This article asserts that the field of special education, historically founded on conceptions of disability originating within scientific, psychological, and medical frameworks, will benefit from acknowledging broader understandings of disability. Although well intended, traditional understandings of disability in special education have inadvertently inhibited the development of theory, limited research methods, narrowed pedagogical practice, and determined largely segregated policies for educating students with disabilities. Since the passage of P.L. 94-142, along with the growth of the Disability Rights Movements, meanings of disability have expanded and evolved, no longer constrained to the deficit-based medical model. For many individuals, disability is primarily best understood within social, cultural, and historical contexts. As career-long educators, the authors describe the emergence of Disability Studies in Education, illustrating ways it offers them the means to engage with longstanding tensions, limitations, and promises within their chosen field of special education—helping to reframe, accurately ground, and define their own research and practice. The authors call upon the field of special education to acknowledge and accept a greater plurality of perspectives about the nature of disability, recognizing the profound implications this raises for research, and viewing it as a welcome opportunity for ongoing dialogue.

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Background/Context This article calls attention to the restrictive notions of inclusive education promulgated within the discourse of special education in the United States and asserts the value of using disability studies in education to support broader conceptualizations of inclusion that potentially incorporate all students. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study By dismantling the myth of the typical/average child, the authors reveal ways in which educational practices actively contribute to the creation of “normalcy” and discuss the harmful effects that this can have on all citizens. They illustrate selected practices that help constitute the normative center of schools by using the organizing principle of disability as a heuristic device to enable multiple simultaneous critical standpoints. Research Design Analytic essay. Conclusions/Recommendations The authors call for the dissolution of the normative center of schools through an interdisciplinary alliance between disability studies and other criticalist fields that share the aim of claiming value in human diversity over standardization.