Disability, Intersectionality, and Belonging in Special Education - (Special Education Law, Policy, and Practice) (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

This book focuses on preparing culturally competent educators who use culturally sustaining practices and culturally relevant curricula and instruction to reach and teach all students with disabilities including those with multiple social identities through a varied multi-cultural lens.

Review Quotes

Disability, Intersectionality, and Belonging in Special Education offers preservice educators to practicing professionals in the field of education critical theories, frameworks, and strategies to rally improvements in the lives of students with disabilities. The textbook is divided into four parts with 12 chapters illustrating the concepts of disability with intersectional belonging in special education. By applying research to actual experiences, this volume helps practitioners understand that students are more than disabled and have sociocultural identities that impact their needs. Each chapter also provides vignettes with pause-and-reflect questions. Preservice teachers need to pay close attention to chapters 4-6, which present an overview of various models for describing disability and how society thinks about it. Part 3 provides school and classroom strategies for incorporating students with diverse sociocultural identities. The final section reminds readers to be mindful of their own biases when they communicate with students. In sum, practitioners need to create a sense of belonging for all students. It is refreshing to examine a textbook that finally promotes a more comprehensive environment for all students with disabilities. Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

I think that special education teachers, as well as other education professionals, would benefit from having this book included in their preparation programs because it would help to increase their cultural competence. It appears that this book would help teachers to think about the various elements that may contribute to a student's identity including their disability, culture, race, gender, or sexual orientation. By increasing their overall understanding of various aspects of students' identities, educators can become more skilled and capable of working with a diverse array of students. Increasing educators' cultural competence makes them more capable of designing interventions and strategies that are useful and advocating for the whole student more effectively.

The author eloquently presented content to meet the unique individual needs of students with disabilities. The content gives specific strategies on working with a diverse population of students with special needs

This book would make a significant contribution to the literature. We have been working with our own pre-service students to help them understand the various complexities that children bring to school that can impact their learning and sense of belonging, and to recognize that the strategies for responding often cross these complexities. The authors very appropriately identified Universal Design for Learning as a key set of competencies that ALL teachers need. The literature has identified this approach to instructional planning and delivery as important for students who have experienced racial trauma, who are categorized as having a disability under IDEA, and who are multilingual learners.

About the Author

Elizabeth A. Harkins (Monaco), EdD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education, Professional Counseling, and Disability Studies at William Paterson University. She is the current Director of the Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Disabilities Advanced Masters Program. Dr. Harkins has extensive experience serving students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in a variety of settings. Prior to entering academia, she worked for over a decade as a special education administrator, classroom teacher, and family advocate. Dr. Harkins' scholarly interests focus on the critical importance of social justice pedagogy alongside educational excellence for all students. Some of her recent publications include manuscripts that examine the multiple, overlapping social identities for students with ASD and I/DD; the impacts of social injustices for individuals with disabilities; culturally sustaining practices; and intersectional pedagogy.
L. Lynn Stansberry Brusnahan, PhD, is a professor in and Chair of the Department of Special Education in the School of Education at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. She coordinates the autism and developmental disabilities master's programs. She is a private educational consultant and parent of an adult son with autism. She earned her doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she studied contemporary educational issues within urban settings. She has served on the board of directors for the Autism Society of America and Council for Exceptional Children's (CEC) Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DADD). She co-authored Do-Watch-Listen-Say: Social and communication skills for autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Stansberry Brusnahan's scholarly interests focus on autism and teacher preparation. In 2012, she was the Autism Society of America's Professional of the Year.
Marcus C. Fuller, PhD, is a visiting lecturer in the Department of Education at The University of Vermont. He earned his doctorate in special education at Texas A&M University. He has served teachers and parents from various ethnic backgrounds, socio-economic status, and age groups within urban and rural areas. Dr. Fuller's scholarly interests focus on empowering families, educators, and researchers by helping them increase their implementation skills during interventions with children with behavior disorders, autism, and/or complex communication needs through the use of educational coaching and performance feedback. Dr. Fuller has served as a reviewer for multiple journals and conference proposals as an active member of the Council for Exceptional Children's (CEC), Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DADD), and the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD).
Martin Odima Jr., M.A., is a Black, cisgender, male from St. Paul, Minnesota. Martin is a Special Education Teacher Coach in the Saint Paul Public School (SPPS) District in Minnesota. Also, Martin is an adjunct faculty in the Department of Special Education at the University of St. Thomas where he teaches undergraduate and graduate students the history, policies, and practices of Special Education. He studied psychology at the University of Minnesota and completed his master's in special education at the University of St. Thomas. His scholarly interests focus on educational equity, inclusive practices for students with disabilities, and retention of teachers of color. His publications include a focus on teaching strategies for special education teachers to thrive and persist in the field. Martin is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in special education at the University of Minnesota.