"I Have So Much to Tell": Communication and Community Grounded in the Presumption of Competence

• In Event: (Re)Conceptualizing Education Grounded in Student Experiences and Perspectives

Abstract

This research explores experiences of teachers, administrators and autistic students in a school committed to the presumption of competence and grounded in the neurodiversity paradigm, with a focus on augmentative and alternative communication. Through multimodal, optimistic qualitative methods, we examine the ways that the presumption of competence is enacted and reflected in philosophy, practice and structures in one school. The data demonstrates the presumption of competence reflected in: shared language, reframing expertise, communication access and centering sensory-motor differences. This work documents innovative practices, experiences and relationships that contribute to learning in ways that center high expectations, support students’ identities as neurodivergent, multimodal communicators and draw on expertise from the autistic community.

Authors

• Casey Woodfield, Rowan University

• Molly K. Rearick, IGNITE Collective, Inc.