10/28 Reading Response

 “Do we or do we not live in a world where we assist each other? Do we or do we not help each other with basic needs?” - Judith Butler, Examined Life- Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor (2010)

Reading and watching this week’s sources brought a lot of thoughts I have about special education, particularly the way special education operates in public high schools, to the forefront of my brain. Starting with the Youtube video Examined Life--Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor (2010), I was instantly hooked on the concept of how social politics inform the way one operates in a space and/or if one asks for, and in turn receives, assistance. Although Butler and Taylor contain their conversation to the physical realm (i.e. how one’s appearance informs how the public reacts to them/ their bodies), I connected this conversation to something less visible, but just as omnipresent: asking for help in a classroom setting. In my experience thus far as a special educator it is common to see students passively sit as a teacher continues through a lesson even though they may have so many questions about what is being said. That said, when a student asks for help in class, this act is considered notable, so notable in fact that I ensure it gets brought up in Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings and progress reports. In my world, asking for help is a big deal (it’s a transition/life skill!). And yet, as I listened to Butler and Taylor talk, it was also clear to me that asking for help, although a skill, is one that many avoid, (even if they know assistance is something they require in order to complete a task) to avoid potential criticism or judgement from the person on the receiving end of their request. I think this was illuminated best when Taylor explained how she will sometimes avoid asking for help and/or using her mouth to grip a cup in a coffee shop (even though she knows this works and it is what she needs in that moment) out of fear of making those around her feel uncomfortable and/or to avoid the feeling of being judged. I believe to a certain degree my students have this same concern when considering whether to remain silent or ask for help in class; they too, like Taylor, worry for the response of those around them. Will their teacher(s) or classmate(s) be helpful and accepting or will they view them negatively and deem them as “dumb” for asking a simple question?

When reading “Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit): theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability” by Subini Ancy Annamma, David Connor, and Beth Ferri (2013), I was again reminded of this concept of social politics with regard to how those with disabilities are made (in)visible in our society and school systems. Specifically, the biggest take-away I gained from this article is that disability, like race, is a social construct that is dynamic and informed/maintained through the systems and structures we uphold in all spheres of life. I think this concept of disability being a social construct is best introduce when Annamma et al. writes the following:

Although it is perhaps easier to conceptualize dis/abilities that are ‘clinically determined’ (i.e. based on professional judgement) as subjective, all dis/ability categories, whether physical, cognitive, or sensory are also subjective. In other words, societal interpretation of responses to specific differences from the normed body are what signify a dis/ability. Indeed, notions of dis/ability continually shift over time, according to the social context. Thus, dis/ability categories are not ‘given’ or ‘real’ on their own. Rather, [disabilities such as] ‘autism, mental retardation, and competence are what any of us make of them (Kiiewer, Biklen, and Kasa-Hendrickson 2006). 

Essentially then, Annamma et. al’s article furthers the concept discussed by Butler and Taylor, that social structures influence the way we interact and/or interpret the experience of others; this a concept that we have encountered in other sources for this class as well. I think the most prominent sources this article connects to best is 13th, Alice Goffman’s Ted Talk and “How Structural Racism Works” by Dr. Tricia Rose. Granted in each of these prior sources the main focus is race and how our society uses our perception of race to inform the type of experiences people of color will have (or not have) dependent on their race, however I believe after reading Annamma et al.’s article it is clear that disability is also a social construction that both is influenced by and influential towards other social areas, such as education, housing, mass media, workforce, healthcare, criminal justice, and so on. 

Furthermore, I also connected this text to the excerpt with Gloria Anzaldua’s text, Borderlands. This connection comes particularly with regard to how Annamma et al. describes how a consequence of labelling one as “disabled” triggers an identity battle that one faces with themselves as well as with the other groups they identify with. Specifically Annamma et al. writes “the consequence of simply being labeled as disabled, even if one does not claim that identity, can result in rejection from cultural, racial, ethnic and gender groups” (8). Again this is also something I have witnessed in my school. Usually it takes the form of students acknowledging that they have an IEP and a case manager, but vehemently denying that they have a disability as they do not want to be associated with this identity marker, which also speaks to clearly the stigma that Annamma et al. describe in their text.

All in all, I really appreciated this week’s sources. Not only did these sources force me to reflect on my teaching practice as a special educator, they also made me think deeper about when, where, and how disability is discussed (or not discussed) in various areas. On that note, I want to end this post by sharing three resources that I believe demonstrates tenet 4 of DisCrit: “DisCrit privileges voices of marginalized populations, traditionally not acknowledged within research” (11). Although all sources are not “research” per say, they are credible sources that prioritize the voices of those who are labelled as disabled; I believe their stories expand upon this week’s concepts and demonstrate through story-telling what Annamma et al. hammered home in their article: that disability is a social construct built on a false concept of what it means to be “normal” and is a identity marker, be it accepted or rejected, that is heavily influenced by other social structures in our society. 

1. Darius Goes West documentary by Logan Smalley (total time: 1:34:30)

2. Roadtrip Nation: Being You PBS documentary (total time 54:52)

3. Crip Camp Netflix documentary produced by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama (total time: 1:46:42)