Deconstructing Dis-ability

The aim of this talk is to present my journey towards deconstructing dis/ability; past, present, and future. Dis/ability will be described as a product of society. All are seen as potentially able or disable at any given moment. I will argue that it is the environment within which individuals are situated that constitutes us as able or disable. Within this conceptualisation the medical model and discourses of deficit misrepresented difference as deficit. I have adopted a process of piecemeal social engineering to deconstruct dis/ability within my own practice. I am currently undertaking a PhD calling for policy change to deconstruct dis/ability at the macro level. I have undertaken an autoethnographic research project to ascertain the potential benefits and issues of integrating one-to-one student-teacher dialogue within taught sessions as a means of meeting individual needs. Looking to the future I intend to gather student voice on the benefits and limitations of integrating multimodal assessment as a means of deconstructing barriers to dis/ability. The aim of giving this talk is two-fold. I hope to gain critical perspectives on my journey so that I can reflect and consider how to proceed. I also hope that the ideas presented may provide somewhat interesting topics of consideration.