Let's kick the day off with a discussion about disability identity in higher education. Whether someone's condition is congenital, acquired, progressive, etc..., coming into one's disability identity can be a process--particularly in the context of higher ed. (Polls below!)
I consider Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome sort of the "grand unifying theory" of my many conditions because the rest commonly co-occur with EDS. Because EDS is genetic, I have technically had it my entire life, and in retrospect, I've been affected by it for my entire life, however...
It wasn't until my second year of my PhD that I started to suspect my bodymind was unusual in... let's say, a clinically relevant way. That was also around the time when I started to really struggle to contort my bodymind to fit the structures of academia.
(It was several more years before I got any sort of definitive diagnosis... more on that in a second!) My initial response was to internalize ableist academic expectations. I knew I was struggling, but I didn't feel like I could ask for help.
Which was worse, I asked myself, being "incompetent" or "incapable"? Both possibilities terrified me, and I knew that for most professors and administrators, any sign of struggle was evidence that a student simply couldn't "hack it" and should quietly excuse themselves from uni.
Poll 1. Have you felt pressured to quit higher ed due to the institution's attitudes around disability? Comment below!
Three things made a difference for me: first, my supervisor @SundbergJuanita. In Juanita's courses, we never studied disability specifically, but we looked at how "social difference" is created and operates in Anglo/European contexts.
Juanita also emphasized "the politics of knowledge production". She was openly critical of higher ed as a space that reproduces violence against marginalized communities. This helped me to contextualize my experiences as a disabled person in academia.
In short, she gave me tools to conceptualize disabled identities and space to interrogate ableist marginalization in the academy. That gave me a foundation for/openness to the crip and critical disability literature that molded my emerging crip identity.
Juanita's teaching and supervisory style also "accommodated" me before I even knew that's what I needed. She has also continued to be interested in learning more about disability, including what she can do better. She regularly goes to bat for me in the institution.
My supervisor was, without meaning to be, an important disability mentor.
Poll 2. Have you had any instructors or other mentors within higher education who have facilitated coming into your disability identity? (Comment below!)
Poll 3. If you answered "yes" to Poll 2, were these instructors or mentors themselves disabled?
Second, when I outed myself as disabled, students, instructors, and staff began disclosing their own disabilities to me--in particular, the ways that they struggle, often silently, due to academic ableism. Being exposed to the systemic character of this very much radicalized me.
When I assert my disabled identity in academic spaces, it is an act of resistance. I am not just taking space for myself but demanding that disability have space in the academy--and that requires radically rethinking what higher ed is and how it operates.
Poll 4. Do you view claiming your disability identity in higher ed as a radical, political act? (Comment below!)
Poll 5. More generally, have experiences of academic ableism radicalized you? (Comment below!)
Third, I (FINALLY!) got a diagnosis. I spent many years without a one--but still very much disabled (see @bennessb's outstanding insight that disability often precedes diagnosis). W/o a diagnosis, it was incredibly difficult to access what limited institutional supports exist.
Bc universities continue to operate under the medical model of disability and use an accommodations approach, formal diagnosis is often crucial. There are, however, many barriers to diagnosis! Also, if mine had taken any longer, I might not have been able to continue in my degree
Much as I wish this wasn't the case: getting a diagnosis has been a part of my identity formation because without one I was invisible/illegible/illegitimate to the institution. Only through diagnosis have I "become disabled" (my identity recognized) in the eyes of the institution
Pre-diagnosis, I internalized this sense of "illegitimacy". I wish I could tell my undiagnosed self that I was "disabled enough" and that institutional gatekeeping harms un/underdiagnosed folks by excluding them from a powerful (political!)...
...identity that allows us to demand (individually and collectively) accessibility and institutional accountability.
Poll 6. If you are currently undiagnosed or were undiagnosed for any portion of your degree program: how did this impact your identity? (Comment below!)
Poll 7. If you are currently undiagnosed or were undiagnosed for any portion of your degree program: how did this impact your access to needed supports?
To finish up this thread, I was to talk about disability identity in the context of multiple identities: I have found that although my queer and disabled identities increase my "illegibility" in academic spaces, embracing multiple identities has been liberating.
I am not the idea academic "but for" disability or the ideal academic "but for" my queerness (in terms of both sexuality and gender). In order to exist in academic spaces, I have to throw out this figure of "the ideal academic" and radically rethinking what the academy is.
How do you relate to your identities in academic spaces? What would it mean for the academy to affirm and support your disabled identity together with your other identities?
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And for my last tweet before heading off to a physio appointment (as one does): I want to talk about professional development for disabled folks in higher ed.
This month of #DEHEM takeovers and panels has featured a lot of conversations about mentoring. It's clear that there is a huge gap when it comes to mentoring disabled students/grad students/post-docs/early career scholars/etc... I'm not going to re-run those polls.
Mentoring is a pretty broad category, so I want to get specific: what do disabled folks need from mentors in addition to the usual stuff? (This poll is obviously a super partial list, so please continue the discussion below!)
Making space for disability in higher ed includes radically remaking tangible, material space within the academy. What does your workspace, office, or lab look like? How have you used the space in ways that support your disabled bodymind?
One major way that my workspace differs from the ableist norm is that I mostly work from home. I have had to fight hard for that, but keeping my workspace at home means I am able to do more with fewer consequences to my health. It grants me greater flexibility during my work day.
My workspace includes the following:
An L-shaped desk and a split keyboard so that my arms remain at my sides and supported when typing rather than out in front (causing dislocated shoulders and muscle spasms).
And for my next trick... Let's talk about what we mean by higher ed. I attended an elite 😬 liberal arts college for undergrad, and I'm doing my PhD at a top-tier 😬 research institution, but I teach at a low-barrier, 2-year institution.
I doubt any of these institutions do disability as well as they could/should, but a lot of our conversations about disability in higher ed overlook low-barrier institutions. I want to dig into that a bit.
I haven't been teaching long enough to gauge how the institution itself supports disabled students, faculty, and staff, but from the perspective of an instructor: I appreciate being in an environment that recognizes students have lives beyond the classroom.
Hello all! This is Corin (aka @the_tweedy, any pronouns) and I am so excited to be taking over the @DisInHigherEd account today as part of Disabled Empowerment in Higher Education Month! #DEHEM
For those who don't know me, I'm a PhD candidate in geography at UBC and an instructor at Langara College. I study cats, gender, and domestic space, and I teach Langara's intro to human geography course.
I'm also (proudly! vociferously! unapologetically!) disabled. Among my many diagnoses that lead me to encounter ableist barriers in higher education are EDS, ADHD, chronic migraine, and CFS/ME. (I will spare you the whole list because of Twitter's character limit!)
The disability community has many common terms/words that may not mean anything to newly disabled folx or allies. We've put together a list of some of these terms/equipment that people may regularly use! Disabled folx, let us know if we're missing any! #DEHEM#Disability101
1. Disability
There are many definitions for disability.
One of the most used is the CDC definition which has three dimensions to it: 1. Impairment 2. Activity limitation 3. Participation restrictions
This criterion is very broad/vague but this makes it slightly more inclusive.
However, this definition does not truly represent the dynamic nature of disability. Two people with the same type of disability can be affected in very different ways.
There is no one size fits all solution to anything got to do with disability.
We want to share our updated schedule (Last update promise!) Screen-reader version available [google doc] tinyurl.com/DEHEMFullSched…
We are so happy with the response so far & look forward to continuing our celebration of people with disabilities/ the disabled in Higher Ed! #DEHEM
Last week was our (half) week! This included our #DisabledRollCall/ #DEHEMRollCall, Diversity of Disciplines, discussions on NSF GRFP, mentors, medical school and personal statements and of course yesterdays awesome takeover with @codebiologist! #DEHEM
This week is Disability 101 & Intersectionality. We are looking forward to takeovers by @arianaelena97 (Tues), @nolan_syreeta (Wed) & @geomechCooke (Sat), our Fri discussion on Intersectionality, we're sharing our talk from @iscientistconf on How To Be a Good Ally & More!