The Theory Behind the Work...

This resource was guided by Critical Disability Theory (CDT), a critical theory that examines the social, political, and economic structures that define and shape disability. CDT challenges the traditional medical model of disability, which views disability as an individual deficit or pathology (Olkin, 2022), and instead emphasizes the role of societal barriers and attitudes in disabling individuals . In short, theorists within this framework believe that disability is a social construct rather than a purely medical condition (Devlin & Pothier, 2006).

It's all about power dynamics

CDT provides insight into the social and institutional barriers faced by neurodivergent college students. These barriers may include rigid academic structures, lack of accommodations, and stigmatizing attitudes from peers and faculty (Chen & Patten, 2021). It highlights how systemic inequities and ableism contribute to higher dropout rates among neurodivergent students, revealing how policies and practices within educational institutions may consciously and unconsciously disadvantage these students (Dwyer et al., 2023).

By examining the power dynamics within colleges, CDT exposes how institutional practices, such as standardized testing and inflexible curricula, maintain the dominance of neurotypical norms (Dwyer et al., 2023). Drawing on Foucault's ideas, CDT shows how surveillance and disciplinary practices in educational settings can marginalize neurodivergent students, making them feel constantly monitored and judged (Foucault, 1977).

CDT aligns with broader social justice movements that seek to transform societal attitudes and institutional practices. It supports activism aimed at creating more inclusive and equitable educational environments. CDT complements other social justice approaches by emphasizing the intersectionality of disability with race, gender, and socioeconomic status (e.g. Ives & Elkins, 2024; Ramesh et al., 2024). It advocates for an inclusive approach that addresses multiple forms of oppression simultaneously.

Key Theorists

While many theorists have touched on or contributed to CDT, there are three who stand out above the rest and directly guided my work. I also argue that Critical Disability Theory could not exist without the groundwork laid by Orlando Fals Borda. Fals Borda was NOT a theorist within the framework of Critical Disability Theory, but I argue that his early work guided the below theorists. The concept of Participatory Action Research is central to the retaking of identity that is key to Critical Disability Theory. You cannot demand a place at the table if you are a research subject, and it was Fals Borda who first advocated for research subjects becoming partners.

"Do not monopolize your knowledge or arrogantly impose your technique, but respect and match your skills with the knowledge of the researched or grassroots communities, taking them as full partners and co-researchers."

- Orlando Fals Borda

Orlando Fals Borda

Orlando Fals Borda is most well known for developing Participatory Action Research (PAR). He focused primarily on marginalized communities, involving them in the process and ensuring they were given a voice. Fals Borda felt that traditional research methods reinforced oppressive power structures. In his quest for social justice, he sought to democratize knowledge through a focus on collaboration and inclusivity. His ideas laid the groundwork for later thinkers within Critical Disability Theory, guiding the principles of "nothing about us without us" and other movements that advocated for the voice of the research subject in research design.

Key Works

"Action and Knowledge: Breaking the Monopoly with Participatory Action Research" (1991)
- Co-authored with Muhammad Anisur Rahman, this book outlines the principles of participatory action research and its applications in promoting social change.
"Peasant Society in the Colombian Andes: A Sociological Study of Saucio" (1955)
- This early work provides a detailed sociological analysis of rural Colombian communities, laying the groundwork for Fals Borda's later development of PAR.

"Schools serve the same social function as prisons or mental institutions - to define, classify, control, and regulate people."

- Michael Foucault

Michael Foucault

Michel Foucault, a French philosopher and social theorist, is best known for his work on power dynamics and social institutions. His exploration of how institutions exert control over individuals' bodies and lives is key to understanding the ways colleges create norms that can marginalize neurodivergent students. Foucault's research into surveillance and disciplinary practices helps illuminate how colleges can enforce conformity and perpetuate systemic inequities that disadvantage those who deviate from neurotypical standards.

Key Works

"Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison" (1975)
- This seminal work explores the development of modern disciplinary mechanisms, including the concept of surveillance, which is critical for understanding power dynamics in institutions.
"The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception" (1963)
- This book examines the medical gaze and the role of institutions in shaping perceptions of normalcy and pathology, providing foundational insights for critical disability theory.

"To understand the disabled body, one must return to the concept of the norm, the normal body. So much of writing about disability has focused on the disabled person as the object of study, just as the study of race has focused on persons of color."

- Lennard J. Davis

Lennard J. Davis

Lennard J. Davis is a prominent scholar in disability studies who advocates for a cultural model of disability. This model emphasizes the role of societal norms and expectations in defining disability, rather than viewing it solely as a medical or biological condition. Davis's work challenges the traditional medical model by highlighting how cultural perceptions and social structures contribute to the marginalization of disabled individuals. His insights are crucial for understanding how neurodivergent students navigate and resist the expectations imposed upon them by academic institutions and broader society.

Key Works

"Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness, and the Body" (1995)
- This book challenges the traditional medical model of disability and emphasizes the role of societal norms in defining disability.
"Bending Over Backwards: Disability, Dismodernism, and Other Difficult Positions" (2002)
- Davis explores the concept of dismodernism and critiques traditional notions of identity and normalcy, contributing to the theoretical foundations of critical disability studies.

"The task of the modern individual is to move appropriately and effectively from disengaged spectator to attentive perceiver in order to slide easily into the social order. The starer, in contrast, is an undisciplined spectator arrested in an earlier developmental stage..."

- Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

Prominent in the field of disability studies, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson is well-known for her theories on the politics of staring and the "normate". The term "normate" describes the standard of normalcy that society holds for all bodies, frequently to the detriment of those who do not match it. In her research on the politics of gazing, Garland-Thomson looks at the ways in which looking at people with disabilities visually perpetuates power relations and social hierarchies. Her insights are crucial for comprehending how neurodivergent people are affected by the social construction of normalcy, especially in educational environments where they could be subject to more scrutiny and stigma.

Key Works

"Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature" (1997)
- This book introduces the concept of the "normate" and examines how cultural representations shape perceptions of disability.
"Staring: How We Look" (2009)
- Garland-Thomson explores the social and ethical implications of staring at disabled individuals, providing insight into the politics of visual engagement.

"To be crippled in America is not the American way. In a country where image is everything, it is hard to find an example for growing up crippled and hardly worth it when you do. The icon of the cripple is paralytic, a double-edged sword, but we desire role models all the same. They tried to make one of FDR last year, setting him in stone upon his wheelchair, condemning him to a double immobility."

- Tobin Siebers

Tobin Siebers

Tobin Siebers was a groundbreaking scholar who focused on the intersection of disability with other identity categories, such as race, gender, and sexuality. His concept of "disability as a theory of embodiment" emphasizes the significance of the body in shaping individual experiences and identities. Siebers's work is highly relevant for addressing the lived experiences of neurodivergent students, as it underscores the ways in which their bodies and minds interact with the world around them. By highlighting the complex and intersecting nature of identity, Siebers's theories advocate for a more holistic and inclusive understanding of disability within educational contexts.

Key Works

"Disability Theory" (2008)
- This book presents Siebers's concept of "disability as a theory of embodiment" and explores the intersection of disability with other identity categories.
"Disability Aesthetics" (2010)
- Siebers examines the representation of disability in art and culture, arguing for the aesthetic value of disabled bodies and challenging traditional notions of beauty and normalcy.

Why this? And what next?

At Johns Hopkins University, my Problem of Practice (POP) is around the significantly lower success rate of neurodivergent community college students versus their neurotypical counterparts. The above theorists have helped me to look at my POP in a new light. Garland-Thomson and Davis especially, with their theories around the social construct of normalcy, have helped me to realize just how much my entire problem is socially rather than diagnostically or medically generated. In other words, in a world that was equally accepting of all ways of thinking, there should be no delta between neurotypical and neurodivergent success rates. This is reinforced by the work of Tobin Siebers, whose courageous writing on visual normalcy put into academic words the challenges faced by the disabled as they navigate a society that sees them as lesser. All of this is of course couched in overt and covert power dynamics and institutional subjectification of the medically diagnosed. Foucault's groundbreaking research into the medical gaze directly reinforces Orlando Fals Borda's Participatory Action Research model. If the disabled are going to achieve the assumption of equality, we must first show that we are already equal. In other words, before we can change the language we need to become fluent in that language.

In my classes, I teach my students that they are all activists. Every time they demand a seat in a classroom, every time they show up, they are fighting the infantilization and the lowered societal expectations that have been placed upon them as disabled young adults.

Now it is up to you, me, them, and everybody - because we are all stakeholders in the future of disabled students. Every time we interact, we owe it to all people to see them at their level, and to understand their positionality. Through this, we can help normalize all ways of interacting with the world.

References

Chen, Y.-L., & Patten, K. (2021). Shifting Focus From Impairment to Inclusion: Expanding Occupational Therapy for Neurodivergent Students to Address School Environments. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75(3), 7503347010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.040618Devlin, Richard F. (Richard Francis), and Dianne Pothier. Critical Disability Theory : Essays in Philosophy, Politics, Policy, and Law / Edited by Dianne Pothier and Richard Devlin. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2006. Print.Dwyer, P., Mineo, E., Mifsud, K., Lindholm, C., Gurba, A., & Waisman, T. C. (2023). Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education. Autism in Adulthood: Challenges and Management, 5(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0042Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish : The Birth of the Prison / Michel Foucault ; Translated from the French by Alan Sheridan. 1st American ed. New York: Pantheon Books, 1977. Print.Ives, A. J., & Elkins, B. (2024). Queer crip enrollments: 2SLGBTQ mad, mentally ill, neurodivergent, and/or disabled college students. Journal of LGBT Youth, 21(2), 215–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2024.2309510Olkin, R. (2022, March 29). Conceptualizing disability: Three models of disability. Https://Www.Apa.Org. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psychology-teacher-network/introductory-psychology/disability-modelsOpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chatRamesh, J., Saaral, P., & Akomolafe, B. (2024). Parenting at the Intersections: Raising Neurodivergent Children of Color. Chicago Review Press. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=7372520

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