Ableism and other systems of oppression continue to be upheld and maintained in both university teacher preparation and K-12 schooling systems. Thus, there is an urgent need to examine and disrupt these oppressive forces and begin to (re)imagine teacher preparation and K-12 schooling so that disabled and multiply marginalized students and…

The field of Environmental Education (EE) is facing multiple crises around the climate crisis and an overdue recognition of the racist and ableist assumptions within EE spaces (Bang et al., 2014; Miller, Schmidt). These two issues are profoundly intertwined with emotions of anger, fear, shame, and disillusionment. In EE teaching and learning,…

Students with mild disabilities are spending the majority of their school day in general education classrooms. However, their academic engagement and outcomes are not always favorable and teachers are often unprepared to present curricula in a way that is engaging and accessible for students at every skill level. A Theory of Academic Engagement…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) estimated about 24% of adults in the United States live with a disability. However, the literature suggested only 4.4% of healthcare workers reported having a disability in the United States. Stigmatization and ableism have likely led to nurses hiding their disabilities while practicing,…

Rehabilitation counselors work with families to assist in transitioning adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) from school to adult services. Currently, there is no evidence base for rehabilitation counselors to conceptualize and promote disability acceptance in parents. The purpose of this research was to identify interventions used by…

The research objective of this qualitative study was to discern a new purpose for provision of support to autistic individuals that would thoroughly eschew harmful normalization, which was the traditional purpose of all types of support for hundreds of years. Clinical practice and special education are moving toward a neurodiversity-affirming…

Special education teachers do not always include assistive technology (AT) in instructional practices to promote the academic success of students with learning disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons special education teachers only sometimes include the use of AT in instructional practices. The conceptual framework was…

This theoretical multi-article dissertation is a broad examination of education, including trends in our school system, juvenile justice system, and cultural/media system to address the disproportionate targeted failure of students with disabilities from a neurodiversity standpoint. Research shows how our current education system is not the…

This qualitative research study sought to uncover the benefits of an employer-tailored training intervention in addressing employer knowledge, perspectives, and attitudes regarding employing an individual with a visual impairment, with the ultimate goal of identifying a way to positively impact the high unemployment rate amongst this population.…

The purpose of this study is to better understand the subjective viewpoints of faculty members toward students with psychological disabilities as a subset of the larger student population with unique needs due to the hidden nature of the barriers they experience. This Q methodology study explores the views of 29 faculty who have taught students…

The current organizational autoethnographic study aims to problematize ableism as an ideology that permeates and contributes to the inequities students with disabilities face in education. I share how I came to see ableism as an ideology that permeates and contributes to recursive practices in special education and share experiences that…

This research study presents the Scale of Dis/ability Apparentness in Education Settings (SDAES) to explore the complex and dynamic nature of dis/abled apparentness among college students. The study combines qualitative and quantitative data to examine five key domains: Environment, Ableism, Identity, Taking Action, and Embodied Dis/ability,…

Intervention and education programs for autistic individuals have been greatly informed by the medical model of disease/disability. Under this model, autism is seen as something to be fixed or remediated, and interventions have often focused on reducing autistic traits in an effort to get the autistic person to appear more "typical."…

Language used when referring to individuals with disabilities has changed over time as a result of advocacy and a search for equality and humanization. Beginning in the 1970s, there was a shift to the use of person-first language (PFL; e.g., person with autism) to reduce stigma, while simultaneously promoting equal human rights standards and…

The problem that was the focus of this study is that many parents, both children who are typically developing and those who have special needs, are unsure of the benefits of inclusive preschool classrooms. This study is important because it enhanced understanding of how parents make informed decisions about what is educationally best for their…