Degrees and Certifications

• PhD in Education- Teacher Education and Inclusive Special Education (The Ohio State University-USA)
• M.A. in Education-Special Education (The Ohio State University-USA)
• B.Ed. in Education-Special Education & English and Language Arts (Maseno University-Kenya)

 

Responsibilities

• Coordinating Special Education Program
• Establish a research program in the area of Teaching and Learning and Special Education
• Seek external funding for the research program
• Publish scholarly materials
• Collaboratively work with the university community to develop Inclusive Special Education program,
• Teach undergraduate and graduate courses,
• Mentor masters and doctoral students,
• Supervise undergraduate and graduate research,
• Collegial duties and responsibilities for the common good of the Division of Teacher Education, the College of Education and Wayne State University.

Academic Interests

• Disability and influence of STEM education
• The influence of higher education on the disability community
• The influence of teacher education on the inclusion and success of learners with disabilities from a trans-national lens.
• The impact of Special Education on children and youth with disabilities in USA and Kenya 
• The effect of Inclusive Education on vulnerable children and youth in USA and Kenya
• The influence of Disability Studies in Education on teacher education

Biography

Dr. Theodoto W. Ressa is a professor of education in the Teacher Education Division, the College of Education at Wayne State University. His scholarship falls into transnational education, Inclusive Education, Special Education, and the interdisciplinary area of Disability Studies. Dr. Ressa is a person with a disability researching socio-cultural aspects of disability. He is particularly interested in culture, identity, ableism, intersectionality, self-help groups, qualitative and quantitative research methods, socio-cultural theory, personal narratives, social constructionism, and technology about disabled children and youth. His research focuses broadly on access, inclusion, and belonging among students with disabilities in higher education systems. Based on his lived experience as a disabled person, his research privileges disabled people’s worldviews on education systems and works to disrupt the deficit culture of disability in learning institutions and education processes. Dr. Ressa has a bachelor's in Special Education and English Language Arts from Maseno University in Kenya and completed his master's in Special Education and his doctoral in teacher education and inclusive education, and a minor in Disability Studies at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He has vast experience in disability matters and teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in teacher education, inclusive education, special education, and equity education. He also mentors disabled students, student teachers, and teachers. A 2007 recipient of a Ford Foundation scholarship and practitioner of social justice, Dr. Ressa invests in disability rights advocacy and participates in many self-help events, workshops, and clinical training programs for young adults with disabilities and their families and allies in the United States, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, and Tanzania. Born in rural Kenya, Dr. Ressa now enjoys urban life in Detroit, Michigan, a gateway to many local, national, and international destinations where he presents his works on the education of children and youth with disabilities. He is fluent (oral and written) in English, Kiswahili, Luhyia/Samia, and Luo languages and competent in Braille and Kenya Sign Languages. This is by growing up and living in different parts of the world.

Area of Expertise

• Inclusive Education
• Disability Studies in Education
• Interdisciplinary and trans-national studies
• Quantitative and qualitative research approaches
• Multicultural Education & Equity Studies in Education

Research Interests

Awards

 ·         Teaching Award 2022: Recognize Dr. Theo Ressa’s creativity and implementation of effective teaching methods and strategies informed by his deep understanding of disability, education, and pedagogical matters.

Grants

 2022 MI Developmental Disabilities Institute (MI-DDI) Grant: $15,000.00

2018 Faculty Teaching Travel Grant, Office of Teaching and Learning, Wayne State University

Community Engagement Activities

Dr. Ressa is a disability rights advocate and a motivational speaker. He has been involved in various programs involving disability awareness and advocacy, student and teacher mentoring, leadership, organization and management (including group facilitation, moderation and analysis). He has been involved in the Michigan Disability Rights Caucus, United Nations disability rights cauces, Upward Bound Program Programs to prepare youth with and without disabilities. The purpose is to create disability awareness and promote disability rights in communities and bolster students quality of life  academically, socially, culturally, and physically. He is also involved in various programs that promote achievement of postschool outcome including transition to postsecondary life, college, and employment. His participation in various programs have led to exposure to issues of poverty (e.g., hunger, homelessness), crime (e.g., hate crimes), health (e.g., COVID-19, ebola, zika virus), world trends and views (e.g., wars and refugees crisis), and global matter and environment (e.g., climate change and its impact) and their influence on communities including the disability community. 

Presentations

 Ressa, T. (2022, May 25-6). Inclusive Education, and Assistive and Education Technologies: Enhancing Information and Communication Technologies to Leverage Learners with Disabilities. Inclusive Africa Conference 2022. TradeMark Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. (Virtual/Physical) https://www.inclusiveafrica.org

Ressa, T. (2022, May 26). Disadvantaged children and youth school dropouts: How Kenya’s United Nations Vision 2030 is eluding Kenya. Turkana University College. (Blended/Hybrid) https://tuc.ac.ke

Monteleone, B., Wangari, F. N., Onyango, P., & Ressa, T. (2022, April 8-12). Exploring the Possibilities of Kenyan Disability Studies I was part of the Organized Presentations Panel where at our RoundTable I talked about institutionalization of Disability Studies in Kenyan society and its social institutions such as schools. Society for Disability Studies Annual Conference. (Virtual/Physical). https://conference.disstudies.org

Ressa, T. (2021, December 3). UN 3 December 2021: “Shaping an Inclusive Future for All: Leading with Determination” at Dubai Expo 2020: I presented a paper on Intersectionally of disability of disability and race, gender, class: Access, diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education systems in the United States and Kenya at Dubai Expo 2020 during the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December 2021. The UN theme was “Shaping an Inclusive Future for All: Leading with Determination”.

Ressa, T. (2021, June 23). COVID-19 and schooling of disabled children and youth in Kenya: The locus of education in the disaster management and recovery process [Paper Presentation]. 4th Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) Annual Regional Conference. (Virtual/Physical).

Goldstein, A., & Ressa, T. (2021, June 14). Autism and media case study: Challenging neurotypical educators’ perceptions of autism in teacher preparation programs (Poster Presentation). CARE Conference. (Virtual).

Ressa, T., & Musyoka, M. M. (2021, May 24). Parents and students with disabilities during COVID-19 in Africa [Paper Presentation]. Virtual Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars 35th Annual International Conference.

Ressa, T. (2021, May 13). African people with disabilities as guinea pigs: African scholars becoming academic betrayers [Paper Presentation]. African Studies Conference 2021 University of Pittsburgh. (Virtual).

Ressa, T. (2021, January 28). COVID-19 pandemic: Inadequate digital infrastructure and shortage of technically-trained teachers hinder schooling of children with disabilities in Kenya [Paper Presentation]. Kenya Scholars & Studies Association (KESSA) (Virtual).

Ressa, T. (2021, January 6). The COVID-19 pandemic, its consequences, and the recovery: Improving digital infrastructure as key to the schooling of children with disabilities [Paper Presentation]. International Journal of Modern Education Studies and Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey Education E-Talk. (Virtual).

Ressa, T. (2020, October 8). Inclusion of students with disabilities graduate school: Changing the culture of higher education institutions. National Association for Multicultural Education (Virtual Conference).

Ressa, T. (2020, September 11-12). Schooling in the era of pandemics: Educational (dis)empowerment of children with disabilities [Paper Presentation]. Kenya Scholars and Studies Association Dallas, Texas (Conference Cancelled)

Ressa, T., & Musyoka, M. M. (2020, May 15). Individuals with Disabilities in Higher Education Institutions in Kenya [Paper Presentation]. Virtual Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars 34th Annual International Conference.

Ressa, T. & Danforth, S. (2020, Apr 17 - 21). Cruelty, Harm, and Acquiescence: Disability Microaggressions in a University Graduate Program [Roundtable Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/ws3rkog (Conference Canceled).

Ressa, T. (2018, April 17). A discerning eye for deficit and disability through photography to reveal a physiognomy of disability in Kenya [Paper Presentation]. American Educational Research Association, Conference, New York, NY.

Ressa, T. (2017, June 16). A physiognomy of disability in Kenya: How inaccessible infrastructures disable students. Disability and Social Justice in Kenya, Conference, Nairobi, Kenya.
Ressa, T. (2017, June 15). Disability and Citizenship: Claiming our space. Disability and Social Justice in Kenya, Conference, Nairobi, Kenya.

Ressa, T. (2016, April 14). The path to college: Narrative experiences of students with Disabilities (Poster Presentation). The 16th Annual Multiple Perspectives Conference on Access, Inclusion & Disability, The Ohio State University, Ohio.

Ressa, T. (2014, August 26). Issues of culture in higher education. Advanced Graduate Students Panel. College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Ohio.

Ressa, T. (2014, November 23). Day of early childhood: Promoting difference as a strength through children's literature. National Council of Teachers of English, Washington, DC., Conference.

Ressa, T. (2014, February 3-4). Krip Hop: HipHop & Disability. HipHop Literacies Conference, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Ressa, T. (2015, April 14). The path to college: Narrative experiences of students with disabilities [Poster Presentation]. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Ressa, T. (2014, April 12). Promoting difference as a strength through children’s literature [Poster]. Ohio Early Care and Education Conference, Columbus, Ohio.

 

Featured publications

Dis-citizenship: Claiming disability rights and taking on inequity to promote shared prosperity

Ressa, T. W. (May 2022). Dis-citizenship: Claiming disability rights and taking on inequity to promote shared prosperity. In N. Berman & R. Monteleone (Eds.) Disability and social justice in Kenya: Scholars, policymakers, and activists in conversation (pp. 137-160). University of Michigan Press. 

Keywords

Access
Disability
Inclusion 

Informed by data from Kenyan and international organizations and complemented by disabled people’s experiences, I employ auto-ethnographic study guided by the critical disability studies framework and political economy model to analyze the interaction of new transportation modes and disability to understand the locus of disabled Kenyans in society. I conclude that investments in inaccessible transportation modes exclude disabled citizens from the Kenyan fabric and predispose them to be second-class citizens. I stress the need to attend to disability within a broader equity model.

Disability, race, and immigration intersectionality: Disempowering the disabled through institutionalized ableism in American higher education

Ressa, T. W. (2022). Disability, race, and immigration intersectionality: Disempowering the disabled through institutionalized ableism in American higher education. The Educational Forum, 86 (2), 1-17.

Keywords

Ableism
Disability
Faculty incivility

A systematic and comparative review of the literature and lived experience of a disabled Black African immigrant scholar in America reveals institutionalized ableism as a form of today’s immigration restrictions. As long as the perspectives of immigrant disabled scholars remain outside universities, scholars are likely to continue with “academic incest” and higher education is unlikely to achieve its purposes of decentering the individual and democratizing the society.

Dreaming college: Transition experiences of undergraduate students with disabilities

Ressa, T. (2022). Dreaming college: Transition experiences of undergraduate students with disabilities. Psychology in the Schools, 1–17.

Keywords

Disability
College
Inclusion

Postsecondary education is one of the outcomes for students with disabilities; however, few aspiring students with disabilities attend college and fewer complete a degree program. This qualitative study examines the perspectives of five undergraduate students with disabilities attending college in the United States. Findings show how participants’ positive qualities help them manage their impairments and maneuver around disabling barriers to participate in postsecondary education. Results illustrate the enablers participants use to reach their educational goals. Implications suggest that increased attention to inclusion, transitions, and postsecondary education competencies should begin early in the schooling process.

Review of Schooling of Learners with Disabilities and the Manifestation of the Hidden Curriculum of Time

Ressa, T. (2021). Review of Schooling of Learners with Disabilities and the Manifestation of the Hidden Curriculum of Time. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 11, 95–111

Keywords

Disability
Curriculum
School
Transition
Inclusion

Postsecondary outcomes remain difficult to attain despite their significance to learners with disabilities. This qualitative study investigated the impact of a hidden curriculum of time on the education of five undergraduate students with disabilities at a Carnegie Research One institution in the midwestern U.S. Participants in their quest for an education experienced a hidden curriculum of time in the form of physical impairments, educational costs of ill-health, and disability discrimination. The academic barriers participants encountered in reaching their educational goals suggest that addressing the hidden curriculum of time is essential for authentic inclusion and achievement of postsecondary education outcomes. 

Chrono-curriculum and the miseducation of American disabled students

Ressa, T. (2021). Chrono-curriculum and the miseducation of American disabled students. International Journal of Educational Research, 110, 1-11.

Keywords

School time
Inclusion
Disability
Efficiency

Although significantly influencing postsecondary school outcomes, high school education remains challenging to obtain for many disabled students. Then it is vital to know how chrono-curricula operates about disability. This qualitative study on the impact of school time on high school education examines the experiences of eight purposefully sampled US undergraduate disabled students. Their accounts reveal that conflicts between the school calendar and their disability caused a hidden curriculum of time that interfered with their quest to achieve postsecondary education outcomes. Therefore, addressing the hidden curriculum of time within the school time frame is essential in realizing the genuine inclusion of disabled students.

Histrionics of autism in the media and the dangers of false balance and false identity on neurotypical viewers

Ressa, T. (2021). Histrionics of autism in the media and the dangers of false balance and false identity on neurotypical viewers. Journal of Disability Studies in Education. 

Keywords

Autism
False balance
False identity
Educator
Critical literacy
Disability

Contemporary US media increasingly portray autism “positively.” Based on critical realism and guided by the Disability Studies in Education (dse) framework, three television shows—Atypical, Touch, and The Good Doctor—with fictitious Autism Spectrum Disorder (asd) character(s) are qualitatively analyzed to understand the impact of the media’s portrayal of autism on the perceptions of neurotypical educators from the perspective of a disabled teacher educator. Autism in the three comedydrama series is portrayed as a savant syndrome of White heterosexual male experience affecting middle-class families. These portrayals of asd are less representative of the autism community and therefore lead to two prominent television strategies of misleading information—false balance and false identity. Since media are not neutral informers, entertainers, educators, and persuaders, it is vital for consumers especially educators to engage in dse informed critical literacy to ensure the consumption of meaningful information about autism.

Publications

Angode, C., & Ressa, T. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students with special needs: A case study of Kakamega County, Kenya. Insights into Learning Disabilities, 18(2), 121-141. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1315658

Goldstein, A., & Ressa, T. (2021). Autism in contemporary TV shows: Perception of educators and impact on children with autism. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 11(6), 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.30845/ijhss.v11n6p1

Ressa, T. (2023). The educational costs of chrono-curriculum and academic chrono-politics on the schooling of disabled college students in Kenya. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/15210251231179205

Ressa, T. (2023). An evolving disabled professor training highly qualified teachers committed to disability rights and social justice. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 9(1), 183-196. https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.9.1.183

Ressa, T. W. (2023). Intersectionality of disability, race, and immigration: Disabled faculty, character assassination, and the emergence of territorialism in universities. Whiteness and Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2023.2271002

Ressa, T. (2022). How media literacy education through multimedia tools can empower learners with autism. Advances in Literary Study, 10(4), 357-371. https://doi.org/10.4236/als.2022.104029

Ressa, T. (2022). Use of integrated teaching approaches to enhance students with autism spectrum disorder’s functional and educational skills. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(8), 405-416. https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.98.12937

Ressa, T. (2022). Disability, race, and immigration intersectionality: Disempowering the disabled through institutionalized ableism in American higher education. The Educational Forum, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2022.2065711

Ressa, T. (2022). Dreaming college: Transition experiences of undergraduate students with disabilities. Psychology in the Schools, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22675

Ressa, T. (2021). Chrono-curriculum and the miseducation of American disabled students. International Journal of Educational Research, 110, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2021.101883

Ressa, T. (2021). (Mis)schooling of children with disabilities in post-independent Kenya. International Journal of Progressive Education, 17(2), 124-138. http://www.inased.org/v17n2/ijpev17n2.pdf

Ressa, T. (2021). Histrionics of autism in the media and the dangers of false balance and false identity on neurotypical viewers. Journal of Disability Studies in Education, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1163/25888803-bja10009

Ressa, T. (2021). Review of schooling of learners with disabilities and the manifestation of the hidden curriculum of time. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 11, 95–111. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2021.11.1.07

Ressa, T. (2021). The entwinement of disability and paediatric chronic pain and their impact on the high school education of students with disabilities. Journal of Education and Human Development, 10(1), 81-91. https://doi.org/10.15640/jehd.v10n1a7

Ressa, T. W. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic, its consequences, and the recovery: Implementation of disaster education and management is key to the schooling of children with disabilities. International Journal of Modern Education Studies, 5(1), 22-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.51383/ijonmes.2021.62

Ressa, T. W., Daniels, D. E., & Wells-Jensen, S. (2021). Time as a hidden curriculum: Qualitative study of challenges faced by students with mobility, speech, and visual disabilities in P-12 settings. International Journal of Research and Reviews in Education, 6(3), 250-263. https://doi.org/10.24331/ijere.927574

Ressa, T. W., & Goldstein, A. (2021). Autism in the movies: Stereotypes and their effects on neurodiverse communities. Journal of Disability Studies, 7(2), 75-84. http://pubs.iscience.in/journal/index.php/jds/article/view/1197

Ressa, T. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic: Inadequate digital infrastructure and shortage of technically-trained teachers hinder schooling of children with disabilities in Kenya. Kenya Studies Review, 8(2), 43-62. https://kessa.org/volume-8-issue-2-2020/

Ressa, T. & Norris, M. (2020). Swim or sink in the graduate school: Disability and outdoor leisure activities. International Research and Review, 9(2), 20-42. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1271015

 

 

Courses taught by Theodoto Ressa

Winter Term 2025 (future)

• TED2220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• TED6220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling

Fall Term 2024 (current)

• TED2220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• TED6220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• SED5010 - Inclusive Teaching
• SED5090 - Transitions for Students with Disabilities

Winter Term 2024

• TED2220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• TED6220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• TED7060 - Inclusive Education, Curriculum and Pedagogy

Fall Term 2023

• SED5010 - Inclusive Teaching
• SED5090 - Transitions for Students with Disabilities
• TED2220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• TED6220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling

Winter Term 2023

• TED2220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• TED6220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• SED5000 - History, Philosophy, and Ethics of Teaching Students with Disabilities
• SED5010 - Inclusive Teaching

Fall Term 2022

• TED2220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• TED6220 - Foundations III: Foundations of Inclusive Schooling
• SED5010 - Inclusive Teaching
• SED5090 - Transitions for Students with Disabilities

Winter Term 2022

• SED5000 - History, Philosophy, and Ethics of Teaching Students with Disabilities
• SED5090 - Transitions for Students with Disabilities

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