Coming Over and An Ethics of Accessibility A Review of Rhetorics of Overcoming: Rewriting Narratives of Disability and Accessibility in Writing Studies by Allison Hitt

Abstract

This review grapples with the ongoing mental health crisis in higher education to contextualize Allison Hitt’s Rhetorics of Overcoming: Narratives of Disability and Accessibility in Writing Studies. In her text, Hitt acknowledges institutional barriers to access and accommodations while arguing that to meet the crisis, instructors must employ an ethics of accessibility that enables multiple points of engagement with class content. According to Hitt, to create institution-al change, instructors must work with students in a process of coming over. Hitt’s process of coming over actively engages the participation of disabled students in facilitating their learning. This review engages with Hitt’s text alongside a consideration of a discussion around mental illness and accessibility in higher education.