ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Flávia Bastos describes the relationship between disability justice and advancing participation and democracy in academic research through reflections about her mentoring relationship with an art education graduate student developing research that involved artists with developmental disabilities. Using the context of the study as background, Bastos examines the insights offered by this experience for preparing future researchers able to engage with individuals with disabilities in groundbreaking ways. This experience and the methodological innovations resulting from it underscore the need for challenging conventional assumptions about research and raise ethical questions about the meaning of participation and the ethical implications of methodological choices that advance collaborative research relationships with individuals with disabilities. Designing and conducting research with disability justice as a goal can fundamentally challenge residual hierarchical biases evident in how of art and academic research are conceptualized.
