Conventionalized phrases and disability policy: A corpus analysis of 2-year and 4-year public colleges in California

This corpus-based study analyzes the use of conventionalized phrases in disability policy. Specifically, it focuses on the three phrases made common by the Americans with Disabilities Act: qualified individual with a disability, reasonable accommodations, and interactive process. These three phrases are analyzed in the context of disability policy at 2-year and 4-year public colleges in California. A corpus of disability policies was created for each of these contexts and analyzed to better understand the varied implementation of conventionalized phrases across contexts. The study finds that the three phrases from the ADA have been diffused across higher education disability policies in the corpora created and are highly conventionalized in these contexts. Additionally, these phrases can be used with slightly different valences depending on the context. These differences in use appear to be directly related to the relationship between the three phrases themselves and they mirror debates in disability policy such as that around the modal ‘may’ in relation to whether or not an institution implements an interactive process. Furthermore, institutional differences in the implementation of these phrases is potentially related to the stances institutions take towards disability and disability policy.