Education Commons^™

Engaging Students With Disabilities, Kirsten R. Brown, Ellen Broido

Kirsten R. Brown, Ph.D.

Students with disabilities are a rapidly growing, yet historically underrepresented population in postsecondary education. Historically underrepresented groups share a common experience: all faced unwelcoming environments when initially entering higher education (Hall & Belch, 2000). Ableism (the oppression of people with disabilities) plays a powerful role in shaping the way student with and without disabilities experience the educational environments, because “[b]y assuming one normative way to do things (move, speak, learn, and so forth), society privileges those who carry out these functions as prescribed and oppresses those who use other methods” (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton & Renn, 2010, p. 242). To …