Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality helped me understand disability not as a single identity category, but as something shaped by race, gender, language, culture and institutional power. Across the resources, a recurring theme is that disabled people are often navigating multiple identities simultaneously, which can amplify barriers and experiences of exclusion.
The UAL video on the social model of disability argues that people are disabled not by their impairments, but by barriers in the world around them (University of the Arts London, 2020). This perspective was reflected across the other resources. Ade Adepitan’s discussion of disability and race highlights how disabled people from racialised backgrounds may experience additional forms of marginalisation, while Christine Sun Kim’s work demonstrates how Deaf identity intersects with communication, creativity and social participation (ParalympicsGB, 2020; TED Conferences LLC, 2018). Similarly, the discussion of disability and gender illustrates how expectations around confidence, vulnerability and capability can influence how disabled individuals are perceived and treated (ParaPride, 2023).
What resonated most strongly with me was the idea that many barriers are invisible. Across the resources, participation appears to require significant emotional and practical labour beyond the disability itself. Disabled people may need to repeatedly explain their needs, advocate for support, challenge assumptions or navigate systems that were not designed with them in mind.
This prompted me to reflect on my own teaching practice within postgraduate fashion business education. Many of my students are international students, with English as an additional language, and some identify as neurodivergent. Through my interactions with students, I have become increasingly aware that disability does not exist separately from culture, language or institutional knowledge. Students may be managing anxiety, ADHD, dyslexia, sensory sensitivities or other neurodivergent experiences while simultaneously adapting to a new country, a second language and unfamiliar academic systems.
In practice, this means that barriers are often more complex than they initially appear. Some students may not know that support mechanisms such as ISA provisions, EC processes or assessment adjustments exist. Others may come from educational or cultural contexts where disability disclosure is uncommon or carries stigma. As a result, students can expend considerable effort not only accessing support, but also translating their experiences into the institutional language required to explain their needs and deciding whether it feels safe to disclose them at all.
Reflecting on the thoughtful questions raised by my peers encouraged me to think beyond recognising this hidden labour towards considering how it might be reduced. Rather than relying on students to identify barriers or navigate support systems independently, educators can play a more proactive role in embedding institutional knowledge within teaching. This may include signposting support at multiple points during the unit rather than only at induction, normalising conversations about learning preferences, explaining processes such as ISA or EC before students need them, and creating opportunities for students to participate in different ways without requiring disclosure.
It also prompted me to question some of the assumptions embedded within fashion business education itself. Expectations around confidence, professional polish and verbal participation are often treated as indicators of capability, yet these may reflect particular educational and cultural norms rather than students’ potential. This has encouraged me to reconsider how participation is recognised in my own teaching by providing clear written instructions, sharing materials in advance, incorporating digital collaboration tools and offering multiple ways for students to contribute. For me, inclusive practice is no longer only about responding to disclosed needs; it is about designing learning environments that anticipate diversity, reduce unnecessary barriers and lessen the hidden labour students undertake simply to participate.
References
University of the Arts London (UAL) (2020) The Social Model of Disability at UAL. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdnjmcrzgw (Accessed: 17 June 2026).
ParalympicsGB (2020) Disability and Race. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU (Accessed: 17 June 2026).
TED Conferences LLC (2018) Christine Sun Kim: Friends and Strangers. TED Talk. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI (Accessed: 17 June 2026).
ParaPride (2023) Disability and Gender: Intersectionality in Focus – Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc (Accessed: 17 June 2026).
Thank you for this. Enshang!
Your final paragraphs on hidden labour are very powerful. The way you layer the different demands that neurodivergent international students navigate simultaneously shows how they compound in practice. That felt like intersectionality applied rather than just described.
Your point about fashion business education expecting students to present confidently and appear professionally polished really struck me, as it mirrors something I’ve been struggling with in my own teaching.
I was also interested in your observation that some students are “translating feelings into institutional language.” That phrase captures something I hadn’t quite been able to name before: The gap between a student’s experience and the vocabulary institutions require them to use in order to access support. It makes me wonder whether part of our role is reducing that translation burden rather than expecting students to bridge it alone.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful writing, Enshang. I appreciate the hidden labour you name here — as Sabinna also picked up on it too, which shows how much it lands. Students translating themselves into institutional language, deciding whether it’s safe to disclose, performing competence on top of everything else. It makes me want to ask: what signs should we look out for, and what can we actually do to lift some of that weight rather than waiting for the student to tell us?
The fashion business context also makes me think about how course cultures carry their own ableism — confidence, polish, competitiveness framed as professional standards rather than design choices. And I am worried that if we don’t rethink how we recognise different ways of participating, we might be reproducing the same barriers with better language around them —
I really enjoyed the layers of this piece. The way you move from Crenshaw’s framework through the resources and into your own teaching feels very cohesive, and the concept of ‘hidden labour’ ties it all together very well.
Your reflection on neurodivergent international students is particularly interesting. Your careful considerations of the many factors that might be at play is enlightening. It would be great to hear more about how you are thinking about reducing that hidden labour in practice. Are there ways of building institutional knowledge or disclosure processes into the learning environment itself, so students don’t feel they have to navigate them alone?
Overall this is a really thoughtful and insightful piece of writing. Thank you!