Hearing Their Voice

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

The conference theme, “Pathways in the Field” is a fitting approach to this printed/pictoral poster which presents a pathway toward recording the oral history of the first students with intellectual disabilities to attend college years ago, and cohorts that followed, telling the stories of their lives beyond college. For many, their lives are not easy but these adults, some over age 50, have never lost sight of the goal of independence, and are eager to tell of their struggles and successes “in the real world”. They have much to share and teach about their preparation, events of their lives, how college changed them, their relationships, understanding of independence, and worldview. Their stories and those of their families are at the center of this work adding credibility and support to a discussion of teaching and learning theories, and instructional practices that shaped their preparation for independent adult living.

In many works about people with disabilities, their own voice is ignored, and researchers speak for them. This project focuses on listening and interacting with people with disabilities as knowledgeable adults needing to speak their own message directly, individually telling their own oral history. These pioneering adults have rich and relevant information to share, drawn from their own individual life experiences. Their stories will impact the field that they initiated, however inadvertently. Telling their stories will provide them a venue for personal reflection and perhaps new ideas for the pathways of their lives going forward.

Authors

• Carol J Burns, Concordia University Wisconsin

• Wanda Routier, Concordia University Wisconsin