(dis)Ability and Music Education: Paralympian Patrick Anderson and the Experience of Disability in Music

Abstract

What does it mean to experience disability in music? Based on interviews with Patrick Anderson—arguably the greatest wheelchair basketball player of all time—this article presents insights into the complexities of the experience of disability in sports and music. Contrasted with music education’s tendency to adhere to a medicalized model of disability, Anderson’s nuanced views on disability in different contexts serves as an accessible point of entry to literature in the field of Disability Studies. Using Anderson’s anecdotal experiences of disability in sports and music as catalysts, key concepts in Disability Studies are discussed including the medical and social models of disability, conventions of disability terminology, disability identity, and the relevance of Lubet’s (2010) contextual model of disability—social confluence—to the field of music education.