Within higher education, much of the research surrounding education and students with disabilities revolves around accommodations, and critiques of structural barriers to access. Further, disability within the context of higher education is often thought of through the lens of “service” and support for students with disabilities in higher education often takes a medical model approach of “curing” the student and “treating” their disability with accommodations (e.g., additional testing time), instead of acknowledging the environmental, social, and cultural factors within the classroom, or outside the classroom that may be causing the impairment. There is a noticeable gap in the higher education research of studies which prioritize identity and identity development for students with disabilities, and view disability as a part of a student's holistic identity and culture. This dissertation utilized arts-based research methods to collaborate with participants and in the spirit of Disability Studies, emphasize the voices, thoughts, and ideas of young women (18-21) with disabilities attending post-secondary institutions. The findings of this study examined the relationships between experiences within higher education and disabled young women’s understanding of themselves and their disabilities. Additionally, the findings highlighted the nuanced relationship women disabled women have with their disability, and how this changes over time. Future studies should aim to examine students with disabilities outside of exclusively their experiences with accommodations, and seek to understand the barriers to belonging, inclusivity and access from a socio-cultural lens.
","abstract_html":"<p>Within higher education, much of the research surrounding education and students with disabilities revolves around accommodations, and critiques of structural barriers to access. Further, disability within the context of higher education is often thought of through the lens of “service” and support for students with disabilities in higher education often takes a medical model approach of “curing” the student and “treating” their disability with accommodations (e.g., additional testing time), instead of acknowledging the environmental, social, and cultural factors within the classroom, or outside the classroom that may be causing the impairment. There is a noticeable gap in the higher education research of studies which prioritize identity and identity development for students with disabilities, and view disability as a part of a student's holistic identity and culture. This dissertation utilized arts-based research methods to collaborate with participants and in the spirit of Disability Studies, emphasize the voices, thoughts, and ideas of young women (18-21) with disabilities attending post-secondary institutions. The findings of this study examined the relationships between experiences within higher education and disabled young women’s understanding of themselves and their disabilities. Additionally, the findings highlighted the nuanced relationship women disabled women have with their disability, and how this changes over time. Future studies should aim to examine students with disabilities outside of exclusively their experiences with accommodations, and seek to understand the barriers to belonging, inclusivity and access from a socio-cultural lens.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Holzer, Amelia"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Scot Danforth, Ph.D.","Quaylan Allen, Ph.D.","Robert Narciso, LCPC, AT-R"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:43Z","subjects":["identity","arts-based research","higher education","students with disabilities","women","Disability and Equity in Education","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_dissertations/95","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Scot Danforth, Ph.D.","Quaylan Allen, Ph.D.","Robert Narciso, LCPC, AT-R"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Holzer, Amelia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["identity","arts-based research","higher education","students with disabilities","women","Disability and Equity in Education","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_dissertations/95"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Within higher education, much of the research surrounding education and students with disabilities revolves around accommodations, and critiques of structural barriers to access. Further, disability within the context of higher education is often thought of through the lens of “service” and support for students with disabilities in higher education often takes a medical model approach of “curing” the student and “treating” their disability with accommodations (e.g., additional testing time), instead of acknowledging the environmental, social, and cultural factors within the classroom, or outside the classroom that may be causing the impairment. There is a noticeable gap in the higher education research of studies which prioritize identity and identity development for students with disabilities, and view disability as a part of a student's holistic identity and culture. This dissertation utilized arts-based research methods to collaborate with participants and in the spirit of Disability Studies, emphasize the voices, thoughts, and ideas of young women (18-21) with disabilities attending post-secondary institutions. The findings of this study examined the relationships between experiences within higher education and disabled young women’s understanding of themselves and their disabilities. Additionally, the findings highlighted the nuanced relationship women disabled women have with their disability, and how this changes over time. Future studies should aim to examine students with disabilities outside of exclusively their experiences with accommodations, and seek to understand the barriers to belonging, inclusivity and access from a socio-cultural lens.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Holzer, A. (2025). The art of disability and identity: Using arts-based methods to examine the relationships between disability, identity, and identity development for young, disabled, women in higher education [Doctoral dissertation, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000635"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Art of Disability and Identity: Using Arts-Based Methods to Examine the Relationships between Disability, Identity, and Identity Development for Young, Disabled, Women in Higher Education"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Scot Danforth, Ph.D.","Quaylan Allen, Ph.D.","Robert Narciso, LCPC, AT-R"],"dc:creator":["Holzer, Amelia"],"dc:description.abstract":["Within higher education, much of the research surrounding education and students with disabilities revolves around accommodations, and critiques of structural barriers to access. Further, disability within the context of higher education is often thought of through the lens of “service” and support for students with disabilities in higher education often takes a medical model approach of “curing” the student and “treating” their disability with accommodations (e.g., additional testing time), instead of acknowledging the environmental, social, and cultural factors within the classroom, or outside the classroom that may be causing the impairment. There is a noticeable gap in the higher education research of studies which prioritize identity and identity development for students with disabilities, and view disability as a part of a student's holistic identity and culture. This dissertation utilized arts-based research methods to collaborate with participants and in the spirit of Disability Studies, emphasize the voices, thoughts, and ideas of young women (18-21) with disabilities attending post-secondary institutions. The findings of this study examined the relationships between experiences within higher education and disabled young women’s understanding of themselves and their disabilities. Additionally, the findings highlighted the nuanced relationship women disabled women have with their disability, and how this changes over time. Future studies should aim to examine students with disabilities outside of exclusively their experiences with accommodations, and seek to understand the barriers to belonging, inclusivity and access from a socio-cultural lens.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_dissertations/95"],"dc:source":["Holzer, A. (2025). The art of disability and identity: Using arts-based methods to examine the relationships between disability, identity, and identity development for young, disabled, women in higher education [Doctoral dissertation, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000635"],"dc:subject":["identity","arts-based research","higher education","students with disabilities","women","Disability and Equity in Education","Education"],"dc:title":["The Art of Disability and Identity: Using Arts-Based Methods to Examine the Relationships between Disability, Identity, and Identity Development for Young, Disabled, Women in Higher Education"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:43Z"}