The impact of labelling and segregation on adolescent literacy learning

This qualitative case study, grounded in disability studies in education, explores the literacy development of an adolescent student, described by school officials as learning disabled and a non‐reader. The researcher highlights how this student learned to connect to books based on an apprenticeship model. Additionally, the acknowledgement of the impact of labelling and segregation in special education played a crucial role in literacy instruction. Providing varying perspectives about disability and the category of learning disabled was instrumental in facilitating literacy learning at the adolescent level. Using an apprenticeship approach to literacy, coupled with these analytic viewpoints, allows learners to take on the demands of literacy learning while providing the space necessary to reflect on the impact of being labelled as being innately disabled.