Dis/ability in the Americas: The Intersections of Education, Power, and Identity (Education in Latin America and the Caribbean)

This edited volume highlights the rich and complex educational debates around Critical Disability Studies in Education (DSE), critical mental health, and crip theories. Chapter authors use the term Dis/ability to criticize aspects of education research and international development that do not center the experiences of dis/abled students and people with dis/abilities. Through case studies from around the Americas, chapters highlight how top-down approaches to disabilities further oppress rather than emancipate. The volume prioritizes the spaces of resistance where local initiatives speak back to the demands imposed by an ever-globalizing world shaped by colonialism and imperialism, undergird by intersectional ableism. Voices of disabled students and people with dis/abilities counter-narrate the personal, interpersonal, structural, and political ways in which biomedical and psychological models of disability have impacted their well-being throughout education and society in the Americas. Through a critical sentipensante approach that centers the “epistemologies of the south,” this volume challenges global mental health and dis/ability hegemony in the Americas. Praise for Dis/ability in the Americas Contents List of Contributors 1 Introduction Critical Disability Studies in Education Our Positionalities and Relationalities Chantal David Organization of the Book References 2 A Case Study of Disability Leadership Introduction Disability in the American Caribbean Brief USVI Overview Colonial History of the USVI Prevalence of Disability in the USVI Cultural Perception of Disability in the USVI Colonial-Influenced Perspectives of Disability in the USVI Critical Approaches to Addressing Disability in the USVI A Case Study of Disability Leadership Countering the Discourse of the Majority A Critical Approach to Eurocentric Disability Frameworks Culturally Relevant and Culturally Responsive Teaching: The Role of Eugenics, Disability, and Science in Historical Trauma Structural Competence to Address Systemic Racism and Ableism Cultural Humility Vs. Cultural Competence Conclusion References 3 Teaching Toward Decoloniality: A Mental Health Approach for Guatemala Introduction Brief Overview of Guatemala Teaching Toward decoloniality Positionality Methods Findings Demand for Mental Health Services Circumventing the Federico Mora Hospital Intentional Inertia Discussion Conclusion References 4 Biographical-Educational Trajectories and Future Projects of Blind Young People: Contributions to Narrative Analysis from a Critical Perspective Youth and Disability Disability Models The Right to Education for Young People with Disabilities in Brazil Biographical-Educational Trajectories and Future Projects of Young People with Visual Disability Final Remarks List of Transcript Symbols References 5 Affects and Diversity in the Classroom: Everyday Experiences at Santiago de Chile’s Schools Introduction Context Education, Affective Atmospheres, Senses, and Experience Methods Everyday Moments Folding Sharing Enduring Understanding Playing Being Present Evading Affects at Work Final Notes References 6 Indigenous Street Children in Ecuador: Contested Narratives of Mental Health and Disability Introduction Ecuador, Latitude 0° Indigenous Street Children Case Example Facilitators and Barriers to Equity and Inclusive Mental Health Indigenousness Transcultural Education and Mental Health Understanding of Disability Potential Action Steps References 7 Disability in Bolivia: A Feminist Global South Perspective Decoloniality Decolonial, Global South Disability Studies and Bolivia Bolivia’s Uniqueness Suma Qamaña The Role of Social Movements Recent Decolonial Resistance in Bolivia: The 2016–2017 Disability Protests Disabled Women’s Experiences in Bolivia Conclusion References 8 Music & Dis/Ability: Inclusive Perspectives in the Argentinian Context Introduction Dis/Ability Throughout History Music as a Right Pedagogic and Music Paradigms Some Considerations About Inclusive Art Some Facts About Dis/Ability in Argentina Music and Dis/Ability in the Argentinian Context About Music Education and Dis/Ability Improvisation and Music in the Field of Dis/Ability Some Considerations About Inclusive Music Inclusion: A Critic View The Ethic Perspective: Re-Encountering the Artistic Subject Conclusions References 9 “We Don’t Kiss in School”: Policing Warmth, Disciplining Physicality, and Examining Consent of Latinx Students in US Special Education Classrooms Othering in Schools “We Don’t Kiss in School” Lilly’s Learning Process Rachel’s Learning Process Consent and Physical Touch in the Classroom What is at Stake? Lilly’s Learning Process Issues with Policing Physical Warmth The School as Expert, the Families/Students as Non-knowers Rachel’s Learning Process Lilly’s Learning Process Expectations of Behavior in Special Education Complicating Public vs. Private Spaces Call for Schools and Stakeholders to Uplift Expressions of Warmth References 10 Sophia Cruz’s Emotional Construction of Learning Dis/Abilities: A Liberation DisCrit Emotion Narrative and Community Psychology Approach A Liberation DisCrit Emotion Narrative and Community Psychology Approach A Liberation Psychology and Disability Studies and Community Psychology Liberation Psychology Disability Studies and Community Psychology DisCrit Emotion Narrative Inquiry and Intersectional Disability Identity Formation Sociocultural and Affective Historical Developmental Perspectives Researcher Positionality Interdisciplinary, Critical Ethnographic, and Qualitative Methods Sophia and Luciana’s Transnational Dis/Ability Experiences Sophia’s Emotion-Laden Talk about LD Sophia and Luciana’s Sociocultural and Historical Background Sophia and Luciana’s Navigating of the US Educational System Luciana’s perspectives regarding Sophia’s LD label Concluding Thoughts at the Nexus of Global Dis/Ability Hegemony and Emotionality References Index