What does it mean to be disabled in a place that claims inclusion but prioritizes compliance over true community?

Invisible Leashes offers a powerful narrative that blends lived experience, institutional critique, and practical insights. Through the lens of a university staff member and Ed.D. student with a dynamic, non-apparent disability, Allison Christina Gainer reveals how classrooms, HR offices, research labs, and field placements become sites of both struggle and advocacy.

At the center of this story is a service dog, whose presence not only provides support but also disrupts hidden barriers and biases, symbolizing the visibility of disability in spaces designed for conformity rather than inclusion. With candor and urgency, Gainer interrogates the politics of disclosure, the emotional labor of self-advocacy, and the structural limitations of performative inclusivity in higher education.

A call for authentic accessibility and systemic change, this book highlights the need for policy reform and disability leadership rooted in lived experience.

Ideal for students, scholars, and practitioners in Disability Studies, Higher Education Administration, Educational Leadership, Social Work, Counselling, Human Resources, Organizational Leadership, Law, and Public Policy, as well as disability advocates committed to creating more inclusive institutions.

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Content warning
• Learning objectives
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Invisible leashes
• 2 Claiming identity in academic spaces: Disability and the self
  • Becoming disabled, or realizing you are
  • The incident
  • The labor of belonging: Navigating visibility, doubt, and daily resistance
  • The weight of being seen
  • The role of environment
  • Community, intersectionality, and belonging
• 3 Living in survival mode
• 4 Learning from the experiences of others
  • Common challenges faced by students with service dogs
• 5 The cost of disclosure
  • Basic etiquette guide for interacting with people who use service dogs
  • What support could look like instead
• 6 The service dog as disruption
  • Quick guide: Myths vs. facts about service dogs in higher education
• 7 The duality of access: Human resources and student accessibility
  • A human-centered approach: How HR should proceed
• 8 Learning while leading
  • What it means to lead with disability
• 9 Policy vs. practice
  • From policy to practice: Where institutions go wrong
• 10 Building back better: Beyond accommodation
  • Designing for belonging: From silo to system
    • What real commitment looks like
  • Words matter: Syllabi and web presence
  • Onboarding and orientation: Setting the tone
    • The role of disability justice
• 11 Lily-Rue’s legacy: A story of becoming
  • What Lily-Rue taught me about disability and leadership
  • The invisible work we carry
  • A closing note to readers
• Assignments and discussion starters
• Books that stay with you: Recommended further reading
• References
• Index

Allison Christina Gainer, M.A., LAC, is an Ed.D. candidate, mental health counselor, higher education professional, and disability rights advocate whose research and lived experience center on service dog accessibility, inclusive education, and systemic change in higher education.