Disrupting Inequitable Practices in Special Education: Privileging Voices of Students With High-Incidence Disability Classifications

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Disability Representation Through an Intersectional Lens (Table 19)

Abstract

Black, Latinx and other minoritized students have long been overrepresented in the high-incidence disability classifications including Learning Disability, Emotional Disturbance, Intellectual Impairment, and Speech and Language Impairment. Inappropriate special education placement denies students access to the general education curriculum and limits their postschool opportunities and outcomes. Using DisCrit, this study foregrounds the voices of minoritized middle school students receiving special education services under high-incidence classifications. DisCrit allowed for an investigation of how student’s intersecting marginalized identities impacted their experiences as special education students. Using grounded theory, four themes emerged: (1) student’s lack of awareness of their special education status, (2) student perceptions of special education services, (3) challenging academic experiences in middle school, and (4) minimal opportunities to voice opinions.

Author

• Armineh Hallaran, City College of New York - CUNY