Disability Studies Commons^™

Neuroqueering Art Therapy: Bringing Neurodivergent Gender Diversity Into The Creative Arts Therapy Room: A Literature Review, Avital Eisen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Recent research across disciplines has established the significance of the overlap between neurodivergence and gender diversity, a truth long espoused by the community. Acting on this research, some mental health disciplines have begun addressing neurodivergent transgender and gender diverse people as a unified population in their research, but the field of art therapy has not yet followed suit. Theoretical frameworks of intersectionality, queer theory, and disability justice highlight the importance of centering the unique experiences and needs of neurodivergent gender diversity. Using these frameworks, this literature review synthesizes community knowledge with art therapy research on both neurodivergence and gender diversity, …

Work Readiness And Job Satisfaction Of Youth With Intellectual Disabilities Participating In A Supported Employment Program, Hannah Branch

Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences

A summer supported employment program was provided by a vocational rehabilitation agency to prepare transition-aged youth with intellectual disabilities for the workforce. This study examined the views of youth with intellectual disabilities on their pre-post-program work readiness and job satisfaction using survey methodology. Although youth seemed satisfied with their jobs, they reported no significant change in their perceived job readiness, and their job coaches also reported similar perceptions.

As a summer program, the duration may not have been adequate to increase youth’s views of their work readiness. For summer supported employment programs, obtaining youth participant insight and feedback, although sometimes …

The Real Experts: Understanding Autism And Adhd Through The Lens Of The Individual, Mary Little

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation aims to spark intentional conversation and change geared towards shattering stigmas around the autistic and ADHD experience. Attendees will enhance their understanding of neuro-divergent populations in order to modify environments and provide interventions aligning with trauma informed care and inclusion. Attendees will also be given the opportunity to embrace the power of self disclosure and mentorship.

Brave Schools: Exploring Student Rights & Inclusive Anti-Bullying School Spaces Through Transgender & Queer Liberation Practices, Miruna Ouatu-Lascar

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

In today’s climate student rights and the rights of transgender students particularly are constantly under attack creating school community climates that are hostile & dangerous for kids. This workshop will present participants with an overview of transgender and queer theory liberatory practices & outline strategies for creating inclusive school communities that are not only welcoming but actively engage in combating hate and bully culture.

Toolkit On Self-Determination And Decision-Making Supports, Johnny Hanson

MSW Capstones

This project is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Adult guardianship is being disproportionately assumed and utilized by social workers, and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), when DCYF dependent youth transition into adult services with the Developmental Disability Administration (DDA). A meta-analysis of research shows a positive correlations between increased self-determination (choice) and increased short and long-term health. Additional research shows the negative impacts of guardianship on self-determination, and the growing support for less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, like supported decision-making (SDM). Self-determination is increased, the less restrictive a decision-making arrangement …

How Families Can Empower Youth With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities (Idd) From Racially And Ethnically Diverse Backgrounds, Esther Kamau, Jennifer Bose, Jean Winsor

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This brief shares the perspectives and experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse family members of four youth who shared their employment and community engagement stories. It outlines the pivotal role these families played to support youth with IDD to find and maintain competitive integrated employment and to meaningfully engage with their communities. It draws from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with youth with IDD, their family members, and job coaches.

Online Bilingual Co-Design: Developing Resources With People With Disability And Family Members From Refugee Backgrounds, Angela Dew, Mahmoud Murad, Louisa Smith, Joanne Watson, Kim Robinson, Maree Higgins, Cathy Preston-Thomas, Mardi Stow, Ingrid Culos, Mariano Coello, Shakeh Momartin, Christian Astourian, Kelley Johnson, Caroline Lenette, Katherine Boydell

The Qualitative Report

People with disability from Syrian and Iraqi refugee backgrounds living in Australia have limited access to information and resources in Arabic language. Our study aim was to use a co-design process to create a suite of Arabic-language resources to increase information access and build capacity of people with disability and family members from refugee backgrounds to use services, and of disability and refugee services to provide relevant support. Following a rapid literature review about access to supports and services for people with disability from refugee backgrounds, workshops were held with 38 people with disability and family members from Syrian and …

Are We Accurately Counting The Disabled Population In The United States?, Nastassia Vaitsiakhovich, Scott D. Landes, Bonnielin K. Swenor

Population Health Research Brief Series

Over 1 in 4 Americans are disabled (26.8%), yet health disparities for this subpopulation remain under-addressed. Tackling health disparities for people with disabilities requires effective public health and disability policies that cannot be developed without standardized and accurate disability data. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) annually collects data on health outcomes for the non-institutionalized U.S. population, including those with disabilities. The questions to measure disability in the NHIS have changed over time, raising concerns about how these changes affect the accuracy of the count of people with disabilities in the U.S. This brief summarizes findings from a recent study …

Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Insider’S Perspective In Public And Academic Libraries, Ryan Lamberts

The Information Warrior Journal

The purpose of this paper is to bring to light the social issue of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and how public and academic libraries are making strides to better serve this branch of the population. Definitions will be provided to better explain what challenges ASD patrons face. In turn, librarians across America, specifically in Illinois and Ohio in recent years, have come together to discuss in both literature and national forums what they are continually doing to better serve, educate, and support their patrons and train their librarians. ASD is a complex social issue faced by millions; one widely …

"Too Immoral To Be Narrated By A Woman": Censoring Erotic Fiction Of Arab Women Writers In Girls Of Riyadh And Distant View Of A Minaret And Other Stories, Muhammed Salem

Comparative Woman

In the Arab world, bargaining with censorship has been an ongoing struggle for writers, particularly female authors. How could we explain that only male writers were allowed to discuss sexuality in the Arabic canon, insofar as female characters are portrayed as passive sexual objects? Are Arab women writers victims of double censorship? One is imposed on their fellow male writers, and another is tacit censorship which judges women’s morality based on their writing. Girls of Riyadh (2007) by Saudi novelist, Rajaa Abdullah Alsanea, and Distant View of the Minaret and Other Stories (1987) by Egyptian novelist, Alifa Rifaat, are two …

Interculturality, Creolization, And Globalization In "Ángeles Nómadas" By Minelys Sánchez, Cecily Bernard

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

How Families And Employment Professionals Can Form Partnerships To Support Youths And Young Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities (Idd), Jennifer Bose, Esther Kamau, Jean Winsor

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This brief highlights the perspectives and experiences of family members of four young adults with IDD who shared their employment and community engagement stories. The brief outlines the roles families played to support the youth adults to find and maintain competitive, integrated employment and to engage meaningfully with their communities. It draws from in-depth, semi structured interviews with young adults with IDD, their family members, and job coaches.

Summary Of Statedata: The National Report On Employment Services And Outcomes Through 2021, Jean Winsor, John Butterworth, Alberto Migliore, Daria Domin, Agnes Zalewska, John Shepard, Esther Kamau, Ryan Wedeking

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This Data Note summarizes the findings from the National Report on Employment Services and Outcomes Through 2021. Overall, the findings suggest that across data sources, people with IDD experience greater levels of unemployment, underemployment, low wages, and poverty compared to those without disabilities and those with non-IDD disabilities.

The [Dis] Advantage Of Studying Higher Education (He) With Dyslexia, Keith Murphy

Journal of Franco-Irish Studies

Contemporary discourse and literature surrounding dyslexia is often dominated by notions of disability, deficit, lack, vulnerability, and social expectancies around achievement in education. This paper explores that when students identify dyslexia as a limitation, it becomes a barrier to successful learning and has a negative effect on their identity, which impacts them socially and academically, leading to vicissitudes, voice suppression and what I term, academic imprisonment. Accepting dyslexia as an integral part of the self and viewing it through a prism of difference as opposed to a deficit, are emerging themes for students with dyslexia to help achieve, while studying …

Dealing With The Trauma Of Undiagnosed Dyslexia, Aisling Dolan

Journal of Franco-Irish Studies

The theme of my Master’s by research is an investigation into the condition and effects of dyslexia on one’s personality, academic experience and professional growth. I wish to examine and acknowledge the effects dyslexia has on an individual’s ability to learn and grow in a “typical” twenty-first-century society. I intend also to highlight the emotional impact this disability can have on a person’s sense of self and how they develop through childhood. I hope to demonstrate the link dyslexia has in fostering a visual form of thinking and expression. I also hope to evaluate how one’s dyslexia reveals itself in …

The Object Play Of Young Children On The Autism Spectrum: A Narrative Review Of Strengths-Based Literature, Sharon Eva

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: The play in young children with autism has been historically seen as deficits-based, with a focus on the limitations of autistic object play. More recently, there has been a shift towards a strengths-based view of autistic object play, where their play preferences and skills are viewed as vehicles for meaningful engagement and as having potential for learning. The aims of this narrative review are two-fold: to identify themes in the existing literature regarding the object play of young children with autism; and, to summarize the existing literature specifically examining object play in young autistic children from a strengths-based point …

Why Autistic Sociality Is Different: Reduced Interest In Competing For Social Status, Catherine L. Caldwell-Harris, Anna M. Schwartz

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The complexity of human organizations poses the challenge of understanding and navigating social hierarchies. If 'social impairment' is a defining feature of autism, then these challenges may be heightened for autistic persons. We reject the premise of social deficits but follow recommendations to investigate how autistic social behavior diverges from neurotypical norms. We review autistic writings and also scholarship on reputation management, non-conformity and moral reasoning to argue that autistic people dislike social hierarchies, find status-seeking illogical, prefer egalitarian relationships, and often seek to report wrong-doing by authorities. We outline three possible causes: (1) reduced social motivation; (2) emergent property …

The Future Of Critical Autism Studies (Cas): Thinking Through Critical Discourse Studies And Postcolonial Feminism, Cansu Elmadagli

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The field of Critical Autism Studies (CAS) has evolved significantly since its inception, with scholars continually redefining its key tenets and objectives. CAS emerged as a response to conventional medical and social deficit-based models of autism and seeks to challenge the prevailing norm that considers neurotypicality as the unquestioned standard. This article, written by an autistic scholar, aims to contribute to the ongoing discussions in CAS. The article introduces novel perspectives by suggesting connections between CAS, Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), and postcolonial feminism. It advocates for the incorporation of concepts and tools from these traditions to enrich CAS’s approach. Furthermore, …

Critical Autism Studies Beyond Academia: An Annotated List, Alyssa Hillary Zisk

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

This is an introduced and annotated list of sources from beyond academia which are, have been, or may yet be important texts for critical autism or neurodiversity studies. The defining actions of critical autism studies, or of critical neurodiversity studies, have been taken outside academia and will continue to be taken outside academia. This list serves as a reminder of this reality through examples.

Review Of "The #Actuallyautistic Guide To Advocacy: Step-By- Step Advice On How To Ally And Speak Up With Autistic People And The Autism Community", Jennifer M. Brady

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.