Dr. Shanon Phelan

Education

• Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification Professional Training, University of Alberta
• Post-doctoral Fellowship- Childhood Disability- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
• PhD- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences- Western University
• MSc- Occupational Therapy- Western University
• BSc Human Kinetics- University of Guelph
  

Appointments & Affiliations

• Cross Appointment, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University
• Affiliate Scientist, IWK Health Centre, Department of Pediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Associate Scientist, Maritime SPOR SUPPORT Unit (MSSU)

Research Interests

Dr. Shanon Phelan’s research is situated within critical disability studies and focuses on advancing equity, inclusion, and belonging for disabled children, youth, and their families. She uses qualitative, participatory, community-engaged, and arts-based methodologies to examine how ableism shapes experiences of inclusion, belonging, health, and well-being in cultural life. Her program of research interrogates dominant discourses in childhood disability and works to co-create knowledge that affirms disability as a valued aspect of human diversity. Key areas of inquiry include child and youth culture, inclusive play and playgrounds, inclusive early learning and childcare, inclusive education, neurodiversity-affirming practices, and the development of inclusive research methods. Through the SHIFT Collective (Shifting How we think about Inclusion For Tomorrow), Dr. Phelan collaborates with community partners, practitioners, families, and young people to foster systemic change across policy, practice, and everyday life.

Current Research Initiatives

Toward inclusion in early learning and childcare: A cornerstone disability-inclusive framework (SSHRC Explore Grant, PI: Phelan, Community Partner: YWCA Halifax)

Equitable access to inclusive early learning and childcare for disabled children: The family experience (SSHRC Insight Development Grant, PI: Phelan, S., Co-I’s: McConnell, D., Moore, S., McIsaac, J.L., Mah, C.)

Promoting health and well-being of children experiencing disability through inclusion in early learning and childcare (Faculty of Health Research Development Grant, PI: Phelan, S., Co-I’s: McConnell, D., Moore, S., McIsaac, J.L., Sheriko, J.)

Promoting health and well-being of children experiencing disability through inclusion in child culture (Research Nova Scotia New Health Investigator Grant, PI: Phelan, S., Co-I’s: Aston, M., Egilson, S., Sheriko, J., Spencer, N., McConnell, D.)

From stories to praxis: Transforming community-based support services for women with disabilities who have survived intimate partner violence (SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, PI’s: McConnell, D., Pacheco, L., Co-I’s: Aunos, M., Phelan, S.)

Looking for love in the rocky mountains: Stories of inclusion (SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant, PI: Spencer, N., Co-I: Phelan, S.)

A theory of flourishing and autistic joy in sport and recreation (SSHRC Insight Development Grant, PI: Spencer, N., Co-I: Phelan, S.)

From stories to praxis: Transforming community-based support services for women with disabilities who have survived intimate partner violence (SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, PI’s: McConnell, D., Pacheco, L., Co-I’s: Aunos, M., Phelan, S.)
 

Selected Publications

*Reeves, P., McConnell, D., & Phelan, S.K. (2025). Belonging involves mutuality, agency, and acceptance: An ethnographic exploration of belonging with adults labelled with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Advance Online, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/174462952513443.

*Reeves, P., McConnell, D., & Phelan, S.K. (2025). ‘We’re not really into helping, we’re into being useful’: Service provider practices that support belonging opportunities in the lives of adults labelled with intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, Advance Online, 38(e70070): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.70070.

*Boyd, K., Leo, J., & Phelan, S.K. (2024). "I'll show you!": Reflections on children’s point-of-views and the use of action cameras in inclusive, critical, qualitative research with young disabled children. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 23, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241307.

*Duebel, E., & Phelan, S.K. (2024). You’re doing it wrong: The governance of motherhood through mommy blogs. Feminist Media Studies, Advance Online, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2024.2400477.

*Harasym, J., Gross, D., MacLeod, A. A. N., & Phelan, S.K. (2024). “Do it afraid”: An arts-based reflexive collective case study exploring youth responses to post-concussion communication changes in daily life. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 59, 2294-2311. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.13082.

*Harasym, J., Gross, D., MacLeod, A. A. N., & Phelan, S.K. (2024). "This is a Look into My Life”: Enhancing Qualitative Inquiry into Communication through Arts-Based Research Methods [Special Issue: Accessibility and Inclusion: Advancing the Use of Qualitative Research Methods for All]. International Journal of Qualitative Research Methods, 23, 1-16. doi: 10.1177/16094069241232603.

*Reeves, P., McConnell, D., & Phelan, S.K. (2023). The (radical) role of belonging in shifting & expanding understandings of social inclusion for people labelled with intellectual or developmental disability. Sociology of Health & Illness, 45(2), 317-330. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.13574.

McConnell, D., & Phelan, S.K. (2022). Intimate partner violence against women with intellectual disability: An anti-oppressive, trauma informed response. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(6), e5156-e5166. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13932.

Phelan, S.K., & *Reeves, P. (2022). (Re)Imagining inclusion in ways that foster belonging in the lives of disabled children and youth. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 6(2), 77-78. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00371-0.

*Reeves, P., Ng, S., *Harris, M., & Phelan, S.K. (2022). The exclusionary effects of inclusion today: (Re)production of disability in inclusive education settings. Disability & Society, 37(4), 612-637. doi: 10.1080/09687599.2020.1828042.

*Graduate Students

Graduate Training Opportunities

Dr. Shanon Phelan directs the SHIFT Collective: Shifting how we think about inclusion For tomorrow. The SHIFT collective is a group of researchers, graduate students, and trainees who are deeply committed to the inclusion, belonging, health and well-being of people who experience disability. Dr. Phelan is accepting Postdoctoral trainees, PhD and MSc(OS) students interested in qualitative research at the intersections of child culture, disability, inclusion and belonging; child, adolescent and family experiences of disability and inclusion; neurodiversity, inclusion and belonging; neurodiversity-affirming practices; disability, neurodivergence and gender; disability, neurodivergence and gender-based violence; and critical disability studies. Potential students are invited to explore current and past projects and opportunities posted on the SHIFT Collective website.