A critical disability studies critique of rhetorical normalcy in writing center theory, history, and practice

This thesis broadly theorizes how to make writing centers more accessible for disabled writers. Specifically, it applies a critical disability studies methodology both to writing center history and research practices. Importantly, this thesis resists impairment-specific approaches to accessibility, and instead seeks to develop the theoretical framework necessary to create lasting reforms in writing center theory and practice so that disabled people are included in both. Central to this thesis is the idea of "rhetorical normalcy," which is a set of social, behavioral, and rhetorical codes that constitute the deleterious norms that both writing center studies and the larger field of rhetoric and composition have relied on throughout their history. A major claim throughout this thesis is that writing center history, theory, and practice all rely on this conception of rhetorical normalcy, often at the cost of writers with disabilities. Ultimately, this thesis argues that in order for writing centers to become radically accessible for writers with disabilities, writing center administrators and practitioners must first become aware of the role of rhetorical normalcy has always played in writing center practice, and they must look for ways to incorporate disabled writers into their theorizing and research about writing.