity of ableism, and illustrate how combating ableism has fallen heavily on disabled students by reinforcing disability as a personal deficit. As students become more comfortable disclosing and embracing their various disability identities, colleges supposedly become more “accepting”. This problematic pattern is revealed in our students’ writing and we explore the troubling implications of student disclosures as the way to resist ableism.

Authors

• Maria T. Timberlake, SUNY - College at Cortland

• Jennifer Ashton, College at Brockport - SUNY