UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
Perspectives on Disability Studies
Disability Studies 101W (5 units)
Winter 2020
Lecture: Wednesday 10-11:50am, Franz 1260
Instructor
Office Hours
Dr. Sara Kishi Wolf
M + T, by appt. only
Email
sarawolf@ucla.edu
Section 1A
W 4-5:50pm
Haines A76
Caitlin Handy
handy2021@lawnet.ucla.edu
Section 1B
R 2-3:50pm
Bunche 3178
Benjamin Howard
benjaminhoward@g.ucla.edu
R 2-3:50pm
Kaufman 153
Apurva Barve
abarve@ucla.edu
Section 1D
TA
Email
Section 1C
TA
Email
Section 1E
TA
Email
TA
Email
TA
Email
R 12-1:50pm
Kaufman 153
Hetty Melmed
hetty0303@g.ucla.edu
F 10-11:50pm
Haines A6
Anna Peare
apeare@ucla.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Disability Studies offers a lens for thinking about the body, society, and culture. The goal of this
interdisciplinary field is to create a critical framework to question how ability and disability have
historically been understood and how this binary continues to shape identities, policies, spaces, and
attitudes in everyday life. This course covers a range of topics in order to provide a sampling of
perspectives that will enable students to comprehend the ways in which human bio/sensory/neuro/
cognitive/emotional/mental diversity is conceptualized, represented, and negotiated as both a lived
experience and a sociopolitical construct that mobilizes across various discourses and disciplines.
COURSE PREREQUISITE: Satisfactory completion of Writing I.
STATEMENT OF DISABILITY, ACCOMMODATION, AND INCLUSION
UCLA is committed to ensuring educational parity and accommodations for all students with
emotional/mental/biophysical/neuro/cognitive, etc. differences. We recommend that students consult
with the Center for Accessible Education (CAE), located in A255 Murphy Hall, to secure necessary
accommodations they may need this quarter; feel free to ask for our assistance in this process.
Your success in this class is important to us. Whether you are registered with the CAE or not; publicly
identify as disabled or not, we encourage confidential discussion about how your TA and I can facilitate
your learning and participation. If there are circumstances that may affect your progress, please let us
know as soon as possible so that we can co-design accommodations that will best support your
educational needs in meeting course requirements.
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WE RESPECT DIVERSITY IN ALL ITS MANIFESTATIONS.
OUR CLASSROOM IS A SAFE SPACE FOR EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF DIFFERENCES IN OPINION,
CAPACITY, APPEARANCE, LEARNING / COMMUNICATION STYLE, OR IMMIGRATION STATUS.
REQUIRED READING
Assigned readings are posted on the course website, under the week for which they are assigned:
https://moodle2.sscnet.ucla.edu/course/view/20W-DISSTD101W-1
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Exposure to a variety of perspectives on disability will enable students to discuss and write intelligently
about the questions that drive scholarship in disability studies using appropriate disciplinary modes of
discourse. Students will develop analytic and conceptual tools to critically discuss and write about
various conceptual models and discursive constructions of disability as well as alternative frameworks
for conceptualizing impairment/illness/debility/disability intersectionality, relative to issues of access,
inclusion, social justice, and human diversity.
WRITING EXPECTATIONS
Disability Studies 101W is a writing-intensive course that satisfies the College Writing II requirement.
Assignments are designed to increase your awareness of, and skill at using, disciplinary conventions of
disability studies scholarship. Students will engage in increasingly complex writing tasks that involve a
thoughtful and structured revision process that will improve your writing skills and hone your critical
thinking. TAs will provide written feedback on graded assignments and orally during discussion sections
and office hours. Comments are likely to focus on the development of a well-reasoned argument and
analysis of evidence and theory to support this argument. If you have any questions or concerns about
your writing, please arrange an appointment with your TA and/or the instructor to discuss these.
You are encouraged to use the resources available through the UCLA Library and the Undergraduate
Student Writing Center. Campus libraries provide drop-in research assistance as well as by
appointment, or ask a librarian online 24/7. For more information, go to: library.ucla.edu/questions.
The Undergraduate Student Writing Center’s services, hours, and locations can be found at:
www.wp.ucla.edu.
CLASSROOM DECORUM
We are dedicated to fostering a stress- and judgment-free environment that is equitable and conducive
to learning for all students. To this end, please be attentive and respectful listeners to the professor,
guest lecturers, TAs, and your peers. Likewise, please express your observations and questions in a
manner that furthers dialogue.
It is understood that some perspectives and terminology may be unfamiliar; therefore, please respect
one another’s (and your own) learning process in trying out new language, perspectives, and concepts.
Laptops, tablets, and mobile phones are only permitted in class for course text access and taking notes
and must be muted. Web surfing, texting, Ipods, and other electronic distractions are not permitted
during class. If you use a laptop/tablet, you may be asked to show your screen at any time; if you are
found doing anything other than taking notes, your participation grade will be zeroed for that day.
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COMMUNICATING WITH THE PROFESSOR AND YOUR TA
Your TA is your primary contact. Please respect their schedules: do not email late at night; do not ask to
review assignments due the following day. If you have a question regarding a grade, discuss it in person
with your TA.
When contacting Professor Wolf always CC your TA. Do not rely on email if the information you seek is
time sensitive. Expect a 24-hour turn around for a response. I do not answer email on weekends. I do
not read assignment drafts by email, but am happy to do so in office hours. I do not discuss grading
rubrics by email. If you have a specific question, catch me before/after class or make an appointment.
Questions about information included in the syllabus will not be answered.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Participation (10%)
Participation is the lifeblood of this class and your thoughtful engagement is of the utmost
importance. Your grade will be evaluated on the basis of contributions to the class in multiple ways,
but primarily will adjudicate how prepared you are to discuss the concepts and issues in assigned
readings and with guest lecturers. In order to receive full credit, students must:
(a) be present and on time, having completed the readings in advance of the week for which they are
assigned and have the week’s texts on hand—electronically or printed out. If you do not have the
assigned texts on hand for lectures and discussion sections, you will not receive full credit for
participation.
(b) be prepared to discuss these texts, which you have read closely. Close reading includes reading a
text more than once, if necessary; taking notes, marking specific passages (and page numbers),
formulating questions, and looking up words you do not recognize.
Section Discussion Leadership (10%)
Students will work together in small groups to lead section discussion by:
(a) developing a brief (10- to 15-minute) presentation for one of the weekly assigned articles in
conjunction with weekly topics and/or guests. This should outline the author’s argument and how
they support it, as well as pinpoint key terms and concepts.
(b) pose three questions that provoke discussion and expand comprehension.
Team members are responsible for discussing their plans with section TA and for acquiring group
members’ contact information.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Over the quarter, students will engage in three modes of critical writing that build reading skills and
the application of concepts central to the field of disability studies: biweekly article analyses, a media
analysis, and an analytical research paper. Each of these is designed to develop your facility at writing
papers that apply disability studies perspectives and concepts.
Writing is, ultimately, a process of re-writing. You have the option of revising your media analysis but
are required to revise each step of the final paper based on feedback you receive from your TA and
peer review.
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Reading Analyses (20%)
Students are required to read assigned texts by Wednesday lecture.
During ODD-numbered weeks of the quarter—weeks 3, 5, 7, and 9—submit written analyses for each
assigned article. Bring hardcopy to discussion section and submit at the end of the session.
Practice Reading Analyses are due in week 2 and are a mandatory part of your final Participation
grade. Refer to Guidelines for Reading Analyses for specific requirements (page 12).
Media Analysis (15%)
due on CCLE week 4: W, 01/29 (minimum 3½ pages)
Write an essay analyzing how disability is represented in the language and imagery of a newspaper or
magazine article using a minimum of three (3) core concepts from three course readings assigned for
week 3.
A list of articles is provided on the course website. Or you may research a general news (newspaper or
magazine) article published within the past six months. News radio segments are acceptable if a
transcript is available; blog posts, op-eds, and columns are not acceptable. Submit article or radio
transcript with your paper if it is not among those provided. Media Analysis Guidelines will be posted
on course website.
*If you choose to revise your media analysis, you must turn in the new version, with the graded first
version attached, no later than one (1) week after your paper has been returned to you. These are
eligible, but not guaranteed, to receive a better grade. If the revision improves upon the initial
submission, your final grade will be the average of the grades received for the first and second drafts.
If there is no discernable improvement, the grade you received on your first version stands as the final
grade.
Analytical Research Paper (45%)
Write a ten- (10) page paper that critically engages with a topic of personal and/or intellectual
interest. Paper topics may address a historical or contemporary phenomenon or issue that is in
dialogue with course concepts, weekly topics and guest lectures.
The assignment requires you to demonstrate:
• comprehension of assigned readings and ability to apply these
•
proficiency at constructing an argument that uses a disability studies perspective
•
capacity to build this argument according to the format requirements and conventions
of academic writing used in the field of disability studies
•
ability to apply (paraphrase or quote) source material and cite correctly
You will develop your paper in THREE separate steps, as listed below. You are required to revise each
step of the paper based on feedback you receive from peer review and your TA. Revisions are
incorporated into the next step, as noted. Attach graded draft to each new step. Due in discussion
sections, as hard copy. Specific requirements for each step will be discussed and posted to the course
website.
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Final Paper Proposal (10%)
due on CCLE week 6: W, 02/12 (2-3 pages)
Submit a proposal for your final research paper, consisting of two parts:
(a) A paragraph that outlines your topic, argument, and the evidence you intend to use to support
your thesis. Include one to two sentences on how a disability studies perspective informs your
analysis and how it contributes to existing research in the field disability studies. This paragraph
will serve as the initial draft of the introduction to your final paper. (05%)
(b) An annotated References page that includes a minimum of four to six (4-6) outside scholarly
sources you have already consulted and a minimum of four (4) of assigned texts. Hence, this
should include a minimum of eight to ten (8-10) citations. (05%)
Narrative Outline (15%)
due on CCLE week 8: W, 02/26 (minimum 5½ pages)
Outline the five main sections of your paper (introduction, three subsections, conclusion) using
your revised, expanded introductory paragraph. Write thesis statements for each subsection
and apply your evidence in each section, outlining key points in full sentences. Include a
conclusion that reiterates your evidence and argument as well as the significance of your
research to the field of disability studies. Revised References pages must annotate new sources.
Final Draft (20%)
due on CCLE week 11: W, 03/18/20 by 11pm (minimum 10 pages)
Incorporating feedback received from peer review and your TA, refine and expand your rough
draft, focusing on the development of your argument, clarity and specificity of your prose, and
use of source material.
POINT BREAKDOWN + GRADING SCALE
Participation
Section Leadership
Reading Analyses
Media Analysis
FP proposal
FP narrative outline
FP final draft
Total:
10
10
20
15
10
15
20
100
99 – 100%
94 – 98%
90-93%
87-89%
84-86%
80-83%
77-79%
74-76%
70-73%
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
C-
67-69%
64-68%
60-63%
<59%
D+
D
DF
STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
UCLA has no tolerance for academic dishonesty of any kind. Cheating and plagiarism are not tolerated
and will result in the student being reported to the office of the Dean of Students and further possible
disciplinary actions, including expulsion from UCLA. Please acquaint yourself with university policies on
plagiarism: www.deanofstudents.ucla.edu/students/integrity/
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GRADING POLICIES
Attendance/Participation
Your grade adjudicates how prepared you are to discuss assigned readings and lectures on weekly
topics. All assigned readings must be brought to class sessions. If you do not bring the required texts,
you will not receive full credit for participation that day. TAs may add participation requirements for
specific discussion sections.
Absences
If you are not present in class, you will not be able to participate, which in turn will affect your final
grade, which will be lowered one grade per absence (e.g. A becomes an A-). Only medical or family
emergencies will be noted as excused absences. You are required to provide your TA with
documentation for absences that should be excused.
Participation
If you are uncomfortable speaking in all-class discussions, you can improve your participation grade by
— posting follow-up insights and/or relevant links to discussion of a specific topic, book, author,
etc. to the class website to generate dialogue with your peers.
— sending your thoughts and/or links privately to your TA in an email.
Tardiness
If you arrive after the first fifteen (15) minutes or leave early, you will not receive full credit for the
session. If you are habitually late, your tardiness will be counted as an absence.
Session Deductions
— Minus ½ point per session when it is clear to me that a student has not completed assigned
readings or does not have the week’s texts on hand.
— Minus ½ point per session to which you arrive late (after the first fifteen (15) minutes) or from
which you depart before the end of class. Repeated tardiness will count as absences.
— Minus ½ point per session in which you use telecommunication prostheses to text or check
messages, email, social media, etc. Inform your TA if you have an emergency that requires your
mobile volume to remain on.
— Minus (2) points for not submitting course and section evaluations at the end of the quarter.
Written Assignments
All work submitted for grading must be your original scholarship. You may not submit any work from
another course, prior or concurrent.
Plagiarism is when a student seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts (words, ideas, research) of
another person without authorization or properly crediting the originator. Common examples include:
cutting and pasting text from websites or outside sources; paraphrasing or quoting without citation;
poor paraphrasing of source material.
All written assignments must follow required formatting listed in Course Style Sheet (page 11). Points
will be deducted for not fulfilling formatting and writing convention requirements.
Late papers: No Reading Analyses and no Final Papers will be accepted past set deadlines. For Media
Analysis, Final Paper Proposal, and Final Paper Narrative Outline: extensions must be negotiated at least
five (5) days in advance of the deadline. If not, papers submitted one to three (1-3) days past a due date
will result in an automatic reduction of one (1) grade per day (e.g. B grade will become a B- grade). After
three (3) days, no late papers will be accepted and you will receive an automatic F for the assignment.
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CLASS SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENT CALENDAR
Week 1:
01/08
Introducing Disability Studies
In-class Screening
Neudel, E. (Director). (2011). Lives worth living [Documentary]. United States: PBS.
Week 2:
01/15
Reclaiming Bodyminds
GUEST SPEAKER
YO-YO LIN, INTERMEDIA & MOVEMENT ARTIST
Required Reading
Clare, E. (2001). Stolen bodies, reclaimed bodies: Disability and queerness. Public Culture,
13(3), 359–365.
Kafer, A. (2013). Introduction: Imagined futures. Feminist, queer, crip (pp. 19-24).
Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Linton, S. (2005). What is disability studies? PMLA, 120(2), 518–522.
Assignments
Practice Reading Analyses: hardcopy due in section.
Week 3:
01/22
Representing Disability
In-class Screening
Young, S. I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much. Tedx Australia, June 9, 2014.
Required Reading
Garland-Thomson, R. (2005). Disability and representation. PMLA, 120(2), 522–527.
Linton, S. (2005). Reassigning meaning. In Davis, L. J. (Ed.), The disability studies reader
(3rd ed.) (pp. 223–236). New York/London: Routledge.
Quinlan, M. M. & Bates, B. R. (2008). Dances and discourses of (dis)ability: Heather Mills's
embodiment of disability on Dancing with the Stars. Text and Performance
Quarterly, 28(1-2), 64–80.
Assignments
Reading Analyses: hardcopy due in section.
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Week 4:
01/29
Intersecting Fights for Rights
GUEST SPEAKER
BETH RIBET, CO-DIRECTOR REPAIR; ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, UCLA DISABILITY STUDIES
Required Reading
Baynton, D. C. (2001). Disability and the justification of inequality in American history. In
Longmore, P. & Umansky, L. (Eds.), The new disability history: American
perspectives (pp. 33–57). New York: New York UP.
Erevelles, N. & Minear, A. (2010). Unspeakable offenses: Untangling race and disability in
discourses of intersectionality. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies,
4(2), 127-145.
Schweik, S. (2011). Lomax's matrix: Disability, solidarity, and the black power of 504. DSQ:
Disability Studies Quarterly, 31, 1–16. http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/1371/1539
Assignments
Media Analysis: due online by Weds., start of lecture.
Week 5:
02/05
Interconnecting Health Disparities
Required Reading
Braveman, P.A., & et al. (2011). Health disparities and health equity: The issue is justice.
American Journal of Public Health, 101 Sup 1, 149-155.
James, Sherman. (2017) The strangest of all encounters: racial and ethnic discrimination
in U.S. health care. Cadernos de Saúde Pública/Reports on Public Health, 33 Sup 1,
2–10.
Pokempner, J. & Roberts, D. E. (2001). Poverty, welfare reform, and the meaning of
disability. Ohio State Law Journal, 62, 1–23.
Assignments
Reading Analyses: hardcopy due in section.
Week 6:
02/12
Teaching Diverse Bodyminds
GUEST SPEAKER
CAITLIN SOLONE, PHD CANDIDATE, UCLA EDUCATION
Required Reading
Dudley-Marling, C. & Burns, M. B. (2014). Two perspectives on inclusion in the United
States. Global Education Review, 1(1), 14–31.
Osher, D., Coggshall, J., Colombi, G., Woodruff, D., Francois, S., & Osher, T. (2012).
Building school and teacher capacity to eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline.
Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education
Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 35, 284–295.
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Reid, D. K. & Knight, M. G. (2006). Disability justifies exclusion of minority students: A
critical history grounded in disability studies. Educational Researcher, 35(6), 18–
23.
Assignments
Final Paper Proposal: due online by Weds., start of lecture.
Week 7:
02/19
Redefining Body v. Mind
Required Reading
Gilman, S. L. (2014). Madness as disability. History of Psychiatry, 25(4), 441–449.
Mollow, A. (2013). “When black women go on Prozac…”: The politics of race, gender, and
emotional distress in Meri Nana-Ama Danquah’s Willow Weep for Me. In Davis, L.
J. (Ed.), The disability studies reader (4th ed.) (pp. 411–431). New York: Routledge
Price. M. (2016). Defining mental illness. In Davis, L. J. (Ed.), The disability studies reader
(5th ed.) (pp. 333–343). New York/London: Routledge.
Assignments
Reading Analyses: hardcopy due in section.
Week 8:
02/26
Rethinking Neurodiversity
GUEST SPEAKER:
DR. LINDA DEMER, PROFESSOR, UCLA CARDIOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING; EXEC. VICE
CHAIR, DEPT. OF MEDICINE
Required Reading
Kapp, S. K. (2011) Navajo and autism: the beauty of harmony. Disability & Society, 26(5),
583–595.
Strauss, J. N. (2013) Autism as culture. In Davis, L. J. (Ed.), The disability studies reader (4th
ed.) (pp. 460–484). New York/London: Routledge.
Yergeau, M. (2016). Occupying autism: Rhetoric, involuntarity, and the meaning of autistic
lives. In Block, P., Kasnitz, D., Nishida, A. & Pollard, N. (Eds.) Occupying disability:
Critical approaches to community, justice, and decolonizing disability (pp. 83–95).
Dordrecht: Springer.
Assignments
Narrative Outline: due online by Weds., start of lecture.
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Week 9:
03/04
Challenging Bioethics
Required Reading
Ekberg, M. (2007). The old eugenics and the new genetics compared. Social History of
Medicine, 20 (3), 581–593.
Kafer, A. (2013). At the same time, out of time: Ashley X. Feminist, queer, crip (pp. 47-68).
Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Roberts, D. (2012). Debating the cause of health disparities: Implications for bioethics and
racial equality. Faculty Scholarship Paper 573. Penn Law: Legal Scholarship
Repository, University of Pennsylvania Law School.
http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/573/
Assignments
Reading Analyses: hardcopy due in section.
Week 10:
03/11
Imagining Otherwise
Required Reading
Garland-Thomson, R. (2012). The case for conserving disability. Bioethical Inquiry 9,
339–55.
Mingus, M. (2017). Access intimacy, interdependence and disability justice. Leaving
Evidence, April 12. https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/accessintimacy-interdependence-and-disability-justice/
Assignments
Peer review of Final Paper Rough Draft: bring hardcopy to section.
W 03/18/20
Final Paper due. Upload final draft to Turnitin folder by 11pm. No late papers accepted.
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DS101W COURSE STYLE SHEET
Use APA formatting for in-text citation and References page. Points will be deducted from papers that do
not fulfill required formatting and writing conventions/expectations, as listed.
Required Paper Formatting
Reading Analyses
Double-sided, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman, with 1-inch margins. No additional
paragraph spacing. No title page or running header. Include only your last name in the bottom right
footer next to page numbers; no additional course or student identifiers.
Media Analysis, Final Paper Proposal, Narrative Outline, Rough and Final Drafts
Same as above plus References page(s). Do not number References page(s), which are not included in
minimum page requirement. One (1) point extra credit for including an abstract page on final draft. Do
not number this, which also is not included in minimum page requirement.
Required Writing Expectations & Conventions
Disability language: disabled or nondisabled person/people; person with a disability/people with
disabilities; Deaf or non-Deaf; blind or notblind.
Nongendered Language: Use non-binary plural pronouns (them, they, their) or identifying nouns
(surname, “the author”).
Ethnicity: Latinx, indigenous, Asian American, black/white, African diasporic, women of color,
person/people of color; person/people/woman/women/ student(s) of color.
Verb Tense: Present or past only. NO FUTURE TENSE.
First Person v. Third Person: All papers should be written in the third person. First person singular is
ONLY acceptable in the introduction and conclusion of the final paper, though third person is preferred.
NO royal “we.”
Academic Language: You are expected to develop sentences that stress clarity and depth of thought. NO
informal language, adages, slang, cliché, euphemism, personal address, or asides to the reader.
Simple v. Complex/Compound Sentence Structures: In this class it is expected that you learn the art of
writing complex/compound sentences that stitch ideas or information together. Not like this. Do better
than this. Don’t repeat sentence structures, either. It’s boring.
Quotation Format: Double quote marks for all direct quotations. Use single quote marks only for quotes
within quotes.
Punctuation for Quotations: Commas and periods go inside quote marks, even if you are using them on
only one word. Parentheses, colons, semi-colons go outside quote marks. Question and exclamation
marks go inside if part of quote, outside if not.
Comma Use in Lists: Always include a final comma, e.g., I am going to eat peaches, pears, and ice cream
for breakfast.
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GUIDELINES FOR READING ANALYSES
Students are required to read all assigned texts by Wednesday lecture and submit written analyses for
all required reading during weeks 3, 5, 7, and 9. Bring hardcopy to discussion section and submit to TA
at the end of the session. No late summaries accepted.
Each summary must include the full article/chapter citation in APA format, followed by a short
paragraph that identifies ONLY the following (do not add anything else):
(a) topic of the article
(b) author(s)’ argument
(c) what type(s) of evidence the author uses to support this argument
(d) a concept that is foundational to the development of the argument
(e) how the author(s) define(s) this concept, paraphrased in your own words. DO NOT QUOTE.
Topic: What is the main idea, issue, or phenomenon the author is addressing in the text?
Argument: This is the author(s)’ primary goal and answers the question of why the author is interested
in the topic and has written the article. What position does the author take on the topic? Is the author
arguing for or against something (i.e. rectifying an historical oversight or proposing a new theory)? An
author may articulate several claims to build an argument; you will need to distinguish between these
and the overall point of the article.
Evidence: Provide a concise overview of the types of information an author (or authors) uses to prove an
argument, i.e. case studies, literature, history, research, etc.
Concept: A key term or phrase that is fundamental to the development of the argument. It may be an
original concept the author is defining (look for signals in the text such as, “which I define as…” or “what
I call…”) or it may be a concept borrowed from another scholar. Concepts can be detected by (a) how
necessary they are to the argument and (b) by their portability: the capacity to be applied by other
scholars and/or to different contexts. General nouns (i.e. “education,” “power,” etc.) are not concepts.
Article topics are not concepts. Disability is never an article concept.
Suggested narrative formula
In this article, [author’s surname] examines… topic, in order to argue… argument. To make this
argument, author [surname or “the author”] examines… evidence. Foundational to the article is the
concept, which [surname or “the author”] defines as… definition.
Sample
Gutierrez, R. (2016). The issues we face: Identifying disability oppression in academia. Intersectionality in
Higher Education, 142(4), 433-455.
In this article, Gutierrez investigates daily forms of oppression that undergraduate students with
disabilities encounter on U.S. college campuses. Gutierrez argues that these students contend with
subtle yet painful forms of stigma from their peers. In order to make this argument, the author analyzes
campus ombudsmen reports and conducts interviews with students and professors. Foundational to the
article is Gutierrez’s use of the concept of microaggressions, which the author defines as small but
negative verbal or nonverbal insults, slights, innuendo, or humor that reinforces ableist norms and
creates an implicitly hostile environment for disabled students.
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