Ableism and the Racialized Inequities Promoted by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: The Least Restrictive Environment Mandate

• In Event: Doubling Down on Critical Theory: Critical Policy and Discourse Analyses of Education Law and Policy

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to expose the ableism ingrained in—and the racialized inequities promoted by—the law enacted to provide equal educational opportunity for students with disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We propose that language and discourse of the LRE mandate reflects ableist mechanisms that result in racist outcomes for historically and marginalized youth and confirms the permissibility of different and segregated placements based on a deficit model of intersectional disability. Through intertextual and interdiscursive critical discourse analysis (CDA), we expose and deconstruct the ableism within the IDEA. We examine the language and discourse of the IDEA statutes, judicial interpretations, school practices resulting in inequities and disproportionality.

Authors

• Susan Larson Etscheidt, University of Northern Iowa

• David Isaac Hernandez-Saca, University of Northern Iowa

• Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides, Hunter College