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Misfits In The Front Of The Classroom: Poetic Narratives Of Teaching With A Hidden Disability, Nicole C. Eugene

Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research

Instructors with a hidden disability may choose to talk with their students about their disability, they may choose to pass as normal, or they may deal with their disability in ways that challenge the binary of showing/hiding. Communication about disabilities occurs in contexts that provide a range of possible cultural values that can work to reinforce an individual’s sense of belonging to a group or organization. To examine how graduate students negotiate their disability or illness in the classroom context, I conducted three interviews with graduate instructors addressing how they communicate their disability in the classes they teach. I learned …