Prof urges colleagues to ‘come out’ about invisible disabilities
March 25th, 2009Writing in Inside Higher Ed, Linda Kornasky urges professors with invisible disabilities to share their disability status with their students.
My experience with both options of negotiating my [invisible] disability – retaining privacy and coming out – has shown me that, although coming out is not a necessity for me to perform my job as a professor and has even brought about occasional awkward moments, coming out as a professor with a disability is more than worthwhile in so far as it fosters positive identity politics among my students with disabilities.
… By coming out – refusing the less ethical choice of passing – professors with invisible disabilities can educate students to become truly democratic citizens prepared to explore individual identity from all perspectives.
Linda Kornasky is associate professor of English at Angelo State University in west Texas.

