talking back

I wrote the following, in thinking about what kind of suggestions i would make to my fellow disabled students, or what i think we might be able to tell our professors, when having to deal with our 'disclosure conversation' - suggestions for the disabled student, that allows us to TALK BACK to those dominant voices that talk to much. or perhaps an assurance that these conversations are so much like walking a tight-rope, and an exploration of other ways to deal with the stigma, that the usually bits of information can't tell us about. any responses or additions would be greatly appreciated, and you could email me at dagrange@syr.edu, and i can post them.

• don't be shocked by the news if one of your 'normal students' comes out of the closet with you, and challanges your perception of them. Don't assume that we don't love the knowledge that our bodies provide us, don't assume that we are afflicted with something terrible, that you have to run from, or be scared of.
• Ask me about my experiences with other teachers or Office of Disability Services. And don't forget to consult me on how you should deal with me in your classroom. And don't forget that there are some questions that i may not want to hear, let alone answer. Don't ask me what i need help with, tell me that you would like to help me out however you can. Ask me about what i like about school, what have been my favorite class projects, what are my hobbies. Learn about what i'm interested in so that you'll be better at hooking us in to the class work. Learn what we're good at and you will learn how we experss our knowledges best. Learn what our voice sounds like because you might have to make space to hear it.
• Don't think that we're special people asking for special treatment. If schools were not made to systematically exclude us, we wouldn't have to share so much personal information because we wouldn't need accomodations. Accomodations are one way that we can change normal schooling so that we can learn and express our knowledge, because we want to learn, but accomodations can't do everything for us.
• Don't think that Disability Services-required accomodations are sufficient. If we require extra time on an exam, it will also take us longer for us to write our papers, study for texts, and read our books. Do not assume that our untimely-ness has anything to do with our organization skills, or our abilities, or our commitment to our school work or your class. Rather, assume that it is simply because we work differently. Even if you're wrong, it's rare for students like us to get any recognition for the time we put into our work. Cut me some slack, even if the law doesn't require it. I work differently and that deserves some recognition.
• And just because some doctor gave us a label doesn't mean that we will tell you about it, or that my classmate will disclose, because they may not even know how to, or know that they can negotiate the classroom structure to facilitate our  collective learning. Stating the purpose of Disability Services on your syllabus will not reach all of us. Instead invite all students to discuss how we enjoy learning, what we're interested in learning about, and how we enjoy expressing our knowledges, because if we enjoy your class, we will get more out of it. And that's not a 'disabled' thing.
• Just because you don't understand something we've written or said, don't assume that we don't have something intelligible to say. Rather, ask us to explain ourselves because you are also telling us that you know that we have something valuable to explain. That sentence or paragraph that you circled, and wrote a question mark next to, may have taken us a great deal of energy to write because it was important to us. Don't disregard our ideas as unintelligible if you don't understand. Take time to ask us, to make an effort to understand us. Use your actions to let us know that you have not taken our efforts for granted.
• Don't forget that there are very few students with learning disabilities that are privileged enough to make the choice to go to college because our cards have been stacked up against us all the way here. We are here because we want to learn. I may come to you as a philosopher of my own education with ideas you have not heard before. Even if I don't discuss our philosophies with you, never forget that. We can be an uncommon asset, which challenges your ways of thinking about learning and teaching, that we require that your teaching practices become more creative and tangible for all students.