When the light turns blue: Journeying into disability studies guided by the work of Ellen Brantlinger

Ellen Brantlinger's research and activism created opportunities for scholars who seek to locate and interrupt the social processes that shape educational inequities. In this essay, we reflect on Ellen's contributions by identifying three key signposts - lessons from Ellen's work that guided our own journeys and shaped the field of disability studies in education. These signposts include the assertions that (1) qualitative research is essential to understanding the contextual factors that shape the identification, location and response to difference as social phenomena, (2) inclusion and exclusion are political and ideological processes shaped by discursive practices and (3) research is a form of (in)activism. We conclude the essay with a consideration of the questions that Ellen's work positions us to ask as we move forward.