Event Recap: Disability and Ableism in Education

Event Recap: Disability & Ableism in Education

By Katherine Lewis, Content Manager at Diversability

Event flyer with round photos of each panelist and text surrounding. Above reads “7:00 pm ET September 28, 2021; Diversability Unplugged: Disability & Ableism in Education.” Text below each photo shares panelists’ names, pronouns, and title. From left to right: “Jade Kolby (she/her), Adjunct Professor; Dr. Victor Pineda (he/him), Founder and President; Merlyna Valentine (she/her), Speaker/Consultant; Jay Dolmage (he/him), Professor of English; Michelle Aldas (she/her), Graphic Design Student.”

On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, Diversability hosted our Back-to-School Unplugged event Diversability Unplugged: Disability & Ableism in Education. This event brought members of the Diversability team, community members, and five (5) panelists together for an important conversation about the barriers to accessible education and opportunities for growth. Our panelists included Jade Kolbo, an adjunct college professor, Dr. Victor Pineda, founder and president of World Enabled Merlyna Valentine, an active speaker and accessibility consultant, Jay Dolmage, English professor and social justice ally, and Michelle Aldas, current graphic design student. The event was moderated by Katherine Lewis, Content Manager for the Diversability team. 

We spent the session exploring the unique experience of the disabled community throughout the education system, systemic barriers to accessible education, and more. Panelists answered a number of targeted questions, shared personal stories, and engaged with attendees in a Q&A session to close out the event.

Diversability’s content manager Katherine Lewis kicked off the evening by welcoming attendees and sharing more about Diversability’s work. She, as well as the four panelists then briefly introduced themselves before diving into the evening’s topics.

Barriers to Accessible Education

Panelists were asked to describe personal experiences with ableism and access from the lens of roles [ie. student, caretaker, educator, etc.] they have held within the education system. Jade Kolbo shared that as a student with Crohn’s, resources and accommodation information were plentiful and the processes for getting her needs met clear, while after she transitioned to the role of educator, the path became much less clear and simple. It is in fact partly why she chose to seek adjunct professorship rather than less flexible full-time positions. Others echoed similar sentiments that the nature and ease of accessible education services and resources vary widely depending on a myriad of factors such as age, location, funding, etc.

This brought the discussion to the topic of intersectionality and the deep impact it has on the quest for accessible education. Panelists briefly discussed their own intersectional identities and how they shaped personal barriers to accessible education and explored how they often compound barriers for others as well. We segued to a discussion specifically about adult learners and the unique barriers they face. Jay mentioned the humbling statistic that for students enrolled in PhD programs, there is a less than 50% retention rate for disabled students as opposed to nearly 60% of their non-disabled counterparts. While the factors at play are plentiful, Jay attributed much of this retention dropoff to be the general lack of focus associated with adult learners as opposed to minors. Much less emphasis is placed on adult learners’ needs, in large part to the fact that societal views on human development as we age attaches an often overestimated level of self-sufficiency as people enter young adulthood. It is generally assumed that as we go from teenagers to young adults, we are fully equipped to meet our own access needs without assistance. And while this may be true for the general population, a growing number (especially in the disabled community) need additional resources well into adulthood. And while resources and programs are abundant for minors, they all but disappear for adults venturing into educational settings. And that is the barrier to address if we hope to curb such a profound retention loss of great disabled minds. 

Special Education

The case for special education services is a long-debated one. Many find it to be a vital part of providing an equitable and accessible education to exceptional learners, while others view it as “othering” these learners and serves only to exclude them from reaping the full benefits of modern education, as well as condition internalized ableism in all students. And just as the subject itself, possible solutions are equally debated. There is a growing number of educators and activists calling for Inclusive Education where all students regardless of ability are taught together in the same classroom. More and more education students are getting dual certification in general and special education and the gap in proper training does seem to be closing [some]. Others don’t think it’s that simple. They believe the services rendered in special education classrooms - from occupational therapists, speech pathology, literacy, and more - are too specialized subsets to possibly be delivered adequately outside the special education environment. 

There was a general consensus amongst our panelists that in order for fully inclusive [integrated] education to be meaningful and beneficial, it requires wide-spread foundational training for all involved, educators especially. While inclusive educational settings have positive implications for social-emotional development, it often leaves disabled students left out of equal curricular growth as their peers. The intensive training required of special educators is an invaluable asset to the disabled community and should be considered as an integral part of the education process rather than an exception. With both groups of educators working together in a much more connected manner, providing fully accessible education would become easier to achieve.

Attendees shared that they appreciated that the panelists could speak from their own experience and had a broad variety of expertise and knowledge. 

Watch a replay of the event on YouTube and continue the conversation in our online community.