Breaking containment – the power of narrative knowing

I read the article titled Breaking containment – the power of narrative knowing: countering silences within traditional special education research by David Conner. Recent research in the field of special education has been addressing the over-representation of students of color. Conner has countered this research with small excerpts from eight young people who are both of color and have diagnoses of disabilities. Conner's main audience seems to be the recent researchers that have been over-representing these students. His secondary audience seems to be anyone and everyone. Conner wants these stories to be read and passed around. I have very very mixed feelings about this article. This article is indeed controversial. First and foremost, the issue of race always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Coming from a high middle class white family, I know that most other races think that white people, according to the article, "enjoy a better life" than other races. As much as colored people are set under higher prejudiced standards, whites are also. I grew up with loving and hard working parents; however, both my mother and father grew up in poverty and abusive homes. To say that whites "expect to be wealthy"  is a huge misconception among the colored population.

One thing that I really enjoyed from the article was the perspectives taken on having a disability. Some students melted it into their lives, they accepted it. Others, did not. After working for years with students with disabilities, I have seen this range. However, I never knew to what extent the internal chaos these students have. The research in this particular article dealt specifically with students with a learning disability. This is one of the hardest types of disabilities I have witnessed on a social level. When a student has a physical handicap, most people are more willing to be accepting or at least understand why they act the way they act. However, when someone looks normal and is acting 'funny' then people do judge. People just think they are weird, having a disability does not enter their minds.

Overall, the article was surprising. I felt that the author did not show too much of his own feelings; he was research based in every statement he made in the article. I assumed a lot from the article, and would have liked to have read the student's full statements. The article compares to the issue in the text with specifics in poverty and special education, but not together. So reading the text, the reader has to put both scenarios together to relate to this article. In conclusion, this article was very informative and very controversial; it makes a reader question a lot his/her own actions, perspectives and history.