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Reflections on Contributing to the BSA PGR regional event ‘Intersections of Sociology with Crip Theory, Critical Disability Studies, and Mad Studies’, June 111th 

Antonios Ktenidis was invited to contribute to a panel as part of a British Sociological Association (BSA) Postgraduate Research (PGR) regional hybrid event, with the title  The panel’s focus on 'What are we missing? Identifying issues and opportunities in Crip Theory and Critical Disability Studies' and consisted of four speakers: Dr Rosamund Greiner, Christian J Harrison, Dr Jana Melkumova-Reynolds, and Dr Antonios Ktenidis. He was particularly excited by the word ‘opportunities’, as this is often how he thinks about theory: how does a specific theory invite us to question, disrupt the taken-for-grantedness of the mundane and to re-imagine the world all together?

Antonios’ paper, “(Un)Desiring Development: Disabled Childhoods as Sites of Intervention & Resistance”, explored the intersections of ableism, disablism and developmentalism, drawing on Critical Disability Studies and Disabled Children’s Childhood Studies. His paper offered two ‘developmentalist readings’, focusing on the role of measurements in disabled childhoods, and discourses of school readiness e.g. toilet training, and school practices, such as carpet time. Antonios concluded with reference to the DisSchool, as discussed by  and 

Antonios also learned a lot from the other panellists, who presented and drew on important scholarship, such as Latin American Critical Disability Studies and Decolonial Disability Studies, Trans Studies and Disability Studies, and Crip aesthetics and methodologies.

Last but not least, he was impressed by how much work went into making the conference accessible, including BSL interpretation, accessibility when presenting, and guidelines for presentation. Congratulations to the organisers for such an accessible, inclusive and critical event: Robin Skyer, Fraedan Mastrantonio, and Katie Munday.