"I'm on...that one carnival ride"
My mind quickly created images with each word my student spoke as she explained her internal writing process compared to those of her classmates. “Some people…they just rollercoaster through it and they don't look back. I'm on…it's not even a loop, it's like that one carnival ride that's just a ring with a roller coaster cart on it…” The student pointed up with her right index finger and closed the rest tightly. Then she started moving her hand and arm synced together in horizontal circles, faster and faster, while making a whooshing sound between her teeth. “The thing you can vomit on and it lands on your own head?” I nodded and smiled because I understood what writing on a tilt-a-whirl was like, probably more than she realized.
Radical Writing Center Praxis
In this 2026 JPTSS article, Dr. Harrison reviews Laura Greenfield's book Radical Writing Center Praxis: A Paradigm for Ethical Political Engagement. He highlights Greenfield's vision for liberatory practice, tutor agency, and the need for radical change in writing centers overall. He also discusses how secondary school writing centers are perhaps the most primed spaces ready to fully implement a radical praxis approach.
Neurodivergent Peer Tutoring and Anti-ableism
In this upcoming 2026 article, soon to be published in volume 44 issue 1 of the Writing Center Journal, Dr. Harrison shares from a first-of-its-kind multiple case study diving into the personal, relational, and formative aspects of the lived experiences of two neurodivergent students as they conducted writing consultations with their neurodivergent peers in an independent special education high school. The results of the study included debunking certain bodymind stereotypes like “lack of empathy” as well as calling for the reexamination of traditional writing center practices like forced read-alouds.
Confronting Differences in the Neurodiverse Writing Center
In this 2026 Praxis post, Dr. Harrison shares an experience from his own writing center, a place where neurodiversity is supposed to be celebrated, yet neuronormativity had unintentionally surfaced. This reflection discusses the issue and how as writing center staff we might want to address it.
Superhero, Changemaker, Advocate: Exploring Neurodiversity in the Writing Center
In this article, published in the Spring 2025 issue of the JPTSS, Dr. Harrison explores the intricacies of the various experiences of neurodivergent high schoolers visiting their writing center and how those experiences as student writers, as well as those of the tutors and director, have informed neuro-inclusive writing center practices.
“Not perfect is okay?”: Exploring the use of AI in the ELL Writing Classroom
In the 2025 issue of the CEA Mid-Atlantic Review, Dr. Harrison's article explores the language complexities already facing students, especially students whose native language isn't English, and how they may lean on generative AI for potential help. This article illuminates the growing debate over how we as writing educators might choose to embrace the unique writing voice of our students as well as show them how to leverage their AI resources without compromising their author authenticity. Harrison concludes that as writing pedagogues, we must accept that "not perfect is okay," and in fact, perhaps it should be preferred in the classroom in order to preserve the student's natural voice.