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I am a disabled teacher. Cerebral palsy is as much a part of me as being a curly-haired white man in my forties. For me, I don’t live with cerebral palsy or have cerebral palsy. These descriptions feel like they’re added-on or reluctantly dragged around. My personhood is inseparable from cerebral palsy—they are inexorably intertwined. For this reason, I much prefer—and use—the term “disabled person” over “person with a disability.”
In the first half of my teaching career, I kept these matters to myself in educational contexts. I was an instrumental music teacher interested in disability studies, but I avoided wading into the special education arena. For the last seven years, however, I’ve intentionally connected who I am with what I do, as a learning support teacher in Alberta.
Michael Carter is a teacher, disability activist, and musician. His work is rooted in supporting disabled students in their development of positive disability identities. He teaches Disability Studies at the high school level and is a PhD student at the University of Lethbridge.
