“There’s Not a Cookie-cutter Experience”: Commonalities and Differences in Collegiate Experiences by Disability Type

• In Event: College Students, Dis/ability, and Intersections of Identity

Abstract

We explore commonalities and differences in disabled college students’ collegiate experiences and self-identification as disabled. Employing a critical realist methodology (Shakespeare, 2014), this case study involving 33 students illustrates patterns of difference by disability type, social identity, and individual experience. Ableism and absence of disability identity were consistent themes.

Authors

• Kirsten Brown, Edgewood College

• Nancy Evans, Iowa State University

• Ellen Broido, Bowling Green State University

• Autumn Wilke

• Charlie Varland, Boise State University