Disability Representation Audit

The best way to evaluate your lessons and resources is to have us work with you. There are a few ways to do this. Education Members have access to us via a weekly Zoom meeting as well as on the Google Classroom where teachers can share lesson plans they are developing or want insight on resources they already use. You can also contract us to review your lessons and other content.

However …

As a way to allow you to analyze your texts, curriculum, classrooms, and school, we share this “Disability Representation Audit” created by Dr. Christa Bialka

Curricular Representation

  • Do illustrations promote ableism by addressing disability in stereotyped ways?

  • Does the storyline (fiction or non-fiction) promote ableism?

  • Do loaded words convey negative messages about disability? 

  • Are disabled people portrayed as three-dimensional people who belong or as flat, stereotyped outsiders? 

  • Who in the story has agency? Are disabled people always the recipients of the efforts of others or are they portrayed with value? 

  • Are disabled [people] ever in the role of hero, or are they always victims to be rescued by the hero? 

  • Is there something in the [writer/creator’s] background that recommends them to writing about the disability experience accurately and with sensitivity? 

Classroom Artifact Representation

  • Do classroom artifacts (i.e., toys, pictures, posters, or other vehicles for representation) include disability? 

  • Do classroom artifacts promote positive self-image for people with disabilities?

Schoolwide Representation

  • Does your school have a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee/Action Group? If so, is disability included as a component of DEI?

  • Does your school host any events (for students or for teachers/staff) throughout the year that address disability awareness?

Also, see our tool for evaluating disability representation in books specifically.

Source:

Rebecca Jacobson & Christa S. Bialka (2023): Identifying factors that promote or inhibit disability-related discussion in secondary English language arts classrooms, English in Education, DOI: 10.1080/04250494.2023.2218879 

www.christasbialka.com