[Xmca-l] FW: FW: Re: poverty/class

[Peter Smagorinsky]

I wrote Mike the following note offlist, and he suggested I send it to the group:
On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 11:17 AM, Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu<mailto:smago@uga.edu>> wrote:
Hi Mike, I'm responding off-list to the article you sent. I make the following observation with the awareness that I have to police my own discursive representations of people of difference because it can be hard to break away from so much social and discursive conditioning.

On p. 89, after working hard to challenge deficit perspectives on difference, you refer to "the issue of neurodevelopmental disorder such as ASD," a term you repeat just before the subhead. To me, the term "disorder" indicates deficit, rather than what I think of as a different order. I also think you're locating the problems that follow from being different in the individual, rather than in the society that makes a deficit judgment of difference (LSV on defectology being channeled here).

Just wanted to alert you to what I see as an inconsistency in your phrasing and thus perhaps thinking. Best,Peter

I view LSV's work on defectology to be a sadly overlooked aspect of his research. I neglected it too for nearly two decades until I began writing about mental health and found it remarkably useful. Others have written nice summaries of his contributions (a chapter, e.g., in the Cambridge Companion to Vygotsky). I'll provide links to what I've written in case anyone's interested in seeing why I find it so compelling, and why I find it well suited for adaptation to 21st century mental health issues.

Smagorinsky, P. (2012). Vygotsky, "defectology," and the inclusion of people of difference in the broader cultural stream. Journal of Language and Literacy Education [Online], 8(1), 1-25. Available at http://jolle.coe.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Vygotsky-and-Defectology.pdf

Smagorinsky, P. (2012). "Every individual has his own insanity": Applying Vygotsky's work on defectology to the question of mental health as an issue of inclusion. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 1(1), 67-77. Available at http://www.petersmagorinsky.net/About/PDF/LCSI/LCSI_2012.pdf