Understanding the Impact of Inclusion in Disability Studies Education

Abstract

Educators and practitioners are faced with the transitioning and intersection of two diverse disability studies education models—the medical model and the social model—and the models' effects on career development. This chapter focuses on how individuals with disabilities were transitioned into diversity and inclusion processes and then integrated into the organization and career development structure. Once left out of the measures of performance through education, learners with disabilities, in 1997, clearly became identified in the federal and state answerability systems. This chapter advocates for the social model. Additionally, respondents show how self-identifying as a person with a disability, even anonymously, can be difficult for some people. Readers will better understand the terms diversity, disability, and inclusion through the disability studies lenses, but the question remains, Have we come a long way or are scholars and practitioners floundering in today's society and lacking understanding about diversity through unclear comprehension regarding disability?