Special Education: Gr Culture of Disability

Focus on theoretical questions of how societies understand disability and its consequences for social justice, by examining the multiple determinants of the societal construction of disability. Credit not awarded for both EDSP 5250 and EDSP 3250. Pre/Co-requisites: EDSP 2170, CSD 2010, ASL 2990; Graduate student; or Instructor permission. Cross-listed with: CSD 5740.

Open to Graduate Degree and PACE students; Synchronous Online course; Cross listed with CSD 5740 OL1; Total combined enrollment is 30

Students enrolled in this course will examine the social and cultural experience of disability in different times and cultures. As an introduction to Disability Studies, we will examine several topics through lectures, group activities, and independent study. Topics covered will include: • Foundational concepts from the field of Disability Studies • The influence of cultural beliefs relating to disability on individuals, families, disability law, and social policy in the United States and other countries; • Responses to disability reflected in first person narratives, media, academic and professional discourse and practice, film, art and literature; • Disability across the lifespan, and the implications for education, health care and social services; • Many of the philosophical, ethical, historical, and legal foundations of Special Education; • Family systems and approaches to individual and family support in education and community services; • The role of different self-help and social change movements in the broader disability rights movement; and • The historical and cultural foundations of disability-related policies and practices in education, health care, and community development.

Course Learning Objectives Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: • Conduct a substantive analysis of the social, cultural, and legal history of the disability experience in the United States. • Find and use a range of first-person, academic, and policy narratives to analyze the intersections between personal, historical, and social responses to disability. • Identify many of the cultural influences on how disability has been portrayed in literature, film, art and public media over time. • Examine and discuss the cross-cultural understandings of disability, and the intersection of disability with other social identities and cultural experiences. • Identify and analyze the philosophical, ethical, historical and legal foundations of Special Education and the evolution of current policy and practices for both family support and the education of children with disabilities. • Critique many of the cultural and social perceptions of disability (including ableism, stigma, and discrimination) and their impact on people with disabilities/ disabled people. • Research and analyze the different cultural models of, and responses to disability and the impact of these beliefs or constructs on professional practices in education, medicine, rehabilitative services, and community development. • Identify the implications of Disability Studies and self-help and social change movements on professional practice in different fields (e.g., medicine, social work, education, anthropology)

• Attendance—10% • YellowDig Discussion Forum—10% • Comprehension Logs—30% • Media or Cultural Product Paper—10% • Disability Narrative Project—20% • Final Project—20%