Intersectional Cohorts, Dis/ability, and Class Actions

This Article occupies the junction of dis/abilities studies and critical race theory. It joins the growing commentary analyzing the groundbreaking lawsuit by Compton, California students and teachers against the Compton school district under federal disability law and seeking class certification and injunctive relief in the form of teacher training, provision of counselors, and changed disciplinary practices. The federal district court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss but also denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and class certification, resulting in prolonged settlement talks. The suit is controversial because it seeks to address the trauma suffered by Black and Latinx students in poor, violence-torn inner-city communities by characterizing the students as disabled.The Article disagrees with legal scholarship thus far, which posits that using disability law to help these students both stigmatizes them and ignores current disability law’s focus on individual claims. It asserts that concerns about stigma are outweighed by the potential to assist distressed students. Doctrinally, it contends the concern for individual claims is overstated because one major goal of disability law is to remove social barriers to the flourishing of people with dis/abilities. By analyzing the social construction model of dis/abilities implicit within current law, this Article shows that group-based claims like those of the Compton students are a valid use of the class certification power.This Article’s key contribution to the dis/abilities studies and critical race literatures is the creation of a theory of “intersectional cohorts.” The members of intersectional cohorts share similar self-identities, attributed identities, and identity performances to such extent that it is appropriate to think of them as a discrete and cohesive group in relation to a particular issue. This is a way to explore the meso-level of discrete and cohesive social groups who share multiple identities without devolving into a micro-level theory of each individual or essentializing identities through a macro-level theory of broad social groups.Understanding poor Black and Latinx students in violence-torn neighborhoods as an intersectional cohort shows they have sufficiently shared experiences and responses to their environment to presume they constitute a class that should be certified in the Compton suit and in other similar lawsuits. This approach is supported by the scientific research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their relationship to complex trauma and disability. We hope this analysis will serve as a model for future theoretical and applied analysis of intersectional cohorts, especially with respect to dis/abilities

What effect does transition have on health and well-being in young people with intellectual disabilities? A systematic review

Background: Transition to adulthood might be a risk period for poor health in people with intellectual disabilities. However, we could find no synthesis of evidence on health and wellbeing outcomes during transition in this population. This review aimed to answer this question. Method: PRISMA/MOOSE guidelines were followed. Search terms were defined, electronic searches of six databases were conducted, reference lists and key journals were reviewed and grey literature was searched. Papers were selected based on clear inclusion criteria. Data was extracted from the selected papers, and their quality was systematically reviewed. The review was prospectively registered on PROSPERO: CRD42015016905. Results: 15,985 articles were extracted; of these 17 met the inclusion criteria. The results of these articles were mixed but suggested the presence of some health and wellbeing issues in this population during transition to adulthood, including obesity and sexual health issues. Conclusion: This review reveals a gap in the literature on transition and health, and points to the need for future work in this area

Health and wellbeing during transition to adulthood for young people with intellectual disabilities: a qualitative study

Background: Transition to adulthood may have negative consequences for health and wellbeing in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), but this aspect of transition has received little investigation. This qualitative study aimed to explore the transition experiences of individuals with ID from their own perspectives, and from that of their parents, in order to identify health or wellbeing implications of transition. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 young people with mild, moderate and severe ID aged 16–27 years and with 23 parents of young people with mild, moderate, severe and profound ID aged 16–26 years. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis, deploying both emic and etic coding categories. Results: This study provides direct insights into the issues on health and wellbeing that young people with ID and their parents find important during transition. The primary health implication of transition centred on mental health and wellbeing; young people experienced heightened anxiety during transition, and themes identified as contributing to anxiety included: a lack of meaningful activity following school exit; inadequate support during transition; and difficulties associated with ‘growing up’. Problem behaviours and obesity were also implicated. Conclusion: The transition from school needs to be better supported in order to ease anxiety for young people during this difficult period

À corps ouverts. Changement et échange d’identités dans la Capoeira et le contact improvisation

Cet article tente de montrer comment deux formes particulières de la danse contemporaine, la Capoeira et le contact improvisation peuvent fournir des modèles – et même des technologies physiques – à partir desquels théoriser une altérité incarnée. Il montre comment ces formes de danse proviennent de cultures et d’histoires spécifiques mais aussi comment, dans leurs manifestations contemporaines, elles possèdent leur propre logique qui nous force à repenser notre compréhension des corps et des cultures.This paper addresses how two different contemporary dance forms – Capoeira and Contact Improvisation – can provide models (even physical technologies) with which to theorize an embodied « altérité » or otherness. I will demonstrate how these forms came from specific cultural and historical locations, as well as how, in their contemporary manifestations, they embody their own inner logic, asking us to rethink our understanding of bodies and cultures

The Tensions of Technē: On Heidegger and Screendance

No abstract availableThis article was originally published by Parallel Press, an imprint of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, as part of The International Journal of Screendance, Volume 2 (2012), Parallel Press. It is made available here with the kind permission of Parallel Press

The First 4 Years: A Small Business Sustainability Study

Small businesses create most of the new jobs in the world, yet more than half fail before the 5th year. Small businesses contribute to the economy by originating new products and services, yet they often lack the strategies to overcome the challenges of the beginning years. When businesses fail, the community wanes from unemployment, poverty, crime, and other social dilemmas. The purpose of this single case study was to explore small business strategies for sustainability beyond Year 4, specifically in a single independent operating Ohio restaurant owner with less than 500 employees. The conceptual framework was Schumpeter\u27s theory of the entrepreneur\u27s role as leader of economic growth. A semistructured interview generated the data and a review of various business documents including tax returns, the business plan, an operations manual, company marketing material, and social media from the first 4 years in operation facilitated triangulation. Member checking afforded the correct meaning of various concepts and statements. This study contained 4 themes that foster business sustainability and may help nascent entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of the first 4 years: knowledge and experience, work ethic and commitment, social capital, and opportunity recognition through creative discovery. When entrepreneurs incorporate these themes into their business model, resiliency strategies materialize to expand and create jobs, launch new products or services, pay taxes, and stabilize tenuous neighborhoods. This study may also convince community stakeholders to design and reinforce training, networking, and financial opportunities to bolster entrepreneurial venture success

Students\u27 perceptions of effort in mathematics.

This study was designed to investigate students\u27 conceptualization of effort and its relationship to gender and achievement. Seventy-six intermediate students (aged 12--14) responded to a question that elicited statements describing students\u27 perception of effort. The statements were categorized under three main effort categories: Actions, Beliefs and Cognition. Boys used significantly more statements classified as Actions than girls and there was a tendency for girls to use more of the Beliefs descriptors. No gender differences were found for the Cognition category. There was only one significant correlation between effort categories and achievement: The frequency of Cognition statements was positively related to achievement. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-03, page: 0552. Adviser: E. Kuendiger. Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2000

THE BIOPHYSICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL IMPACTS OF FOREST DISTURBANCES ACROSS ECOSYSTEMS

Forest disturbances result in numerous impacts on ecosystem services. In the western United States, disturbances such as wildfires and bark beetle outbreaks have resulted in millions of hectares of dead trees. Despite the potential for these events to have significant climatic impacts, it remains a challenge both to effectively locate and characterize disturbance events across landscapes, and to identify the disturbance biophysical and biochemical impacts. The objective of my dissertation research was to improve the ways in which we locate and classify forest disturbances over large areas, as well as to increase our understanding of disturbance biophysical and biochemical impacts and how those impacts vary according to ecosystem properties. In chapter 1, I researched how a severe mountain pine beetle outbreak in western Montana influenced the future characteristics of lodgepole pine forests through the use of dendrochronological and climate station data. I investigated whether the outbreak had differentially impacted differing growth phenotypes, resulting in changes in forest productivity, and how growth phenotype related to patterns of growth-climate sensitivity. In chapter 2, I moved up in scale to investigate the biophysical and biochemical impacts of multiple forest disturbance classes, as well as how impacts of forest disturbances differed across varying ecoregions around the western United States. For chapter 3, I sought to improve our ability to understand the climatic impacts of forest disturbances by developing a logical framework to more accurately and efficiently detect and attribute forest disturbances using satellite imagery. The results of my work demonstrate the potential for large-scale impacts of forest disturbances on climate, and also suggest that current disturbances may alter the future forest-climate interactions. Additionally, the results from chapters 1 and 2 suggest that there is significant variability in the impacts of forest disturbances on climate, both within and among ecoregions and among disturbance types. This variability is mostly ignored in large-scale simulations of disturbance, despite its potential to significantly alter model and simulation results. The framework developed for my 3rd chapter will enable a better understanding of the variability of forest disturbances and allow for better prediction of their impacts on climate and other ecosystem properties