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ERIC Number: EJ695569
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 8
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-2194
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Social Construction of Learning Disabilities
Dudley-Marling, Curt
Journal of Learning Disabilities, v37 n6 p482-489 Nov-Dec 2004
Underpinning the technical gaze that dominates learning disabilities theory and practice is the assumption that learning disabilities are a pathology that resides in the heads of individual students, with the corollary that remedial efforts also focus on what goes on in the heads of students classified as learning disabled. This article begins with a critique of the ideology of individualism that situates individual success and failure in the heads of individuals as a means of introducing an alternative perspective--social constructivism--that locates learning and learning problems in the context of human relations and activity. Extended examples are used to illustrate how the performative aspects of learning disabilities emerge in the context of human relationships. The primary argument developed here is that one cannot be learning disabled on one's own. It takes a complex system of interactions performed in just the right way, at the right time, on the stage we call school to make a learning disability. The article concludes with a brief consideration of the instructional implications of a social constructivist stance.
PRO-ED, Inc., 8700 Shoal Creek Boulevard, Austin, TX 78757-6897. Tel: 800-897-3202 (Toll Free).
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - General
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A