The In/dependence Curricular Quandary for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

• In Event: Inclusion or Illusion? Student-Informed Reflexive Practices in K-12 Settings

Abstract

This paper interrogates ways that the construct of “independence” has been used within special education as a discursive tool to maintain a segregated curricular track for students with intellectual disability (ID) labels. First, I apply disability studies in education theory to explore historical and conceptual underpinnings of the independence/dependence binary that people with ID have been positioned into. Then, I use qualitative survey and interview data to consider the ways young adults with ID labels, parents, and professionals understand the concept of independence and its impact on school and transition curriculum. This paper uncovers the ways that the concept of independence has been used as a tool to keep students with disabilities accessing low-level curricula that overemphasizes life and functional skills.

Author

• Jessica K. Bacon, Montclair State University