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Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education
Academic Ableism brings together disability studies and institutional critique to recognize the ways that disability is composed in and by higher education, and rewrites the spaces, times, and economies of disability in higher education to place disability front and center. For too long, argues Jay Timothy Dolmage, disability has been constructed as the antithesis of higher education, often positioned as a distraction, a drain, a problem to be solved. The ethic of higher education encourages students and teachers alike to accentuate ability, valorize perfection, and stigmatize anything that hints at intellectual, mental, or physical weakness, even as we gesture toward the value of diversity and innovation. Examining everything from campus accommodation processes, to architecture, to popular films about college life, Dolmage argues that disability is central to higher education, and that building more inclusive schools allows better education for all.
254 pages, Paperback
Published November 22, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
August 4, 2021
Excellent book and extremely eye-opening. My sole criticism is that the author uses Jack Halberstam’s deadname when citing him (which is done only once), and while Halberstam isn’t too particular about what name people use for him (see his blog post "On Pronouns" for more details), it doesn’t send the greatest message.
Still very much worth your time, especially the last chapter's discussion of how popular media represents disability in collegiate settings. This should be required reading for all university faculty/staff.
Still very much worth your time, especially the last chapter's discussion of how popular media represents disability in collegiate settings. This should be required reading for all university faculty/staff.
September 20, 2021
Just read it.
July 20, 2022
This is a powerful book, developing great arguments about Universal Design, multimodality and multiliteracies.
The scale of the ableism in higher education is effectively rendered. But there is a deep analysis of 'easy' ableism and 'easy' arguments about retrofitting higher education to ensure 'access' to our universities.
I was very impressed by the engagement with neoliberalism and the profit-taking imperatives in our universities.
Well written. Well researched. Well argued.
The scale of the ableism in higher education is effectively rendered. But there is a deep analysis of 'easy' ableism and 'easy' arguments about retrofitting higher education to ensure 'access' to our universities.
I was very impressed by the engagement with neoliberalism and the profit-taking imperatives in our universities.
Well written. Well researched. Well argued.
January 27, 2020
Excellent. This book and its findings will be with me for a long time.
December 29, 2021
Dolmage explores the structural and institutional aspects of ableism that permeate throughout higher education's present and past. Simply put, the academy does little to include people with disabilities. At the core of this exploration, he illustrates how some bodies are upheld by these aspects and therefore, granted the means to study and pursue knowledge while other bodies are devalued and meant to be the objects of study, often with an insistence to dismiss or cure. It's a brilliant critique that first discusses how the rhetoric of institution spaces highlight the ways institutions create and maintain their spaces as spaces that are not accessible or made accessible through measures that draw attention to those in need of accessible measures (rather than a natural part of structures through practices like universal design).
He pivots into a critical discussion that highlights how Western science during the 1700s and 1800s simultaneously created eugenics, mental asylums, and the modern university. He shows how the concepts of eugenics (good and bad genes and bodies) showed up in both asylums' and institutions' approaches to whom was and wasn't let in while also creating physical spaces (institutional grounds) that mirrored one another in many capacities.
After this setup, he moves into five chapters that create an arc through how institutions and then the world at large deal with and re-presents disabled bodies on their campuses. The first approach is what he refers to as "steep steps"--structures of exclusion on campus that are in place that prohibit or make clear the type of bodies the institution wants on campus. These measures show up in myriad ways across campuses (in my own experience, I remember one campus I worked at where the VP of Students worked in an office that was not accessible by wheelchair). Next, he delves into institutions' attempts to retrofit spaces to include people with disabilities. His critique here highlights the fact that the retrofit is always poorly made, unnecessary draws attention to or creates a still-complicated process for the person with a disability. It reinforces the person does not belong rather.
At this juncture, Dolmage takes a chapter to explore the fictional student; the student that is created in various op-eds or institutional discussions that is a fraud or being done harm by an institution attempting to be inclusive. It draws upon numerous examples of how faculty, pundits, and institutions worry about a fictional student while simultaneously dismissing the real needs of real students. While an invaluable contribution to the book's discussion overall, this chapter in the flow felt a bit off (could have been earlier before the 3 chapter arc of steep steps, retrofitting, and universal design). Dolmage offers an interesting discussion of universal design for learning in which he both praises it as the hallmark while simultaneously seeing how easily UDL can be watered down and infused with neoliberal practices to make it largely meaningless (thus, doing nothing to actually include effectively students or faculty or staff with disabilities). The final chapter explores how disability on campuses shows up in popular films as a means of whitewashing and undermining the ways that it actually exists on campuses. That is because it appears inclusive in popular culture, few actually challenge academia to make it inclusive. In total, it's a damning and damn-good book that anyone interested in higher education should be reading. And since the book intentionally aims to be accessible, it has been published as an open access book so folks can go to the University of Michigan Press website and free download it (the audiobooks is also free on audible).
He pivots into a critical discussion that highlights how Western science during the 1700s and 1800s simultaneously created eugenics, mental asylums, and the modern university. He shows how the concepts of eugenics (good and bad genes and bodies) showed up in both asylums' and institutions' approaches to whom was and wasn't let in while also creating physical spaces (institutional grounds) that mirrored one another in many capacities.
After this setup, he moves into five chapters that create an arc through how institutions and then the world at large deal with and re-presents disabled bodies on their campuses. The first approach is what he refers to as "steep steps"--structures of exclusion on campus that are in place that prohibit or make clear the type of bodies the institution wants on campus. These measures show up in myriad ways across campuses (in my own experience, I remember one campus I worked at where the VP of Students worked in an office that was not accessible by wheelchair). Next, he delves into institutions' attempts to retrofit spaces to include people with disabilities. His critique here highlights the fact that the retrofit is always poorly made, unnecessary draws attention to or creates a still-complicated process for the person with a disability. It reinforces the person does not belong rather.
At this juncture, Dolmage takes a chapter to explore the fictional student; the student that is created in various op-eds or institutional discussions that is a fraud or being done harm by an institution attempting to be inclusive. It draws upon numerous examples of how faculty, pundits, and institutions worry about a fictional student while simultaneously dismissing the real needs of real students. While an invaluable contribution to the book's discussion overall, this chapter in the flow felt a bit off (could have been earlier before the 3 chapter arc of steep steps, retrofitting, and universal design). Dolmage offers an interesting discussion of universal design for learning in which he both praises it as the hallmark while simultaneously seeing how easily UDL can be watered down and infused with neoliberal practices to make it largely meaningless (thus, doing nothing to actually include effectively students or faculty or staff with disabilities). The final chapter explores how disability on campuses shows up in popular films as a means of whitewashing and undermining the ways that it actually exists on campuses. That is because it appears inclusive in popular culture, few actually challenge academia to make it inclusive. In total, it's a damning and damn-good book that anyone interested in higher education should be reading. And since the book intentionally aims to be accessible, it has been published as an open access book so folks can go to the University of Michigan Press website and free download it (the audiobooks is also free on audible).
December 21, 2022
I really enjoyed engaging with this book. The author is critical, insightful and hopeful about disability studies and activism on campus. He presents options and solutions without reducing inclusion to quick fixes. His critique of the academy is necessary for all participants within it, students, admin, staff and alumni. The way he categorizes higher ed as institutions akin to prisons, psychiatric facilities, and other controlling spaces is evocative and merits deeper reflection. The role that universities play in creating, benefiting from, and excluding folks with disabilities is clearly laid out. We study others and, by turning them into the objects of our study, often disable them. I also appreciated the discussion about disability and faculty. While folks with disabilities may be the largest minority group in society, our higher ed landscape does not focus on these folks when promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in many contexts. This book is a bit dated now. I look forward to new perspectives on academic ableism in higher ed.
February 18, 2023
This was a very eye opening book. I would recommend prior to reading this book, you watch the documentary "Crip Camp." It relates a lot to the book and some of the things in the book are depicted better in the documentary.
We as a society can do better when it comes to disabilities. In our schools, our universities, and in general all around. If we do not make these changes, no one ever will.
Definitely recommend this read.
We as a society can do better when it comes to disabilities. In our schools, our universities, and in general all around. If we do not make these changes, no one ever will.
Definitely recommend this read.
July 10, 2024
An excellent read. Utilizes the physical building and barriers as an apt metaphor for the academic and disability barriers faced by students. Excellent chapter on universal design for learning. A must read for every instructor and academic administrator. Will certainly change my teaching practices. The book is free on Audible and Kindle.
October 14, 2021
Excellent introduction to both ableism and academia history/ maintenance of ableism. Definitely geared towards an academic audience so some of the language requires a dictionary
April 30, 2022
A necessary read for everyone involved in education.
Read
May 22, 2023interesting, important, inspiring
October 24, 2022
Solid critique, but too much jargon, an odd detour into depictions of college life in lowbrow Hollywood movies, and no suggestion for solutions.
February 25, 2020
Being a differently abled (a term I learned from this book as a wonderful replacement for the rhetorically negated “disabled”) academic, I was very interested in this book. After finishing, I think it should be required reading for every university employee.
The author takes an intersectional approach that probes the depths of ableim. He connects perceptions of disability to the disenfranchisement of BIPOC, women, LGBTQ people, and other marginalized groups who have been connected to “feeble mindedness” and “biological inferiority” by eugenics, a subject still taught in universities today. The author takes off the gloves and explores the appalling history of the academy’s role in eugenics research, in which white colonialists experimented on indigenous peoples and other disadvantaged groups under the guise of science. There is more than a whiff of objectification in a culture in which those with physical, mental and developmental disabilities are the objects of study for professors more often than they themselves are the professors.
The author also does an excellent job probing the toxic rhetoric of ableism, and deconstructing the myth that inclusive space only exists in the static physical realm rather than being a dynamic place where bodies, emotions, ideas, and prejudices move. There is far more to inclusivity than ramps and assistive technology.
In short, this book pulls back the veil on an underexplored topic that encircles and is intertwined with all people who represent the other; the “objects” of diversity and inclusion initiatives more often than the recipients. From critiquing HR practices to limited pedagogical modalities, probing the “universality” of universal design and the psychological affect of space, this book contains many welcome insights that well-meaning people, including myself, are unwittingly shielded from by the dominant culture. The very architectural styles favored by universities even get a critical eye as symbols of oppression: the mountainous staircases and ornate gates that lead to the ivory tower are literal and figurative barriers far too often accessible only to the privileged few, rather than to the diverse multitudes.
The author takes an intersectional approach that probes the depths of ableim. He connects perceptions of disability to the disenfranchisement of BIPOC, women, LGBTQ people, and other marginalized groups who have been connected to “feeble mindedness” and “biological inferiority” by eugenics, a subject still taught in universities today. The author takes off the gloves and explores the appalling history of the academy’s role in eugenics research, in which white colonialists experimented on indigenous peoples and other disadvantaged groups under the guise of science. There is more than a whiff of objectification in a culture in which those with physical, mental and developmental disabilities are the objects of study for professors more often than they themselves are the professors.
The author also does an excellent job probing the toxic rhetoric of ableism, and deconstructing the myth that inclusive space only exists in the static physical realm rather than being a dynamic place where bodies, emotions, ideas, and prejudices move. There is far more to inclusivity than ramps and assistive technology.
In short, this book pulls back the veil on an underexplored topic that encircles and is intertwined with all people who represent the other; the “objects” of diversity and inclusion initiatives more often than the recipients. From critiquing HR practices to limited pedagogical modalities, probing the “universality” of universal design and the psychological affect of space, this book contains many welcome insights that well-meaning people, including myself, are unwittingly shielded from by the dominant culture. The very architectural styles favored by universities even get a critical eye as symbols of oppression: the mountainous staircases and ornate gates that lead to the ivory tower are literal and figurative barriers far too often accessible only to the privileged few, rather than to the diverse multitudes.
September 5, 2019
This is an important text for any critical scholar. It’s strength lies in framing disability in the academy as a historical and ongoing construction. It also ties ableist discourses and rhetoric to other systemic issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and eugenic ideology. This book will not offer you many solutions, but will open space for grappling with the complexity of ableism on campus.
September 16, 2023
Historically, higher education have encountered difficulties with the community of those with disabilities. Whether from eugenics that tries to cultivate superior offspring or from an ableism that makes the most of a person’s potential skills, universities have not always been the most hospitable to this group of people. Even today, after the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), K-12 American education has many helps for those with unique needs, but those needs are often neglected – or worse, stigmatized – in universities. In this book, Jay Timothy Dolmage seeks to address that the needs of that community by analyzing how higher education is falling short.
I am personally affected by a disability and administratively work at an academic medical center. My wife has taught special education for over a decade. My only sister has an intellectual disability. Despite five years of work, I was unable to complete a doctorate because of my disability. Therefore, I’m very sympathetic to this issue.
However, Dolmage spends almost all of the book compiling complaints about how short the academy is falling when trying to meet the needs of those with disabilities. I find four parts of this argument particularly troublesome.
First, much of his critique relies on identifying historical traces of eugenics. No doubt, some of this sad history is still with us, but eugenics has been repudiated by just about every reputable intellectual institution since the Nazi crimes in the mid-twentieth century. I need newer information than arguing that its ghost remains.
Second, he spends a whole chapter on how disabilities in higher education are portrayed in movies. Art certainly provides a healthy mirror to learn about our true nature, but I would prefer some rigorous science to back this up with hard data.
Third, the ADA is treated through a wholly negative lens, as mere window-dressing that doesn’t address the real problem. Perhaps, this is so in higher education – I plead ignorance there. However, in American society, I remember seeing a real difference in the way my sister was able to pursue life after 1990. My wife has also observed dramatic impacts on her students’ lives through the ADA. From an academic researcher, I expect a significantly more nuanced analysis.
Finally, the entire book compiles complaints about universities’ shortcomings, but provides almost no insights on solutions, which are limited to 2-3 pages. Correctly diagnosing a problem indeed provides the first step of a solution, but as a reader, I hoped to learn more about potential solutions from this book. Thus, I suggest that it needs to be reorganized with more details on what can be done practically.
I find this topic deeply interesting, but again, I hope to focus on present-day solutions based on serious reflection. This book contains a lot of rhetoric pointing towards a real problem, but it won’t convince many in decision-making positions to change their mind and practice. It won’t help us all reform ourselves so as to do better. I suggest a follow-up book might engage with promising next steps, not limited to a few linked articles in an epilogue.
I am personally affected by a disability and administratively work at an academic medical center. My wife has taught special education for over a decade. My only sister has an intellectual disability. Despite five years of work, I was unable to complete a doctorate because of my disability. Therefore, I’m very sympathetic to this issue.
However, Dolmage spends almost all of the book compiling complaints about how short the academy is falling when trying to meet the needs of those with disabilities. I find four parts of this argument particularly troublesome.
First, much of his critique relies on identifying historical traces of eugenics. No doubt, some of this sad history is still with us, but eugenics has been repudiated by just about every reputable intellectual institution since the Nazi crimes in the mid-twentieth century. I need newer information than arguing that its ghost remains.
Second, he spends a whole chapter on how disabilities in higher education are portrayed in movies. Art certainly provides a healthy mirror to learn about our true nature, but I would prefer some rigorous science to back this up with hard data.
Third, the ADA is treated through a wholly negative lens, as mere window-dressing that doesn’t address the real problem. Perhaps, this is so in higher education – I plead ignorance there. However, in American society, I remember seeing a real difference in the way my sister was able to pursue life after 1990. My wife has also observed dramatic impacts on her students’ lives through the ADA. From an academic researcher, I expect a significantly more nuanced analysis.
Finally, the entire book compiles complaints about universities’ shortcomings, but provides almost no insights on solutions, which are limited to 2-3 pages. Correctly diagnosing a problem indeed provides the first step of a solution, but as a reader, I hoped to learn more about potential solutions from this book. Thus, I suggest that it needs to be reorganized with more details on what can be done practically.
I find this topic deeply interesting, but again, I hope to focus on present-day solutions based on serious reflection. This book contains a lot of rhetoric pointing towards a real problem, but it won’t convince many in decision-making positions to change their mind and practice. It won’t help us all reform ourselves so as to do better. I suggest a follow-up book might engage with promising next steps, not limited to a few linked articles in an epilogue.
January 26, 2025
Unlike most watered-down books and training on inclusion, Dolmage's Academic Ablism includes a frank discussion about the difficulties of implementing programs to facilitate disability learning and education to accommodate people with different styles of learning. Problems often arise because of corporate or educational administrations that either wish to improve their statistics by early exclusion of diverse learners (e.g., to enhance retention figures at universities or exclude workers that they perceive as potential drags on production rather than as workers with alternative skill sets that can lead to solutions.)
He discusses the widely held perception that accommodations for alternative learning styles or disabilities somehow imply cheating. (The Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal that surfaced in 2019 and the illicit use of fake accommodations sought by some parents exacerbated this misconception. (ee LaPorte, N Guilty Admissions for details). However, given the stigma surrounding disabilities, it is far more likely that students will not apply for accommodations. Dolmage cites figures that estimate that only 1/3 of the students who would qualify actually apply for these field-leveling variances. Stigmatization, along with daunting procedures, testing, and paperwork—sometimes at added expense to the student—further reduces access to essential services.
I recommend reading this book in concert with Different Kinds of Minds, a young adult work by Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin, a self-identified visual thinker) explores our bias toward verbal thinkers and how we systematically discriminate against different styles of visual and mechanical thinking and prefer organizational"filers" to "pilers." This bias reduces diversity and talent, which could help find solutions to problems via alternative ways of understanding. I chanced on pairing these two books just a few months apart, and Dr. Grandin's YA book prepared me for Dr. Dolmage's more technical work.
He discusses the widely held perception that accommodations for alternative learning styles or disabilities somehow imply cheating. (The Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal that surfaced in 2019 and the illicit use of fake accommodations sought by some parents exacerbated this misconception. (ee LaPorte, N Guilty Admissions for details). However, given the stigma surrounding disabilities, it is far more likely that students will not apply for accommodations. Dolmage cites figures that estimate that only 1/3 of the students who would qualify actually apply for these field-leveling variances. Stigmatization, along with daunting procedures, testing, and paperwork—sometimes at added expense to the student—further reduces access to essential services.
I recommend reading this book in concert with Different Kinds of Minds, a young adult work by Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin, a self-identified visual thinker) explores our bias toward verbal thinkers and how we systematically discriminate against different styles of visual and mechanical thinking and prefer organizational"filers" to "pilers." This bias reduces diversity and talent, which could help find solutions to problems via alternative ways of understanding. I chanced on pairing these two books just a few months apart, and Dr. Grandin's YA book prepared me for Dr. Dolmage's more technical work.
July 12, 2022
Definitely an important read for all faculty, student support staff, and students working and learning in a university setting. The introduction is one of my favorite pieces of writing in disability studies yet. 4 stars because the rest of the book felt a little too redundant after reading the introduction, almost like it was trying to stretch the amazing content of the introduction for all it’s worth to fit the length of a full-length book, rather than adding much that was new in the remaining chapters. Also, despite the author explaining their commitment to write in plain language for access purposes, the language in the rest of the book after the introduction was still a little too elitely academic. Which would make more sense if the book weren’t explicitly claiming to be trying to maximize access by using plain language.
Still, the introduction was worth the entire book’s weight in gold, so for that alone I can’t recommend this book enough!
Still, the introduction was worth the entire book’s weight in gold, so for that alone I can’t recommend this book enough!
August 1, 2022
Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education is a great introduction into the ways academia perpetuates ableist ideologies. Of course the book does not cover everything and things are left out and author Jay Timothy Dolmage is very upfront about their failures in the book.
The book is an easy read. There isn't difficult language in the book and descriptions are given to figures/images which I found very helpful. Any words used that might give pause are defined. The only thing I had to look up was some of the movie references.
Why might you read this book? I think it would be helpful in understanding how the institution called academia was built, what it's purpose is and how it relates to eugenics, the role academia has in rape culture, and it might be nice to learn that the academy isn't an agent of change, but rather a place for complacency.
The book is an easy read. There isn't difficult language in the book and descriptions are given to figures/images which I found very helpful. Any words used that might give pause are defined. The only thing I had to look up was some of the movie references.
Why might you read this book? I think it would be helpful in understanding how the institution called academia was built, what it's purpose is and how it relates to eugenics, the role academia has in rape culture, and it might be nice to learn that the academy isn't an agent of change, but rather a place for complacency.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2024
As a former high school AP teacher who is now in the field of Disability in higher education, there was a lot of good information. I enjoyed 85% of this book. However, I would like to see where the author stands now after comments made both at the start, but mainly at the end of this book in the "Commencement" chapter. If one does the research, you can see the last two President's have addressed the issues the author has brought to the readers attention. Albeit, both Presidents address the issue very differently from a funding stance. I'm very interested in his thoughts on the last 7 years. This reader would say that both Administration's have fallen well short of what Dr. Dolmage proposed in 2017.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2022
Dolmage synthesizes a larger body of scholarship, making this book an excellent overview of ableism and its place in society and higher education.
I was especially intrigued, but not surprised, by the role that eugenics has played in academia's fraught relationship with ableism. I found this part of his discussion to be the strongest.
I also thoroughly enjoyed his examination of academic ableism's representation in popular culture.
Anyone in education, whether k-12 or college, should undoubtedly read Dolmage's book in order to confront their own prejudices (conscious or subconscious) and become a better ally.
I was especially intrigued, but not surprised, by the role that eugenics has played in academia's fraught relationship with ableism. I found this part of his discussion to be the strongest.
I also thoroughly enjoyed his examination of academic ableism's representation in popular culture.
Anyone in education, whether k-12 or college, should undoubtedly read Dolmage's book in order to confront their own prejudices (conscious or subconscious) and become a better ally.
May 26, 2025
The author has composed a well-researched and engaging scholarly study that is as essential for its not only compelling present application but also for its well established historical study. This is one I found myself immediately calling, emailing, and engaging others - colleagues and friends alike- to discuss. If you work in education, if you have children, if you work with people, or if you are part of the population known as people, this book should be read to ensure that you are at least aware of these arguments, points, and procedures and how the history and current issues intersect.
Undoubtedly going to return to this book again in the future. Strongly recommended!
Undoubtedly going to return to this book again in the future. Strongly recommended!
May 31, 2025
I loved reading through this textbook! It took me a long time to get through because I felt like I had to take time and breaks in between chapters to really digest what the author was saying.
I thought it was so interesting that this author attended the University of Waterloo because that is where I went to school and learned about disabilities.
The author did bring up good points though about the AODA, Universal Design as well as other policies and concepts that I thought were as inclusive as things could get. This book challenged my thoughts and feelings towards accessibility on more than one occasion and I’m very grateful to have read this textbook.
I thought it was so interesting that this author attended the University of Waterloo because that is where I went to school and learned about disabilities.
The author did bring up good points though about the AODA, Universal Design as well as other policies and concepts that I thought were as inclusive as things could get. This book challenged my thoughts and feelings towards accessibility on more than one occasion and I’m very grateful to have read this textbook.
July 3, 2022
Oh my god - you’ve just got to read this book if you have any connection to education, especially higher ed. This book validates so much of my own experience, which is comforting/therapeutic in a strange way, but the content is also theoretically rich and intellectually satisfying. Wonderful introduction to a lot of current and relevant work in disability studies, and the accessible writing makes connections to a number of fields and clearly outlines the stakes. A lot of my favorite writers are cited which I took to be a good sign.
April 3, 2024
This provocative text, available for free online, challenges readers, especially in higher education, to consider how their physical spaces, learning environments and educational systems maintain historical barriers in spite of well-meaning efforts to make campuses more inclusive. The only reason this is not a 5 star for me is that the final chapter on Hollywood's portrayal of higher education and disability seemed an add-on - albeit an important one. I encourage you to read this book.
March 25, 2023
This book was excellent. It wasn't too high level but it was still engaging and informative. It pushed me to learn more because of the statistics and sources used.
Want to build your skills in advocating? See the world around you through a new lense? Feel motivated and driven? This may be the book for you! Don't come in with an ideology. Keep an open mind and you'll enjoy this book!
Want to build your skills in advocating? See the world around you through a new lense? Feel motivated and driven? This may be the book for you! Don't come in with an ideology. Keep an open mind and you'll enjoy this book!
February 16, 2024
Very glad to better understand the close connections between ableism and the academy, so important for working in this sector and trying to improve things. Most applicable to Canadian and US context but still relevant elsewhere. Accessible read & audio book but a lot of conceptual arguments and detail to take in. Took a while and may have to revisit!
December 28, 2024
A seminal source for anyone who cares about equity in education. Scholarly and yet the language and concepts are fairly accessible. I love that Dolmage has chosen to create open access versions in print and audio book! I could read this book all over again and continue to learn - it’s thick with critical analysis and also uses popular culture to illustrate normative ableism.
January 20, 2018
This book is clear and has reshaped my perspective on education and disability. Although this book focuses on higher education, many of its concepts can also be applied to the K-12 school system. I recommend that everyone involved in education read this book.
May 22, 2021
This book was so informative and hopeful about the future of academia, it also described to a T my current experience with academia. I think the author did an amazing job at exploring academia and it's problems but also where it can improve in the future.
November 30, 2021
It's free, it's interesting and I think it's a really good start when educating yourself about Ableism.
I definitely learned a lot and will try my best to continue educating myself and learning about discrimination in various forms and in various settings.
I definitely learned a lot and will try my best to continue educating myself and learning about discrimination in various forms and in various settings.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews