Deakin University
Browse

The indelible ink of the special stamp: an insider’s research essay on imprints and erasures

journal contribution
posted on 2014-01-01, 00:00 authored by Ben WhitburnBen Whitburn
The medical profession ascribes otherness to people with disabilities through diagnosis and expertism, which sets in motion discursive powers that oversee their exclusion through schooling and beyond. In this paper, I present a narrative pieced together from personal experiences of ducking and weaving the deficit discourse in ‘inclusive’ education, when seeking employment and in day-to-day family interaction as a person with severely impaired vision. This work builds on previous qualitative research I conducted in Queensland, Australia with a group of young people with impaired vision who attended an inclusive secondary school. I frame this discussion using Foucault’s conception of normalising judgement against the hegemony of normalcy, and consider that inclusion for people with disabilities is reminiscent of a haunting. Through this analysis, I demonstrate how my ideology is formed, and how it in turn shapes a research agenda geared toward seeking greater inclusion for young people with disabilities in schools.

History

Journal

Disability & Society

Volume

29

Pagination

624-637

Location

Oxford, England

ISSN

0968-7599

eISSN

1360-0508

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal, C Journal article

Copyright notice

2013, Taylor & Francis

Issue

4

Publisher

Routledge