Performing Disability: An Autoethnography of Persevering and Becoming
Open Access
Author:
Rogers-Shaw, Carol
Graduate Program:
Lifelong Learning and Adult Education
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
April 24, 2020
Committee Members:
Adnan Qayyum, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Adnan Qayyum, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Craig A. Campbell, Committee Member Joseph M Valente, Committee Member Gail Louise Boldt, Outside Member Susan Mary Land, Program Head/Chair
Keywords:
disability autoethnography identity development adulthood performance
Abstract:
This uniquely formatted split-page autoethnography tells my story of learning to live with disability for more than 40 years. It presents the results of my personal narrative inquiry in the form of a layered account of embodied learning. This account offers an evocative autoethnography and analyzes disability in the context of an ableist society. It begins with my diagnosis of diabetes. Then it describes the effect of my disability on my identity, my marriage, my role as mother, my friendships, and my career. Finally, it closes with my near-death experience. I have reflected on my experiences as lived and as written. I set these experiences within the body of research on disability and within the context of adult education and lifelong learning. I examined the culture that has shaped who I have become/am becoming as a disabled person, as a researcher, and as a writer.
