What is Disability…? April 3rd, 2008

Today in class we will… What do I say? Etiquette Language/Labels/Stereotypes Terminology Etiquette Basic concepts related to disability and disability studies Definitions Impairment Handicap Disability

Imagine an action movie that has a clear and stereotypical “good” guy and “bad” guy…

More Stereotypes & Labels How do these images, along with other images of persons with disabilities affect stereotypes of persons w/ disabilities? Myths

What are some slang words associated w/ disabilities or disability related?

Problematic Words Retard / Retarded Stupid Lame / Cripple Insane Crazy Psycho Maniac Nut Case Midget Spazz Handicap

Problematic Euphemisms Used for Persons with Disabilities Physically Challenged Differently Able(d) / handicapable “Special” “Brave” (Inspirational, Courageous) Wheelchair Bound / Confined to a Wheelchair Victim / “suffers from” / “afflicted with” (Stroke, Heart Attack, etc.) In contrast TAB (Temporary Able Bodied)

So…What Do I Say? Remember… Words have power Stereotyping and language interconnect What do we do and say in a society that might be experiencing PC-fatigue

“Disability” Linton: “We have decided to reassign meaning rather than chose a new name.”* Your reaction to the term disability? Will reassigning meaning be successful? *Claiming Disability, page 31 Constructing the axis on which disabled and nondisabled fall. Enter disability studies as the center for understanding the axis.

Acceptable Use of Language "People First Language” Person With a Disability (PWD) Pride First Language Deaf (Person) Disabled Person (DP)

People First language "People First Language” Person Who is deaf / Hard of Hearing Person with ____ (MS, Cancer, etc.) Person with a Disability (PWD) (Including: Non- Apparent or Hidden Disability) “Person with a…” (Physical or Mental Difference)

Pride First Language Disabled Person (Claiming Disability) Nondisabled

Etiquette How do you “treat” a Person With a Disability? Reading

Other Concepts… Ableism Overcoming Pity Super Crip

What does it mean to be able-bodied? What are able-bodied people “able” to do? What do able-bodied people look like?

Ableism "discrimination in favor of the able-bodied." Reader’s Digest Oxford Wordfinder Linton: Person is determined by their disability Disabled People are inferior to nondisabled people

Overcoming (a common theme) Overcoming a disability "I never think of you as disabled." "He/she is a credit to his/her race."

Pity To feel compassionate, commiserate, be sorry for. Sometimes implying slight contempt for a person on account of some intellectual or moral inferiority attributed to him. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. 1989)

“Super-Crip” (When Stereotypes Tell the Story (National Center on Disability and Journalism -NCDJ) Disability as Tragedy Inspiration / Overcoming Courageous Christopher Reeve: Triumph over Tragedy (Alter). The latest item on the TV news, eg a blind man climbing a mountain.  

Definitions Impairment Handicap Disability

Impairment: Refers to physical or mental limitations such as difficulty walking Represents a deviation from the person's usual biomedical state.

Impairment: When does physical / mental variation become an impairment?

What is the difference between: Impairment Illness / “being sick” Chronic Health Conditions?

MIND / BODY STATE (Condition) Minimal Expected Variation State Unexpected Variation (DISABILITY) Minor Variation BIRTH DEATH Minor Variation Unexpected Variation (DISABILITY) Impairment (aches/pains, illness/sick/injury, chronic illness/disease, short/tall, manic/depressed…. ) =Variation

Handicap Different meanings throughout time and situation… The disadvantage experienced by a person as a result of impairments (Now considered offensive)

Disability Oh so many definitions… Let’s start with the legal (US) definition: ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act): (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.

World Health Org. (WHO) 1980 Disability Restriction or lack (from an impairment) of ability considered normal for a human being Handicap The disadvantage experienced by a person as a result of impairments *ICIDH-1 (1980)

Sequence of Concepts WHO 1980 Disease or disorder Impairment Disability Handicap ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- impairment at the organ level disability at the person level handicap at the societal level

WHO 2001 Disability : outcome or result of a complex relationship between an individual’s: health condition personal factors external factors INTERNATION CLASSIFICATION OF IMPAIRMENTS, DISABILITIES AND HANDICAPS “Exploring Disability” (p.22) Covers ICIDH – Resolve disability & handicaps by fixing impairment through med / rehab – environment is ‘neutral’ (p.25) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) NO IMPAIRMENTS MENTIONED (nor handicapped)

Interaction of Concepts WHO 2001 Health Condition (disorder/disease) Body function&structure (Impairment) Activities (Limitation) Participation (Restriction) Environmental Factors Personal Factors

Classifying classification b11420 Hierarchy: b Bodily structures b1 Mental functions b11 Global mental functions b114 Orientation functions b1142 Orientation towards others b11420 Orientation towards one-self.

Quantifying Quantifying functionality: 0-4% 0 No impairment 5-24% 1 Light impairment 25-49% 2 Moderate impairment 50-95% 3 Serious impairment 96-100% 4 Total impairment 8 Non specified 9 Non applicable

Where is the subjective (QOL)?

Other classification systems DSM IV ICD

Review of some of the definitions: ADA An individual with a disability is defined as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities a person who has a history or record of such impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such impairment. ICF Disability is an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations or participation restrictions. Environmental and personal factors influence all aspects of health, functioning and disability. Surgeon General July 26, 2005 “… disabilities are characteristics of the body, mind, or senses that, to a greater or lesser extent, affect a person’s ability to engage independently in some or all aspects of day-to-day life.”

67 US acts / programs that define disability 35 have self-contained definitions (although some contain more than one definition)

Which definition do you choose? Obviously no one has this figured out…

Disability Activists (UK)1976 (UPIAS - Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation) “the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by a contemporary social organization which takes no or little account of people who have physical impairments and thus excludes them from the mainstream of social activities” Changes the focus of disability away from the individual to Society. (1st articulation of the “Social Model of Disability”)

Social Model States that inappropriate and discriminatory: Social Attitudes (Ableism), Sociopolitical Structures, Cultural Phenomena are the central problem for disabled people Social Construction: DISABILITY AND MATERIALIST EMBODIMENT Mike Clear and Brendan Gleeson JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL ECONOMY No 49 http://www.jape.org/jape49_2.pdf

Who is Disabled? Everybody? What did Linton have to say about “everybody”? The largest minority Any disease or chronic health condition Who is deserving Interventions Political clout

NEXT SESSION Models of Disability