education

Looking Back at English 401

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This class overall was a new experience for me in a very beneficial way. It felt like an appreciation for re-learning what space and language means in a multitude of different forms that also convey “new” ways (new to me) of representation for each. Throughout my journey I learned to reinforce certain ideas I previously had gaining more confidence in my critical-empathetic thinking skills, un-learn language that could be harmful and preventable through more thoughtful engagement, and challenge others around me to do the same with education. Something that I struggled with at times is integrating and separating my own background and schemas into these subjects. I was never a perfect ally to the disabled community but that was due to my own in-experience with the subject as a whole. I quickly found out there is a lot of overlap with certain language and thought processes when it comes to psychology and disability studies. However, I am not the first to point out that aspects of psychology have disregarded or otherwise disrespected the community in many ways.  

Language would be a huge addition to the intersect as well as differences with psychology and disability studies. Traditionally, I am not completely familiar with the neurobiology side of psychology nor is it my main interest. However, I do know some of the neurobiology that can follow different conditions of the mind. I even teach a peer support group on mental health and for one day we learn a small bit about biology. When we discuss how harmful the medical-biology focus can be with disability I immediately followed along. I’ve witnessed the inconsiderate take that doctors can have at times and the ill use of specific words/phrases when talking to a patient. What stuck out to me is it can be slightly different with mental health. As an aspiring therapist, I want my future patients to know that it can be empowering to learn about why they are reacting to things the way they are and how that works but strictly only if they desire to know. Education is empathy and it starts with learning about oneself. That is bound to look different for everyone so while some may want to learn, others will not and that is okay.  

I believe that key themes and specific ideas stuck with me throughout this quarter. The biggest one would have to be kairotic spaces. It was nice to immediately note that Andrew uses all of the teaching techniques that was included in the piece about how to make the classroom a kairotic space. I think it can be useful later in my life and therapy. Additionally, I think it would be interesting to read about how kairos/kairotic space works within different relationship dynamics too. Another big theme I enjoyed was learning about the intertwine between rhetorical analysis and disability studies. After learning about rhetoric last quarter, I was invested and seeing it applied to something social justice and community based kept me engaged.  

We continuously tried to define disability studies. At the beginning of the quarter, I wrote with not so much confidence that disability studies, “Interacts with the rhetorical through occupying spaces implicitly and explicitly. Like rhetoric, disability studies will always be changing and moving with/throughout the human body. It pays no mind to the physical form of the body or abilities because that is never a guaranteed constant.” Now, I would say with confidence that disability studies aims to challenge its audiences through an embodied rhetoric that cannot truly be captured or accurately placed into a definition. It changes and moves with rhetoric and adapts its abilities with engaged participants like kairotic space.  

Why Crip Camp is Important

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The film Crip Camp is a storytelling showpiece about the roots of disability rights and disability rights activists. While the documentary centers around the story of how the ADA came to be and activism in general, it offers an important theme of community and accessibility embedded in. We begin the film with a nostalgic 70s scene of campers at Camp Jened. Camp Jened is an all-inclusive camp for young teens with a disability. At the camp, the audience gets to see disability in a different light than usual as campers build friendships that stand the test of time as we see later on. As a student who never received education about disabilities or disability rights, this film struck a chord with me. I wish my high school had this built into the curriculum in some way. I believe it could fit really well into a history class and teach students to think deeper into human rights and politics.  

After establishing a community in Camp Jened the film jumps to a different time in campers lives as they’ve grown up and find one another again. The story mainly includes three campers named Judith Heumann, Stephen Hoffman, and Larry Allison that retell their story and how they all became close friends from beginning of camp to later in life. Not only is history important in this film for the obvious reason of laws being passed, but there is first a history of relationships that allowed there to be protests pushing for legislation to be passed. At Camp Jened, it was clear the space the entire time was about helping one another out beyond just physically. To create an atmosphere as such is not a difficult feat, but it is difficult to keep it going outside those safe walls. Authors Susan Burch and Kim E. Nielsen emphasize a social-relational model of disability for historians to refer to in their chapter appropriately titled “History.” With this model disability can be seen as shaped by the environment the person is in (Burch, Nielsen, 96). That is to say that if a person with a disability is around a culture not only inclusive to others like themselves but also a culture that is open for them physically and socially then they will thrive. Unfortunately, America has not been successful with that goal and that is where protests began which ignited the ADA.  

Coming from a small town with small minds, I can see how this might not always execute well when shown to high schoolers. The issue I believe just lies in the belief systems and how strong they are (always have been) surrounding disability. I will promise you that there will always be at least one or two students that will be open minded and that can change a classroom environment entirely. This film is going to be necessary for those environments. Another issue with rhetoric surrounding disability is the fact that most stories told about folks who are disabled are told by able-bodied people. The film can offer aspects of teaching that should and need to be acknowledged when discussing history such as psychological issues, sociological impacts, culture, and intersectionality. As Burch and Nielsen said, “Disability rights movements in all of their manifestations share central themes in history: struggle, citizenship, labor, power, violence, health, representation, and community.” (Burch, Nielsen, 97). In high school I believe it’s important to realize the power that groups create. If teens had more exposure to civil rights knowledge and more specifically how they came to be (like this film) I think it can be easier to see how they themselves can create change in the world when it’s needed.  

Something big I personally took from this film is how the community helped shape every part of action that was taken. I could be wrong, but I feel like if one is almost thrust into the world of politics because it’s demanded it can be exhausting quickly. By that, I mean when your rights are at risk, you feel the need to act because no one else will. However, Judy Heumann our main leader of the protests, had community all the way back from camp helping her. In their adult life they still found one another taking care of each other mentally and physically to better the whole nation.