Page 6 - An Intersectional Exploration of Disabled and Native Identities
P. 6
Current State of Affairs for
Disabled American Indians:
Security, Education & Access
Prevalence of Disability Education & Discipline
American Indians and Alaskan A report about school discipline as part of
Natives (AI/AN) are more likely the Civil Rights Data Collection shows
to be disabled than any other that not only are AI/AN students more
ethnic group (Fluentes). This can likely to be classified by schools as
be attributed to several factors, disabled, but they are suspended, referred
not the least of which is physical to law enforcement, restrained & secluded
and emotional trauma resulting at higher rates than peers, in part due to
from the aftermath of the U.S. that classification (U.S. Department of
Government’s colonization and Education). “American Indian and Native-
assimilation efforts. Other factors Alaskan students are [] disproportionately
include the multitude of industrial suspended and expelled, representing less
disasters that have deeply effected than 1% of the student population but 2%
both the environment and the of out-of-school suspensions and 3% of
overall health of Native expulsions, the report says. Additionally,
communities (Hansen). Another disabled students “represent a quarter of
reason disability is more prevalent students arrested and referred to law
enforcement, even though they are only
for AI/AN communities is that 12% of the overall student population,”
American Indian and Alaskan fifty-eight percent of which are forcibly
Natives are more likely to be confined and seventy-five percent are
declared disabled than their peers physically restrained” at school. (U.S.
in school (Lee). Department of Education).
