User:Sierramcdean/sandbox

Disability Studies in Education (DSE)

 * Added excerpt on Special Education
 * Added in depth information on Ableism
 * Added explanation of inclusive curriculum through intersectionality
 * 3 reliable sources used & added

Special Education emerged after the signing of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] in 1975, marking the shift in educational rights by explicitly making the refusal of educational access illegal. Over the past few decades, Special Education has grown into an established academic curriculum and program which aims to enhance individuals with disabilities’ performance by focusing on changing their given educational environments and the limitations placed on them to foster growth and opportunities. Special Education, or SPED, aims to build a caring society that accepts and celebrates different abilities without stigmatizing individuals with disabilities. Through SPED, students should be able to engage in learning and have opportunities for growth through education each and every day. Though SPED has good intentions for creating learning opportunities for students, there is a constant tension between DSE and SPED, primarily around the idea that disability studies in education should be inclusive of students with and without disabilities in order to best foster awareness and understanding of disability studies. SPED lacks the challenge of the social model of disability which is seen in DSE.

Ableism is combated in schools through educators recognizing and challenging the idea of normalcy, as well as integrating individualizing programs that both recognize disability while creating learning opportunities in order to foster participation in the classroom with peers.

This teaching based approach can be supported by inclusive curriculum in which intersectionality is both taught and celebrated. Through understanding disabilities at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, etc., students are likely to relate to the curriculum as well as feel represented, thus fostering a deeper understanding of what inclusivity means in terms of identity and disability.