Counternarratives of Three Transfer Students With Disabilities

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Disability-Centered Systemic Change in Postsecondary Education (Table 15)

Abstract

Students with disabilities (SWD) are increasingly attaining degrees through the transfer process by attending 2-year and 4-year institutions. Currently, there is a dearth of research on transfer pathways that incorporates the perspectives of SWD. The current study employs narrative inquiry to explore the educational pathways of three transfer students with nonvisible disabilities using DisCrit to frame our analysis. Our findings suggest that students’ transfer experiences can be understood using an ecological framework. All three participants experienced ongoing discrimination by educators and other professionals acting as gatekeepers and adopted formal and informal strategies, including Strategies of Resistance, to navigate educational contexts academically and psychologically. A key aim of this study is to center the voices of SWD themselves.

Authors

• Bryan Thornton, California State University - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Joseluz Sosa, California State University - Northridge
  Presenting Author