Teachers play a key role in fostering a positive view of disabilities by facilitating classroom conversations that promote awareness, understanding, and acceptance of human differences. However, research has indicated that many teachers are reluctant to talk about disabilities with their students because they are unsure of what to say or fear…

Presently, most mental health practitioners in the United States are educated, trained, and employed in a system focused on curing or changing autistic people. As a result, mental health practitioners may exhibit anti-autistic bias--any form of bias that degrades, devalues, or others autistic people or traits--when engaged with autistic clients.…

Research suggests that in classrooms across the United States, teachers are hesitant to engage students in a discussion about disability. However, if children are not given opportunities to talk about disability, they run the risk of internalizing disability stereotypes or believing that discussing disability is not appropriate. In this paper, we…

Although disabled people encounter discrimination in almost every facet of life -- such as employment, housing, education, healthcare, and transportation -- disability is often missing from conversations regarding social justice. Disability-related discussion (DRD) in English Language Arts (ELA) offers an inroad to having students view disability…

Interactional diversity, defined as "informal engagement with diverse peers that occurs outside of the classroom," is one way for colleges and universities to facilitate connections between and among students (Bowman, 2010). Little is known, however, about the enduring effects of interactional diversity, particularly as it relates to…

Students with disabilities are at greater risk for depression, substance use, bullying, and fewer friendships, largely due to negative attitudes and misperceptions from their nondisabled peers. School counselors are particularly important stakeholders in improving the experiences of students with disabilities. This qualitative study uses the…

While scholars have indicated that social involvement is crucial to students' development and success in college life and beyond, very little empirical research investigates how students with disabilities become socially integrated in college settings. In response, this qualitative study examines the social experiences of five college students…

This qualitative case study examines the experiences of 27 university students participating in LEVEL, a campus-based group that pairs undergraduates (enactors) and their classmates, who self-identify as having physical disabilities (recipients). The purpose of this research was to understand how enactors' perceptions of physical disability were…

Although much research addresses prejudice toward and discrimination of individuals with disabilities, few studies engage with the concept of "ability privilege," or the benefits that typically abled individuals are afforded in relation to their position within the hegemony. Given the fledgling nature of research on ability privilege, it…

Presently, there is limited research that explores how the nature of pre-service teachers' prior experience informs their dispositional development, and it has yet to be determined whether the pedagogical needs of these prospective teachers vary based on their level of prior exposure. This qualitative case study examines the dispositions of three…

When attending to dispositions, or educators' assumptions and beliefs about teaching, learning, and students, teacher educators must develop a discourse that examines disability in terms of power and privilege. This article synthesizes literature related to critical race theory (CRT) and disability theory to elucidate the need for a critical…