Deconstructing Dis/Ability

In response to Crow’s “Disability in Children’s Literature, I’m reimagining The Snowy Day illustrated with a child in a wheelchair. What will it take for stories to include characters with physical or mental disabilities without their “differences” as the focal point of the story?

“Cripping School Curricula: 20 Ways to Reteach Disability” (Connor & Bejoian) draws strong parallels to works by Roxane Gay. The scholars remind us that individuals with physical disabilities are often viewed as conversational fodder by able-bodied observers. Gay’s most recent work, Hunger, explores society’s firmly held beliefs about obese and morbidly obese people. Connor & Bejoian explore common media portrayals of individuals with physical disabilities, challenging educators to “expand narrowly perceived” conceptions of disability. What is the role of the bystander in these situations? What benefit or harm arises when an observer challenges a stranger’s ill-conceived notion of person whose physical characteristics simply differ from their own?

A student of mine exhibits symptoms of cognitive impairment. He is frequently ridiculed by his peers and elicits impatient exasperation from others. After reading “Disability Studies in Education: The Need for a Plurality of Perspectives on Disability” (Baglieri & Valle, et al.) I recall a failed attempt I made to mitigate a disparaging interaction I witnessed between this student and a peer. I sought advice from fellow educators and referred to some literature, arriving at the conclusion I would ask the cognitively impaired student if he would like to talk about his experiences in the world as part of a whole group activity. The resources I consulted assured me that persons who are “different” are aware of their differences. I approached the student individually and asked if he would be willing to talk about how he believes people treat him and if it’s different than how others want to be treated or what he notices about how people are treated. Our conversation made me realize the student did not seem to perceive his own “differences” or any variance in the way he was treated by his peers. I decided to skip the whole group activity. As an educator, what role do I have informing students with disabilities of their disabilities? How does one do this gracefully or even legally? What should I have done instead?