“Fundamental to Disability Studies is the acknowledgement that all students—including those who have acquired labels—are competent, interesting people deserving of respect that includes access to rich, challenging curricula. The contributors to this text share their narratives of how they came to reject dominant assumptions of children assigned to special education as deficient, abnormal people in need of fixing. This book speaks to any educator who confronts human differences in their teaching or scholarship—meaning, all of us.”—Curt Dudley-Marling, Professor Emeritus, Lynch School of Education, Boston College
“This book is essential reading for accomplished as well as aspiring educators. Its power lies in twenty portraits of the personal and professional transformation that occurs when educators grapple with the dissonance between their own experience and the academic knowledge perpetuated by the field of special education. The authenticity of these stories prompts us to embrace our own moments of cognitive dissonance and courageously defy taken-for-granted or deeply indoctrinated precepts as we celebrate our own transformation.”—Beth Harry, Professor Emeritus, School of Education, University of Miami