Reconceptualizing Assistance for Young Children of Color With Disabilities in an Inclusion Classroom

Authors

Soyoung Park, Bank Street College of EducationFollow

Files

Description

In this article, we draw on DisCrit to critically analyze how a group of early childhood educators approached assistance with young children of color with disabilities in a Head Start inclusion classroom. Using examples from data collected over one school year, we demonstrate how child-centered assistance advances justice for young children of color with disabilities who are often subjected to a surveillance culture in schools. We critique assistance that aligns with the medical model of disability and aims to change young children of color with disabilities to conform to ableist, racist expectations of schooling. We offer examples of assistance practices that contrastingly aim to support young children of color with disabilities to pursue their own interests and purposes. Through these counterstories, we reconceptualize assistance as a practice that can support young children of color with disabilities to be more fully themselves.

Publication Date

5-2021

Publisher

Hamill Institute on Disabilities and Sage Publishing

City

Austin, Texas

Keywords

inclusion, disability critical race theory, early childhood special education

Disciplines

Disability and Equity in Education | Disability Studies | Early Childhood Education | Race and Ethnicity

Comments

Published in Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 2021, Vol. 41(1) 57-68

DOI: 10.1177/0271121421992429

Recommended Citation

Park, S. (2021). Reconceptualizing Assistance for Young Children of Color With Disabilities in an Inclusion Classroom. Hamill Institute on Disabilities and Sage Publishing. https://educate.bankstreet.edu/gse/9