How Colonialism Contributed to the Racialized History of Indigenous People by Unethical Diagnostic Implementations of Categories and Classifications – Overlooking Exceptionalities

ABSTRACT

This article looks at how colonialism has contributed to the racialized history of Indigenous people by unethical diagnostic implementations of categories and classifications, while overlooking exceptionalities when assessing Indigenous people. By understanding how settler-colonial assessments and/or diagnostic tests have been developed and utilized on Indigenous peoples, the reader can grasp the severity of any misdiagnoses, which can contribute to mislabeling due to cultural factors that have not been included and are beyond the understanding of the often non-Indigenous evaluator. Having an assessment or diagnoses, though, is a method to obtain accommodations and specialized education. Yet, if the systems that were created do not accurately measure the responses of the Indigenous individual, then an injustice will occur, not only for a possible misdiagnosis, but also for a missed opportunity to offer help if required. The need to understand the total individual beyond a mere assessment can provide insightful information, which is crucial for the examinee and examiner. It can affect the life of the whole person being assessed, if done without the Indigenous information that has been omitted.

KEYWORDS:

• assessments
• autohistory
• decolonize
• diagnostics
• dyslexia
• exceptionalities
• Indian residential schools
• learning disabilities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Autohistory is allowing for a community, reserve or reservation to come together and share their knowledge on a single topic, which can provide an overall understanding of a situation from a cumulative perspective (Hill, 2017). Autohistory can also be used in rewriting past inaccuracies (Worley, 2014) that also include a realization that “Native American population is severely underrepresented in empirical test validity research despite being overrepresented in special education programs and at increased risk for psychoeducational evaluation” (Nakano & Watkins, 2013, p. 957).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Terry Ward

John Terry Ward A Métis and Non-Status Indian from the Algonquin territory of Kitchisibi. His specialization is Indigenous holistic knowledge, ethics, disabilities, learning disabilities, and dyslexia from a two-eyed seeing approach in Canada. His Doctoral thesis Nòswàhanà-n Wìsakedjàk of Indigenous Elders’ Knowledge of Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, and Dyslexia focused on disability information as it impacted Indigenous peoples through the lived experience, wisdom, and oral history by Elders of Algonquin, Cree, Mohawk, and Dakota/Chickasaw. Through this approach John is empowered with traditional knowledge to decolonize the settler-colonial disability mind-set to provide alternative viewpoints. Email: [email protected]