The Social Construction of Disability
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All New York City subway passengers must:
1. Fit through the narrow turnstile
-> This excludes pregnant women, obese individuals & travelers with large luggage
2. Step carefully from the platform to the train
-> This excludes unsupervised children
3. Walk down many steps
-> This excludes individuals using wheelchairs
"Much architecture has been planned with a young adult, non-disabled male paradigm of humanity in mind."
(Wendell, p. 483)
A "Green" Classroom
Stephen Ritz
Steve believed Students can learn
A Teacher growing Green in the South Bronx
Green Living Technologies
Transforming minds and communities
Car-centered transportation in upstate New York:
Not All learning comes from textbooks
Within Stephen Ritz's classroom students were being labeled and without hope of a future. Ritz seen this as an opportunity to show his student, his school, and the community that his students could and would be successful at learning.
Ritz had a vision and a belief in bring his classroom outside creating space and opportunity to learn, serve and grow.
How plants changed a classroom, its students, and a community
Stephen's vision along with borough president and George Irwin helped to take Stephen concepts of portable farming to a reality. "I wanted to figure out how I could get this kind of success into something small, like this and bring it to my classroom so that handicapped kids could do it, kids who didn't want to be outside could do it, and everyone could have access."
Stephen Ritz believed "that 70 percent of children he sees who are labeled learning disable would not have been had they had proper prenatal nutrition."
Social causes of disability:
Wars, invasions, terrorism, civil wars
Contaminated drinking water
Spread of disease
Malnutrition
Crimes/rape/violence
1. Requires a car
-> This excludes the financially-disadvantaged
2. Requires a driver's license
-> This excludes any individual under age 16
3. Requires the ability to pilot a vehicle
-> This excludes the blind individuals/deaf individuals
Steve belief that kids should not have to leave their community to live, learn and earn in a better one
The dynamics of this South Bronx community were spilling over into his classroom.
- Lost of jobs
- Lost of people
- Crime
- Poverty
Asperger's vs. DSM IV
With out a vision the people will perish
Wendell, S. "The Social Construction of Disability" (p. 481)
Planting seeds of knowledge
Creating social changes
- In 2013 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders merged Asperger's and Autism into one grouping.
- ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is the new name for people with Autism and Asperger's.
- Due to the new ASD criteria, people with Asperger's may not meet diagnostic criteria that would make them eligible for related health insurance coverage needs.
- One must meet all 4 criteria to have a diagnosis of ASD.
- People with Asperger's have lost their identity of themselves because of the new ASD grouping.
"I see disability as socially constructed in ways ranging from social conditions that straightforwardly create illnesses, injuries, and poor physical functioning, to subtle cultural factors that determine standards of normality and exclude those who do not meet them from full participation in their societies."
Teachers and students learning together
"Social Construction of Disability"
by Susan Wendell
Disability as a socially-constructed phenomenon
Disabilities are a social phenomenon
Wendell, S. (2013) Social construction of disability. In M. Adams,
Ending Ableism in Education
W. Blumenfeld, C. Castaneda, H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice (pp. 481 - 485). New York, NY: Routledge.
Schools can do their part by:
Society and Disablities
On the Spectrum, Looking Out
- It is critical that society members read "real-life" accounts of people with disabilities in order to understand what that person's daily life is like.
- People with disabilities want members of society to "see" them, not see their disability.
- People with disabilities have the same need and desire to be accepted by their peers.
- People with disabilities have the same right to co-exist in society with non-disabled people.
"People automatically perceive disabilities to be something automatically visible or detectable from their conceptions or "normal" people." (Watsky, p.503)
- Acknowledge that ableism exists in schools.
- Include disability as a part of diversity education.
- Encourage students with disabilities to develop and use their skills and modes of expression in a way that is effective and efficient for them.
- Move away from the current trend of placement, such as in an inclusion classroom, with a focus on results.
- Promote high standards and not high stakes testing.
Which student is disabled?
"The Social construction of disability" by Susan Wendell
"On the spectrum, looking out" by Jess Watsky
"A Teacher growing green in the South Bronx" by Stephen Ritz
"Toward ending ableism in education" by Thomas Hehir
Solutions can be found to both prevent disabling conditions and to reconceptualize the socially-constructed labels
Green Bronx Machine
The "Wall"
Growing seeds to be consumed and to be used to beautified the environment.
George Irwin helping to build indoor edible walls
Seeds grown in Ritz's classroom which became farms across the Bronx.
Ritz developed portable farms which he calls "Walls"
These farms gave students new hope and a brighter future.
Critical Literacy at Work
Growing Food
Growing healthy bodies
Not All learning is from a textbook
- Authentic learning experiences
- Green walls designed by computers
- 21st-century technology
Expectations of Students
- to read about it
- write about it
- blog about it.
- to be engaged
Outcome
- 40 % attendance to 93% attendance
- College bound
- Licensed bonded in trade
- Skills needed to build affordable housing
- Making living wages