My research privileges students' perspectives on special education, and works to disrupt deficit notions of disability in school and schooling. I seek to understand disability from the perspective of those with disabilities, grounded in the wisdom of disability community and culture. I am interested in the ways that students identify with, explain, and understand their disability labels, and in turn the ways that schools and educational environments can be better shaped to develop those identities intentionally. My research agenda centers around three major questions:
1. How do adolescents with disabilities understand, relate to, and develop an awareness of disability and disability identity across different instructional contexts and disability labels?
2. How can classrooms and instructional materials be designed to support positive disability identity in students, and allow teachers to address questions of difference and ableism in their classrooms?
3. How can student voices and meaning making be privileged in special education and related educational research, and what impact does participatory research methodology have towards fulfilling this goal?
My work has received an Outstanding Dissertation award from the American Educational Research Association's Special and Inclusive Education Research SIG. I also received an Outstanding Poster Award from the American Psychological Association's Division 22: Rehabilitation Psychology.
You can find my published work through Google Scholar:
1. How do adolescents with disabilities understand, relate to, and develop an awareness of disability and disability identity across different instructional contexts and disability labels?
2. How can classrooms and instructional materials be designed to support positive disability identity in students, and allow teachers to address questions of difference and ableism in their classrooms?
3. How can student voices and meaning making be privileged in special education and related educational research, and what impact does participatory research methodology have towards fulfilling this goal?
My work has received an Outstanding Dissertation award from the American Educational Research Association's Special and Inclusive Education Research SIG. I also received an Outstanding Poster Award from the American Psychological Association's Division 22: Rehabilitation Psychology.
You can find my published work through Google Scholar: