ABSTRACT
There are those who will read this work, and then ask, “Yes, but is Jay learning disabled or emotionally impaired?” There are others who will exclaim fervently, “Oh, but Laura is just racist!” Both responses to Jay’s story are responses I made at different times while conducting this research, and both responses miss the opportunity to uncover and understand the complexity of the issues raised by Jay’s story. To reduce this complexity to a deficit within Jay or within Laura is to obscure the real lessons it offers.
