Socially-Just Disability Resources: An Approach to Enhancing Equity for Teacher Candidates with Disabilities

Abstract

To effectively diversify the special education profession, the field must recognize disability as an aspect of diversity and critically examine how disabled teacher candidates experience higher education. Research has shown, for example, that during their time in teacher preparation programs, teacher candidates with disabilities encounter numerous barriers and a general sense of unpreparedness for their disability-related needs among several stakeholders (e.g., faculty, staff, disability resource professionals). The purpose of this article, therefore, is to describe an approach for disability resource professionals to apply socially-just disability resources—an emergent professional paradigm in the field of higher education disability resources—to enhance both access and equity in special edu- cation teacher preparation programs.