Abelism in Higher Education

Reading these pieces really made me think about how deeply ableism is embedded in academia, even in ways I hadn’t fully considered before. Margaret Price’s concept of “topoi” stood out to me—especially how certain ideas about mental disability get reinforced in ways that make it harder for neurodivergent and intellecutally disabled people to be seen as “academic.” The expectation of productivity, rationality, and composure is something I’ve felt before, but I hadn’t really connected it to a larger system until now. The way Price ties this to school shootings was particularly heavy to read, because it’s true that discussions about mental illness in academic spaces often focus on danger rather than support. It’s frustrating that the conversation is so often about fear instead of making education more accessible.

Dolmage and Kafer also pushed me to rethink the structure of higher education itself. Dolmage’s point about how universities were designed to exclude disabled people isn’t surprising, but it’s still frustrating to see how little has changed. The idea that accommodations are seen as “extra” rather than necessary just reinforces the idea that disabled students are outliers instead of part of the community. Kafer’s discussion of time really resonated with me too—especially the idea that disabled people are often expected to conform to a specific timeline for progress. It made me reflect on how I’ve internalized that pressure and how exhausting it is to always feel like I’m behind. All three of these readings highlight different but connected ways that academia reinforces ableism, and they left me wondering: if higher education was built this way from the start, how do we actually change it?