Better off Dead than Disabled: Some challenges and opportunities for educators

In this provocatively titled paper I seek to suggest that disability is an interesting topic for all educators rather than just special educators. Some 19 per cent of the population has disability, although we may not recognise some people as having some form of impairment to life functioning. So many disabilities are hidden rather than the stereotype of a male in a manual chair ¾ a marked minority.

Accordingly, I examine some dominant mindsets with regard to disability in education and society, contrast some world views, make the case for considering disability in all educational environments, and suggest that disability provides a useful lens for examining the tacit and explicit dimensions of education and curricula.