My name is Rosa Dene David, though most people know me as Rosie. I am a PhD candidate in Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. My work examines how ableist and normative frameworks shape the educational experiences of neurodivergent students who use English as an Additional Language (EAL), particularly in postsecondary education. Through narrative inquiry and counterstorytelling, I explore how institutional structures, linguistic norms, and assumptions about ability affect access, belonging, and recognition in higher education.

More broadly, my research is concerned with how education systems can move beyond deficit-based understandings of difference and toward more equitable and inclusive approaches to learning.

My research has been supported by the U.S. Department of State’s English Language Programs and published in the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies,  the Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, the Latin American Journal of Content and Language Integrated Learning, and edited volumes with Cambridge University Press and Routledge.