Tumbled Identities: Negotiating Invisible Disabilities and Sexual Orientation

Produced by The Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i, The Frank Sawyer School of Management, Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts, and The School of Social Sciences, The University of of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas for The Society for Disability Studies

La surreprésentation des élèves de couleur dans l’éducation spécialisée aux États-Unis

L’affectation disproportionnée des étudiants de couleur dans l’enseignement spécialisé a été un problème récurrent aux États-Unis et ailleurs. Les auteurs retracent les contextes historiques ainsi que des tendances contemporaines associées à cette disproportion. Ils analysent ensuite les façons dont la surreprésentation s’est appuyée sur les héritages problématiques de la théorie du déficit et des tentatives d’inclusion avortées. Sont ensuite présentés des développements prometteurs dans la théorie, la recherche et la pratique, visant à annuler les effets nocifs du clivage racial dans les écoles et la société. Il faut un engagement continu pour étudier et mieux comprendre la question de la disproportion à travers des champs d’étude interdisciplinaires.The disproportionate placement of students of color in special education has been a persistent problem in the USA and beyond. This article traces the historical contexts, as well as contemporary trends associated with disproportionality. The authors then discuss ways that overrepresentation has relied upon problematic legacies of deficit thinking and frustrated attempts toward inclusion. Next, they document promising developments in theory, research, and practice that seek to undo the harmful effects of racially divided schools and society. Finally, they urge for a continued commitment to researching and better understanding the issue of disproportionality through interdisciplinary fields of study.La afectación desproporcionada de estudiantes de color en la enseñanza especializada ha sido un problema recurrente en Estados Unidos y en otras partes del mundo. Los autores esbozan los contextos históricos así como unas tendencias contemporáneas asociadas a esta desproporción. Analizan luego los modos con los que la sobre-representación se ha apoyado en las herencias problemáticas de la teoría del déficit y de las tentativas de inclusión abortadas. Se exponen después unos desarrollos prometedores en la teoría, investigación y práctica, con el fin de cancelar los efectos nocivos de la brecha racial en las escuelas y en la sociedad. Es menester un compromiso continuo para estudiar y comprender mejor el tema de la desproporción a través de campos de estudio pluridisciplinarios

“What if There's Something Wrong with Her?”‐How Biomedical Technologies Contribute to Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare

While there is a steadily growing literature on epistemic injustice in healthcare, there are few discussions of the role that biomedical technologies play in harming patients in their capacity as knowers. Through an analysis of newborn and pediatric genetic and genomic sequencing technologies (GSTs), I argue that biomedical technologies can lead to epistemic injustice through two primary pathways: epistemic capture and value partitioning. I close by discussing the larger ethical and political context of critical analyses of GSTs and their broader implications for just and equitable healthcare delivery

GWAS meta-analysis of over 29,000 people with epilepsy identifies 26 risk loci and subtype-specific genetic architecture

Epilepsy is a highly heritable disorder affecting over 50 million people worldwide, of which about one-third are resistant to current treatments. Here we report a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study including 29,944 cases, stratified into three broad categories and seven subtypes of epilepsy, and 52,538 controls. We identify 26 genome-wide significant loci, 19 of which are specific to genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). We implicate 29 likely causal genes underlying these 26 loci. SNP-based heritability analyses show that common variants explain between 39.6% and 90% of genetic risk for GGE and its subtypes. Subtype analysis revealed markedly different genetic architectures between focal and generalized epilepsies. Gene-set analyses of GGE signals implicate synaptic processes in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the brain. Prioritized candidate genes overlap with monogenic epilepsy genes and with targets of current antiseizure medications. Finally, we leverage our results to identify alternate drugs with predicted efficacy if repurposed for epilepsy treatment

L'inclusione per il 21 secolo: perché abbiamo bisogno del Disabilities Studies in Education

The history of inclusive school policies and practices in both Italy and the United States suggest that inclusion is not something we achieve once and for all, but instead must continually be won. In this chapter I describe some of the challenges that both US and Italy have faced in enacting inclusive policies. I argue for the need to be mindful of the ways schools are sites in which the gravitationalpull towards exclusion must be persistently countered and resisted by an ever-expanding impulse toward inclusion. I conclude the article by suggesting ways that disability studies in education can provide important insights for how to counteract the tenacious pull toward exclusion and to enact an expanded and more robust vision of inclusion.The history of inclusive school policies and practices in both Italy and the United States suggest that inclusion is not something we achieve once and for all, but instead must continually be won.In this chapter I describe some of the challenges that both US and Italy have faced in enacting inclusive policies. I argue for the need to be mindful of the ways schools are sites in which the gravitational pull towards exclusion must be persistently countered and resisted by an ever-expanding impulse toward inclusion. I conclude the article by suggesting ways that disability studies in educationcan provide important insights for how to counteract the tenacious pull toward exclusion and to enact an expanded and more robust vision of inclusion

Voices in the Struggle: In Response to "'Reining In' Special Education"

In responding to "'Reining In' Special Education," I explore some of the taken-for-granted assumptions about students with disabilities in The New York Times editorials about special education that Nancy Rice critiques in this issue. Next, I attend to other voices in the editorial page in the form of letters to the editor and editorial pages from the Black press as examples of alternative and competing discourses. Because I contend that editorials are designed not just to persuade, but also to provoke response, I examine ways that these voices talk back and talk with dominant ideologies about special education. And, finally, I examine what these texts are trying to tell readers not only to believe, but also what to do about the so-called "problem" of special education

Introduction to DSQ Special Issue: “Why is There Learning Disabilities?”— Revisiting Christine Sleeter’s Socio-political Construction of Disability Two Decades On

This article serves as an introduction to the special edition of Disability Studies Quarterly dedicated to revisiting Christine Sleeter’s germinal 1987 publication, “Why is There Learning Disabilities? A Critical Analysis of the Birth of the Field in Its Social Context.” In this introductory essay we first highlight the influence of Sleeter’s work in historicizing disability and normalcy, learning and schooling, asking readers to consider social class and race in the construction of learning disability. Second, we position her in a community of other critical special educators who troubled existing beliefs and practices within the field of special education. Third, we briefly review the thirteen articles featured in this special issue, noting how each engages with ideas from Sleeter’s original analysis. Fourth, we trace how Sleeter and other researchers influenced the emergence of disability studies, and particularly disability studies in education (DSE). In closing, we acknowledge the ongoing schism between DSE and traditional special education, taking strength from the work of Sleeter and other critical special educators who have gone before us, and remain ever optimistic for a more open dialogue

Promoting Access Through Segregation: The Emergence of the Prioritized Curriculum Class

The continuously evolving standards-based reform (SBR) movement is one of the most prominent features of today\u27s educational policy landscape. As SBR has continued to drive educational policy, local schools and districts have adopted many approaches to comply with legal mandates. This article critically examines one particular resultant phenomenon of the SBR movement-the emergence of a new track of self-contained classes called Prioritized Curriculum classes, designed to provide students with disabilities access to standards-based general education curriculum, but in a segregated class. In this article we document the emergence of such courses and critically analyze the rationales and policy loopholes that have led to their creation