The Myth of the Normal Curve

It is generally taken for granted that human behavior distributes along the lines of a bell-shaped, normal curve. This idea underpins much educational theory, research, and practice. There is, however, a considerable body of research demonstrating that the normal curve grossly misrepresents the human experience. Yet the acceptance of the normal curve continues to be used to pathologize children and adults with disabilities by positioning them as abnormal. Collectively, the contributors to this volume critique the ideology of the normal curve. Some explicity challenge the assumptions that underpin the normal curve. Others indirectly critique notions of normality by examining the impact of normal curve thinking on educational policies and practices. Many contributors go beyond critiquing the normal curve to propose alternative ways to imagine human differences. All contributors agree that the hegemony of the normal curve has had a devastating effect on those presumed to live on the boundaries of normal.

"In this provocative and illuminating book, a stellar collection of authors critiques `the normal curve,' one of the most enduring (and damaging) myths in American education. This must-read book will prompt readers to rethink their fundamental assumptions about the ability and disability."---Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools, Lynch School of Education, Boston College.

"The Myth of the Normal Curve provides a much-needed critique of commonly and even scientifically accepted notions of normality. For too long we have supported an ideology of normality without much interrogation of the subject. This book provides that interrogation."---Lennard J. Davis, Professor of English and Disability Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago