Disability Studies huh My experiences in higher education
Disability Studies: huh? – My experiences in higher education as a student in Disability Studies Nathan Chan Ph. D student in Disability Studies University of Illinois at Chicago
A bit about myself… n Person w/ invisible disability – learning disabilities & ADHD n Registered w/ disability student service centre n I use accommodations in my schooling n From traditional Chinese family n Disability = failure, shame, problems!
What led me to disability studies? n Interest & deep appreciation in diversity issues n Took courses that developed my appreciation for different types of diversity that I embodied n Disability – hardest identity for me to accept because of stigma & also invisible disability
What is a disability? n No universal consensus of what constitutes a disability n Medical Model of Disability Blame on disability n Goal: cure, fix, manage illness so person can be “normal again” n n Social Model of Disability n Blame on society & environment n People are disabled by socially constructed variables in environment
Disability and Society (film I co-produced) Q: What is a disability? A: Yikes, I don’t know how to answer that A: Something that prevents you from doing what you want to do. A: Anyone who is not a white Anglo-Saxon male A: I dunno, really, it can be anything really. If you’re in your class and you’re ‘disabled’ now right?
Disability and Society n People w/ and w/o disabilities have a narrow definition as what “counts” as a disability n What counts? n Amputees, people who use wheelchairs, crutches, canes
The research undertakings I will talk about today involve: n People with HIV/AIDS n People who Stutter n People with Psychiatric Disabilities n People who are Fat n People with Celiac Disease
People with HIV/AIDS (Masters Thesis) n HIV/AIDS viewed as shameful n Associated w/ certain behaviours & minority groups n Protection exists under laws for people with: asymptomatic HIV, full blown AIDS, perceived to be infected w/ HIV/AIDS
People who Stutter (Literature Review) n Type-casted n Contrive individual relationships to gain entry n n n into group Role entrapment: Token Identification, Clown Negatively affected performance evaluation Limited educational opportunities Found to be less competent than peers/colleagues Judged as afraid, tense, nervous, immature, unconfident, uneducated
People w/ Psychiatric Disabilities (collaborative project) n Low availability of services for people to live independently n Barriers at service provision & public policylevel n Barriers: social isolation, loss of social networks, rejection by friends/family, lack of financial resources, limited opportunities for socialization
People who are Fat (Co-principal investigator, Qualitative Research Study) n Participants w/ BMI > 30 n Perceptions of fat: disgusting, comical, hideous, dirty n Barriers: n Social n Told to lose weight n “Who would want to have sex with you? ” n Physical: chairs w/arms, restaurant booths n Fat persons must pay for two airplane seats on flights
People with Celiac Disease (Mentor) n Autoimmune disease, intolerance to gluten n Require a gluten-free diet n Low availability of gluten-free food n Lack of understanding & awareness of celiac disease (family, friends, etc) n Gluten-free products 6 -7 X more expensive n Poorly labeled products n Pressured to eat “normally”
Summary n All five research projects surround unconventional disabilities n Sometimes they do not consider themselves ‘disabled’ disability associated w/ shame, weakness, stigma n Do not feel they belong to disability community n What is your disability? What are you doing here? n Uncomfortable with using disability laws, disability identity, and marching w/ Disability Pride Parade
So Disability Studies? n Flexible n Not as rigid as you think n Evolving over last 30 years n Inclusion of ppl w/ unconventional disabilities n Work together! Join forces!
I leave you with two quotes… “There is a hierarchy of disability, and if you have a spinal cord injury, you are the king. If you have invisible disabilities, people tend to look at you suspect, but I still think that people with disabilities will look at [people with invisible disabilities] with the same sort of humph. ” “I think there’s a certain hierarchy. We [people with unconventional disabilities] are like low men on the totem pole. ”
- Slides: 15