Carlyn Mueller, an assistant professor in the School of Education’s Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, is featured in the Fall 2024 issue of On Wisconsin magazine.
In an engaging Q&A, Mueller discusses her commitment to redefining special education by focusing on students’ strengths and centering disabled students as “experts of their own experiences.”
Mueller’s research stresses the importance of disability role models, which she sees as critical to students’ sense of possibility and belonging. “When students see people who can proudly wear their identity on their sleeve,” she says, “it only benefits the kids who share that identity, and it expands the window into different experiences for kids who don’t share that identity.”
Mueller’s insights connect with this year’s Go Big Read selection, “Sitting Pretty,” by Rebekah Taussig, a memoir about the author’s experiences as a disabled person. Mueller notes she sees Taussig’s book as an invitation for members of the disability community on campus to feel seen and celebrated.
“I think there’s some power in vulnerability that’s really beautiful and hard for people with disabilities,” Mueller says. “The lengths that (Taussig) is willing to go, to be open about her experience, feel like such a beautiful gift for people with disabilities to feel some connection and for nondisabled people to feel like they have a connection to that experience, too.”
Read On Wisconsin’s full Q&A with Mueller, “Teaching Possibility.”