ADA Act, etc. must define "disability," but how do we define "ability"? How able must one be?
Ideological norm is what a society says is a norm.
Normate?
We are all born disabled.
If you live long enough, you will acquire disabilities.
So we are just talking a portion of our life.
Bodies exist in environments, natural and social.
Connections to racism and (hetero)sexism. Concept of able-bodied is the prevailing trope.
Critique this idea of the real, as in a woman is not really different to a man, but what if she were? Would she not st
Accessible parking not handicapped parking. Why must they be close? Because if not, you couldn't participate at all.
Impairment v. Disability
We don't have sonar, but we don't consider ourselves as disabled.
Impairment: a difference in the organism and is relative (to x).
Disability: body plus environment (natural and social)
Medical model: disability is disease with its locus is in the individual, so it's the individual's problem.
All models have assumptions about where it comes from. Steers you to and away from certain paths.
Terms?
Differently abled is too PC
Handicapped? Retro
Special?
Lame, retarded, etc.
Words will eventually become stigmatized if the group is stigmatized.
"Disabled" works. "Deaf" works. Really, just ask the individual how he or she self-identifies. But on a syllabus, disability accommodations.
Transgressive reappropriation: taking a pejorative and reclaiming it. Like "crip."
Visible and invisible lead to issues of coming out and passing (a la lgbt community)
Super-crip narrative is heroic overcoming of ... What? Your fault if you are not incredibly abled in some way. For the able-bodied who don't want to change social structures.
Compliance is a minimum. Consider your language and your students' language. Work with ODS. The students' right to self-disclose.
Dr. Raphael brings up the very good point of the "overcoming" disability is meant for able-bodied people. What does it say to the disabled whenever they are not able to compete in an ableist world? Are they just not trying hard enough?
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed her discourse on "invisable disabilities"--namely, how difficult it must be to "pass" as able. When does one "come out" and how do they accept that identity?