Intersecting Arts Based Research and Disability Studies: Suggestions for Art Education Curriculum Centered on Disability Identity Development

Abstract

This research investigates how arts based research methods contribute to the development of a positive disability identity through the act of uncovering. Through the theoretical framework of critical disability studies, the experience of having invisible disabilities in a normative society is explored via narrative and visual methods of inquiry including reflexive journaling, drawing, watercolor and sculpture. The heuristic process of arts based reflexivity is then used as a means to create a comprehensive portrait of the disability experience. This study concludes with research implications that address the ways in which teachers can integrate critical disability studies into the art classroom as well as significant considerations for when art educators introduce this type of critically reflective work into their teaching practices.