Editorial: A Call for Discourse on Social Justice and Disability

Editorial

In the United States, participation in society is a fundamental right. Yet, barriers to full and equal access persist. Despite ongoing efforts, people with disabilities continue to experience unemployment at nearly twice the rate of those without a disability, and approximately 26 percent of those with disabilities live below the poverty line. Recent and upcoming legislative considerations (e.g., reauthorization of WIOA, reversal of Roe v. Wade) and ongoing environmental concerns (e.g., social and political determinants of health and related inequities, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic) present serious concerns, but also potential to improve opportunities and access, including employment and improved health outcomes, for those with disabilities.

As such, the Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Journal is committed to issues of social justice as they relate to inclusion, equity, and access for people with disabilities, including other intersectional identities. We are seeking Commentary and Discourse Forum manuscripts to be considered for the 2022 and 2023 RCEJ publication cycles on this topic. These manuscripts will undergo the same process for manuscripts in this category (single-blind review), and are not expected to be empirical in nature. As counselor education is moving toward greater inclusion of disability content throughout the curriculum, this provides an opportunity for rehabilitation educators, practitioners, disability allies, and disabled activists to contribute to the literature in the spirit of knowledge translation and expert contribution. Please use the following guidelines in developing your submission:

• Please review the “For Authors” section of the RCEJ website for information on preparing a manuscript for online, Open Access publication, including the guidelines for Commentary and Discourse Forum manuscripts and providing a cover letter. For example, all tables and figures should be inserted directly into the document at a location of the author’s choosing. In the cover letter, designate the category and subcategory of the manuscript as Brief Article, Commentary & Discourse Forum: Social Justice and Disability so it will be identified appropriately.

• Publication fees still apply for accepted manuscripts, but all submissions for this special ongoing section call will be charged at the RCEA member rate for single manuscript submission pricing (the student rate will apply if the lead author is a current master’s or doctoral student).

• All submissions should broadly fall under the scope of social justice and disability, but it is up to the author(s) to provide context within the paper for their topic. Within the manuscript, please provide two standard sections at the end and address the following: Implications for Teaching and Implications for Practice.

• We greatly encourage collaboration with disability advocacy organizations and disabled leaders, consumers, and educators. In the spirit of this collaboration, we encourage the use of both person-first and/or identity-first language appropriate to their identity.

• Consider that your work should be accessible and understandable to all readers. As such, please be sure to explain acronyms and terms that might not be readily known to students, scholars, and citizens outside of the rehabilitation and disability community.

We are seeking to publish the Social Justice and Disability manuscripts within the 2022 and 2023 cycles; therefore, we will begin to review and use advanced online publication of accepted works as they are received, with publication eligibility beginning in issues throughout these years. If you have questions about the relevancy of your topic or other concerns, please direct these inquiries to Dr. Andrea Nerlich, Co-Editor-in-Chief at andrea.nerlich@hofstra.edu. Consider this a call to uphold our personal and professional commitment to social justice within the fields of disability and rehabilitation counseling. Join us to raise awareness and discourse on these topics, and offer approachable, informative articles that can be easily infused into counselor education, social work, medicine, and other specialties toward creating a more inclusive and equitable world.