SPC
ED 511: Social Construction of Disability
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January 26, 2012
Topic:
Contrasting perspectives: etic, emic, and cultural differences
Class
outline:
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Quick questions and quandaries
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| Announcements |
| APA Tip of the Day: Type style |
| Assigning and explaining small groups |
| Initial interactive presentation: Statrting to unpack the Social Construction of Disability |
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Small group activity #1:
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I
will assign each group one of the three articles to discuss using the
reading questions available below. Each group should take 20 minutes
to answer the reading questions thoroughly.
Report out from groups
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Interactive presentation: Etic and emic perspectives
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Quick
write:
"In what
ways do you think it the emic and etic perspectives on disability might
be different. Provide some concrete examples. What kinds of problems or
conflicts might occur as a result of these differences?"
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Interactive presentation: Defining and questioning culture
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Minute paper |
Overheads:
Reading
Questions:
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Author:
Sleeter (1986)
| 1.) |
Sleeter (p. 48) states that special education
"usually is presented as a school structure instituted solely to benefit
students unable to profit from school because of handicapping conditions."
While she questions this interpretation for students "whose handicaps are
not obvious" (read learning disabilities), she finds this has merits for
students with mental retardation and with physical impairments. To what
extent do you agree/disagree with the statement and to what extent do you
agree that it applies exclusively to students without mental retardation
or physical impairments? |
| 2.) |
How does Sleeter argue that the category
of "learning disabilities" came to be? |
| 3.) |
What is Sleeter's arguments about "advantaged
social groups" and maintaining social advantage? |
| 4.) |
To what extent do you agree/disagree with
her argument? |
| 5.) |
Now that you've read this article:
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...what seem to be some important concepts
in this reading?
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...what are some new terms for you?
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...what new questions do you have?
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Author:
Rao (2006)
| 1.) |
On the middle of page 160, Rao states
that "Viewed from the sociological perspective, categories embedded within
the traditional medical model of disability are not objective or real but
are metaphors that indicate the ways in which these categories are socially
or culturally constructed." What does this mean? |
| 2.) |
Furthermore, on p. 161, the author states
that "much of the analysis in the realm of culture and disability has focused
on understanding disability as a status which is an outcome of the expectations
and norms in a given social structure." What does that mean? |
| 3.) |
What behaviors did the mothers in this
study use to determine whether their children were "normal"? |
| 4.) |
How does this differ from expectations
in US schools for "normal" individuals? |
| 5.) |
Now that you've read this article:
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...what seem to be some important concepts
in this reading?
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...what are some new terms for you?
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...what new questions do you have?
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Authors:
Malloy & Vasil (2002)
| 1.) |
These authors also refer to the medical
model, in their statement at the top of page 661: "the medical model approrach
to developmental disorders is largely conter-productive; the basis for
this criticism being that once children are labelled they tend to vbe defined
by their diagnosis thereby losing their individuality and limiting other
people's expectations of them." What do you think about this statement? |
| 2.) |
On page 662, the authors compare the medical
model of disability and the social model of disability. What do you
understand about the difference between these perspectives? |
| 3.) |
at the top of page 663, the authors state
that "impairments, such as the inability to hear, exist in thr world, but
deafness, as a disability, is socially constructed." What might that mean? |
| 4.) |
Later, the authors, using the example
of Asperger syndrome, question the notion of "impairment" that is inherent
in the social model of disability. What do you understand about that argument? |
| 5.) |
Now that you've read this article:
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...what seem to be some important concepts
in this reading?
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...what are some new terms for you?
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...what new questions do you have?
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* To view PDF documents, such as the readings on reserve,
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download
a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader
Extra
Resources:
Website Links:
Recommended
Related Books
Ingstad, B., &
Whyte, S. R. (Eds.) (1995). Disability and culture. Berkely, CA:
University of Califorinia Press.
Readings from
the recommended readings:
Braathen, S. H.,
& Ingstad, B. (2006). Albinism in Malawi: Knowledge and beliefs from
an African setting. Disability and Society, 21(6), 599-611.
.
Brownlow, C., &
O’Dell, L. (2006). Constructing an autistic identity: AS voices online.
Mental Retardation, 44(5), 315-321.
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Frankland, H. C.,
Turnbull, A. P., Wehmeyer, M. L., & Blackmountain, L. (2004). An exploration
of the self-determination construct and disability as it relates to the
diné (Navajo) culture. Education and Training in Developmental
Disabilities, 39(3), 191-205.
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Trueba, H., Jacobs,
L., & Kirton, E. (1990). Cultural conflict and adaptation: The case
of Hmong children in American society. New York: The Falmer Press.
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Julia Scherba de Valenzuela,
Ph.D.
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Last
updated: January 25, 2012
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