Doing “diagnosis”: using critical disability studies to inform academic literacy policy and practice

With the widening participation agenda has come a concern for effective support of this diversity of students. Early diagnostic assessments used to identify students needing support with their development of academic literacies have been recognised as one source of information to help identify and support of students at risk. This paper discusses the issues raised by the administration of a diagnostic academic literacy test in an introductory media studies unit. Analysis of this small-scale qualitative study, which investigated the responses to staff and students to the diagnostic test, suggest the purchase of key ideas from critical disability studies. Critical disability studies’ extensive consideration of the consequences of identifying and labelling students according to a "diagnosis” is discussed here in relation to the ethical issues arising from the use of diagnostic testing and the sharing of information about student performance amongst teaching staff.