Speaking across cultures: decolonization and disability in a multilingual world

Abstract

This qualitative study, inspired by a decolonizing Advaita (non-dualistic) perspective, examines the intricate relationship between language, literacy, and disability. It centers on my daughter Kalika, a child with Rett syndrome who is medically categorized as “nonverbal” and navigates communication through eye-tracking Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology. This journey illustrates the challenges and triumphs of integrating the Bengali language and cultural identity within a diasporic context using AAC. The study employs Saraswati Puja, the celebration of the Hindu goddess of learning, as a metaphor to investigate disability in language learning, pushing the boundaries of traditional notions of literacy. It highlights an urgent need for AAC devices that are not only technologically adept but also culturally attuned and linguistically diverse. Ultimately, this research contributes to the dialogue on literacy and disability, advocating for a non-dual approach that values the entire spectrum of human communication and interaction.

Keywords:

• Bilingualism
• literacy
• Rett syndrome
• India
• de/colonial
• disability

Disclosure statement

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Notes

1 While this work employs frameworks and rituals from Hinduism, particularly through the lens of Advaita philosophy and Saraswati Puja, it is important to recognize that organized religions and practices, including Hinduism, have historically been intertwined with social structures that perpetuate various forms of marginalization. This acknowledgment does not diminish the cultural and philosophical value of the practices and beliefs discussed but serves to highlight the necessity of critically engaging with and reflecting on the historical and ongoing contexts of inequality within these religious frameworks. In adopting these perspectives, the intention is not to overlook such complexities but to navigate a path that both acknowledges and critically examines these deeply entrenched social structures.

2 I consider the terms “Indians” and “American Indians” problematic and thus have them appear only in quotes. Labels such as “American Indian,” as Bird (1999) noted, “have little relevance to the correct self-definitions and identities of Indigenous Peoples and are misnomers resulting from the ‘erroneous geography’ of Christopher Columbus” (p.4) Bird, M. Y. (1999). What we want to be called: Indigenous peoples’ perspectives on racial and ethnic identity labels. American Indian Quarterly, 23(2), 1–21.

3 https://tobiidynavox-2.wistia.com/medias/y09u5c6s54.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Usree Bhattacharya

Usree Bhattacharya is Associate Professor in the Language and Literacy Education Department, College of Education, UGA. She received her PhD in Education from the University of California, Berkeley in 2013. She has a Master’s degree in Teaching International Languages from California State University, Chico (2006); an MA in English Literature from Lakehead University (2001); and she received a BA in English from LSR College, Delhi University (1998). Her research is inspired by questions of diversity, equity, and access in multilingual educational contexts. A primary aim of her work is to illuminate the role of discourses, ideologies, and everyday practices in the production and reproduction of hierarchical relations within educational systems. Motivated by her daughter Kalika’s diagnosis of Rett Syndrome in 2018, she has been investigating language and literacy socialization within this severe, complex, and multi-disability context. She directs the Bhattacharya Rett Lab at UGA, which focuses on researching communication in Rett syndrome.