This special issue of Kairos was released in 2002: http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/7.1/coverweb.html And now, in 2018, I’m still presenting on the need for natural accommodations in writing courses. We have made little progress, sadly, in either our physical or online spaces. Often, there is resistance to adjustments, such as transcripts or captioning of…
Tag: writing
Required college composition courses often serve a gatekeeping function, ensuring that only the right sort of students advance towards degrees. Though anecdotal, every campus course-related hearing I’ve been involved in as an expert on autism and neurodiversity was a writing course. These were not always first-year composition, but they were…
Autistic students and their parents contact me all-too-often about writing courses at colleges and universities. For some reason, writing pedagogies (the theories and methods instructors embrace) prove particularly problematic for students with disabilities. Writing courses are tailored for the “normal” students, those without any physical, cognitive, or mental health challenges. Much…
The situation, which represents at least three or four emails I receive per school year: A student requests exemptions from collaborative assignments and participation grades. The professor declines. Disability studies office asks me what the right solution is to this conflict. More often than I would like, this occurs in…
Networking is part of developing a career. This is true of any career, including that of writer / scholar. If you want someone to publish or produce your works, you have to be social. You have to be known. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, artists able to succeed…
I have been away from blogging to deal with some family matters, and I honestly don’t have much to add to the autism community at this time. One of the questions that I’ve received a few times during the month, “Will you review NeuroTribes?” Although I consider Steve Silberman‘s work…
The goal of teaching writing led me to scholarship on technology, design, disability, and economics within composition and rhetoric. Years ago, when I entered graduate school, I imagined helping students and teachers connect via technology. I wanted to study “writing across the curriculum” and online writing labs. These interests led…
If I could, I would write full-time. That is what I want, and what I have dreamed of since first grade: to be a professional writer. Teaching seemed like a good way to support writing. But, no luck with that approach. I’m a good teacher. My reviews state this. My course…
Since completing my doctorate, I haven’t had a compelling reason to read much about the psychology of autism. When I read scholarly articles in psychology, they tend to be connected to economics or politics. You might imagine that economics and policy, so connected to rhetoric and persuasion, would delve into…
At the end of every semester I experience a sense of failure and wonder how I could do better. The insecurity and anxiety paralyze me. I read the evaluations and reviews, but instead of noticing that I score higher than university or program averages (and medians, too), my mind locks…