Trauma-affected students are in our writing classrooms-whether or not they've self-disclosed, and whether or not we recognize them. If we refuse to acknowledge trauma or refuse to approach trauma as a pedagogical issue, we risk marginalizing these students by adhering to ableist pedagogies that dishonor differences in bodies, minds, and abilities. But when our pedagogies, our classrooms, and our faculty become trauma-informed, we can anticipate, embrace, and welcome the insights that trauma and disability offer. As educators, we may be looking for solid and certain plans for working with trauma-affected and disabled students and for overcoming pedagogical hurdles. But, students, classes, trauma, disability, and issues of access are not standard or universalize-able. Working within a disability studies framework, this project considers how to make learning accessible for trauma-affected students by 1) analyzing composition pedagogy through the lens of disability, and 2) building on Stephanie Kerschbaum's concept of critically considering anecdotal relations of disability in composition classrooms to include trauma. The project suggests a turn toward uncertainty--acknowledging that we don't know, or need to know, everything--and listening to stories that welcome trauma and disability into the composition classroom to enable us to develop new relationships with trauma and cultivate trauma-awareness.I argue that relationality--building relationships with students based on respect for their lived experiences with trauma and violence, as well as respect for their differences in bodies, minds, and abilities, is inherent to a trauma-informed writing pedagogy. I further argue that we must work collaboratively with students to recast our understanding of trauma, negotiate access, and implement moves that make our writing classrooms accessible. Finally, I theorize and lay out a flexible framework for enacting a trauma-informed pedagogy to dismantle the ableism that persists in our classrooms and to begin establishing cultures of access and authentically support student success.
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