Toward Ending Ableism in Education

 November 3

Toward Ending Ableism in Education by Thomas Hehir

"Toward Ending Ableism in Education", as the title suggests, explains some key ways of how we can help end ableism in school like expanding diversity efforts to include disability and encouraging students with disabilities to develop and use skills of expression that are effective for them. It's important for different disabilities to be represented just like race, gender, sexuality, etc. is. People with different disabilities and different severities of disabilities all require different accommodations and will have different ways of working with their disability. In the education field as well as in general, we need to support students who have disabilities and encourage them by following accommodations, learning their personal ways of expression, as well as providing representation of disabilities and not only in powerful roles, but also average, everyday normal roles. We also need to keep in mind, as Hehir says, "the most damaging ableist assumption is the belief that disabled people are incapable."

This reminded me of our very first reading by Johnson and one of his main points about how a large part of working on fixing an issue is first acknowledging it is an issue instead of denying it exists in the first place. He explains this in the context of racism and how white people need to admit that they are privileged for there to be progress. Hehir explains that part of ending ableism in schools is first admitting that it does exist. I am also reminded of Lisa Delpit's "Culture of Power" and how those who are not disabled need to use our privilege to advocate for and support those who do. People with disabilities do not fit into our ideal S.C.W.A.A.M.P outline and therefore do not get the representation, accommodations, and acceptance they deserve.