Disability Theory Research Articles

Subverting the “Default Settings” of Cis-Heteronormativity in Social Work Praxis with Trans Clients

ABSTRACT The past several years have brought about a steep increase in hostile legislation targeting queer and trans people, specifically policies that threaten the ability of trans people to receive gender-affirming care. Social workers provide more services related to addressing psychosocial needs than any other group of mental health professionals, and as the number of trans people continues to rise, so will the need for providers who are competent in working with them. Transness is currently an identity culturally and clinically defined by suffering, but that does not need to be the case, and in an ideal future it will not be. In considering how to reconceptualize social work praxis to decenter cis-heteronormativity, the field can look to theories of disability, sexuality, gender, race, and abolition for models of how practitioners can work with trans clients from an asset-based perspective, at once more effectively supporting them and creating a less oppressive and repressive society for everyone. Social workers who identify as allies to, or a part of, the queer and trans community must move away from a posture of performativity, which often perpetuates notions of normativity, and instead work toward substantive social change by subverting the “default settings” we are all socialized into. Achieving this end requires meaningful engagement with trans people and their varied lived experiences, internal, interpersonal, and in their interfacing with institutions, as well as a commitment to challenging our society’s rigid values surrounding gender, to reconceptualize social work praxis with trans people.

Disability as a Resource

Chinese modern writer Shi Tiesheng’s renowned piece of life writing “The Temple of Earth and I” embodies a conceptualization of disability that underscores the positive potential of disability as resource that may bring power, freedom, and diversity to people with disabilities as well as the entire society. The representation of disability in Shi’s writing forms an alternative disability discourse that can be highly valuable in shaping social and cultural mindsets on disability. Shi’s disability discourse takes a deep root in Chinese philosophical tradition that understands the world as a dynamic process of transformation between oppositional states. In accordance with this recognition, disability has the potential to be transformed from loss to power, from limitation to freedom, and from an often rejected and excluded element to an indispensable part of diversity in the world.

Disrupting Epistemology and Coalescing Community

Trends in critical disability studies have taken issue with the absence of representations of disability beyond images of heroism or charity cases (Chaturvedi; Ferri; Sherry). In addition, an absence of representation in cinema and literature reinforces an existing bias that individuals with disabilities are uninteresting and have less value than nondisabled people (Beckett et al.; Hodkinson). The article explores the frontier of disability activism on social media as a space where new onto/epistemologies grapple among existing biases of disability. Particularly, the autoethnographic study looks at the experiences of two women, one who has a physical disability and one who has a child with a disability, as disability activists on social media.

The Biblical Discourse of Disability and Implications for Religious Communities in Uganda: A Hermeneutical Review

This hermeneutical review of biblical discourse of disability seeks to promote inclusive religious participation. Although the Bible is a religious book among Ugandans, there is limited discussion on how it can enhance social and religious participation of persons with disabilities. The review revealed that disability representation, human dignity and essence, divine human integrity and social empowerment dominate biblical discussion of disability. So, the article asserts that disability interpretation and representation shapes the construction of social identities and enhances inclusive participation for persons with disability. Therefore, an African disability hermeneutics is recommended to transform religious teachings and theological interpretations of disability.

Inclusive or exclusionary? A study of representation of disability in Indian primary school textbooks

ABSTRACT In India, the pursuit of inclusive education seeks to create equitable learning environments where children with disabilities are fully integrated into mainstream schools. Within this context of inclusive education, this paper critically examines the teaching materials used in Indian primary education, with a focus on NCERT English and Hindi textbooks, to evaluate disability representation. Drawing upon Jan Grue’s Disability Discourse Analysis as a framework, the study deconstructs the language and narratives used in these textbooks to uncover underlying biases and explore how disability has been portrayed. The analysis highlights the need to enhance the inclusivity of educational content to better align with India’s goals for inclusive education.

Representation of Disability in Hindu Mythology

Mythologies, in most religions, are regarded as knowledge keepers of ancient societies. They preserve knowledge in various forms and have spread worldwide since time immemorial. Hindu mythology is one such mythology that has had a broad reach across the Indian subcontinent for a long time. It has taught many ways of life to the world. Though Hindu mythology has love, peace, humanity, and righteousness as the primary pillars in its appeal, it is criticized in disability discourse as it associates Karmic philosophy with disability. However, on the other side, Hindu mythology has also normalized disability by integrating people with disability/ies into society. Thus, this paper examines the representation of disability in Hindu mythology by referring to some characters from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Cutting the Gordian knot of the education ‘crisis’ with teacher testing. A blunt instrument that crushes marginalised pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT This paper offers a brief yet evocative glimpse into marginalised pre-service teachers’ (PST) experiences of teacher testing in Australia’s High-stakes Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE). Utilising Critical Disability Theory (CDT)in particular, Goodley’s (2016) concept of neoliberal-ableism, we problematise teacher testing as a gatekeeping tool for students undertaking teacher education. The article highlights how neoliberal education policies in Australia have disempowered and turned away talented and empathetic future teachers. By illuminating their embodied experiences of stress and anxiety, we interrogate neoliberal discourses of power and how teacher testing is used as a blunt instrument to solve complex problems and funnel public funding to private corporations. As part of a larger longitudinal research project, we offer four narrative portraits giving voice to vulnerable PSTs who have become unwitting victims of the high-stakes test juggernaut. This article focuses on five emergent themes from the research: (a) the embodied impact of stress and anxiety on test-takers, (b) withholding of information regarding testing processes and support, (c) the lack of differentiation available to PSTs (d) impacts of edu-businesses and the business of education on vulnerable participants and (e) a passion for differentiation.

No Level Playing Field: Barriers to Disability Representation in Politics

AbstractWhile one in five people in the UK are disabled, their number among elected representatives remains disproportionately low. In ongoing efforts to make politics more inclusive and diverse, disabled people often remain sidelined. As a politically relevant identity, disability is associated with a shared set of experiences and policy interests which are often overlooked. This is at least in part owing to the under‐representation of disabled politicians, which is likely also contributing to a sense of political alienation. Thus, tackling the barriers that disabled people experience in the political recruitment process is not only a matter of democratic justice and equality, but also essential for ensuring that disabled people's needs and concerns are recognised and met. This article outlines the obstacles that disabled people experience in pursuing elected office—including inaccessibility, inadequate financial resources and ableist institutions and cultures—and offers recommendations to political parties, parliaments and governments on how to mitigate them.

Brushstrokes of Change: Hieronymous Bosch and Rachel Gadsden's Evolving Portrayals of Disability

Historically, there has been a notable lack of representation of disability in western art history. Where disabilities are displayed, the artists’ intentions were often to convey moral corruption, religious infidelity, and the faults of society. Other times, the representations functioned scientifically as medical records. In fact, one of the most anatomically accurate representations of physical disability is credited to the early modern artist Hieronymous Bosch, who was known for his unfiltered commentary on the flaws of human society. Contrary to his typical surreal, vibrant, and sarcastic style, Cripples and Beggars (after 1570) (Fig. 1), a naturalistic and observational piece, offers a rare lens into how disability was portrayed during the early modern period. In contrast, Rachel Gadsden, a contemporary, disabled artist, foregrounds her identity as a disabled artist in her work Ubuntu (2012) (Fig. 2) and utilizes an expressive, abstract style to convey the fluidity of the disabled human form. Cripples and Beggars and Ubuntu, separated by centuries, provide a captivating shared subject for comparative analysis that transcends temporal boundaries. Cripples and Beggars provides an early explicit and moralizing depiction of physical disability as an isolating scourge while Rachel Gadsden focuses on abstract, yet recognizable human bodies in optimistic motion and community. Analysis of the varying style, medium, and intention reveals the evolved reception and, thus, depiction of disability. The evolution of the reception and depiction of disability from Hieronymous Bosch's Cripples and Beggars to Rachel Gadsden's "Ubuntu" signifies a shift from viewing disability as a symbol of moral corruption and societal decay to an expression of identity, resilience, and community.

Race and Place: Influences on Functional Ability Among Women Ages 80+ Years

Guided by current frameworks, including Feminist Disability Theory (FDT; Heller et al., 2019), we examine two contextual contributors to functional ability among women over the age 80 years. With data from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we probe the ways in which rurality and race influence functional ability. Data from 18,560 US women over age 80 years were included in a regression in which the effects of rurality (18% rural) on functional ability were moderated by race (89% White), F (3, 18058) = 32.72, p < .001). Rural women reported lower functional ability, especially when they identified as racially or ethnically diverse. Despite the small significant effects, these older women reported high levels of functioning in their daily lives. Informed by Haywood (1977) who articulated the problems of over-extending important research findings, our discussion advocates using caution when discussing small, but significant results.

Assessing Evidence-Based Disability Inclusion Policy and Practices to Promote Employment of People With Disabilities in the Workplace: Scale Development and Validation

There is a strong commitment in the United States and the European Union to better support people with disabilities in the competitive labor market, where disability inclusion is widely viewed as a social imperative and underscored in policies, such as the European Union’s Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2020–2030, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. However, there is a lack of readily available strategies and tools for rehabilitation counselors to collaborate effectively with businesses and organizations in assessing their progress toward these inclusion goals. To address this need, the Disability Inclusion Profiler (DIP23) was developed to assess disability inclusion policies and practices. This study aimed to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the DIP23 in a sample of 466 human resources managers. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a two-factor measurement structure: (1) Executive Level and (2) Middle Management and Staff Level Disability Inclusion Policies. Both factors demonstrated strong internal consistency and correlated with employment rates of people with disabilities. The DIP23 is a psychometrically sound measure for rehabilitation counselors to help organizations assess their disability-inclusive climate and identify areas of strengths and areas needing improvement to increase disability representation in the workplace.

Introducing the Arabic inflammatory bowel disease disk as a tool for assessing disability in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Jordan

Background and study aimInflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic relapsing-remitting disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. IBD causes significant impairment in the patient’s quality of life that should be assessed and monitored in a flexible and easy way. The IBD-Disability Index (IBD-DI) is the only validated tool to assess disability in IBD patients, but it is difficult to use in clinical practice. The IBD Disk is a new shortened, self-administering version of the IBD-DI that allows quick assessment of IBD patients and tracks changes in disease burden over time. However, the IBD Disk has not been used yet in clinical practice in Jordan. The aim of the study was to translate the IBD Disk to Arabic language and introduce it in clinical practice in Jordan. Patients and methodsAfter translating the original IBD Disk to Arabic language, IBD patients referred to outpatient clinic or admitted to the medical department at the new Al-Hussein hospital, Al-Salt, Jordan, from September 2021 until March 2022, filled the translated IBD Disk. ResultsA total of 50 IBD patients (52 % males) were included in the study and filled the IBD Disk. The IBD Disk was easy to complete by the patients. Energy, regulating defecation, and emotions were the most disabling domains for relapsing patients. Polygonal shape area of the mean for IBD Disk scores decreased during remission. Education & work and energy had the strongest correlation at relapse. ConclusionThe IBD Disk is a reliable visual representation of IBD disability. In this study, a translated version of IBD Disk to Arabic language was introduced for the first time in clinical practice in Jordan. The reduction in the polygonal shape area of the scores’ mean represents decreased disease burden.

Confronting the Legacy of Eugenics and Ableism: Towards Anti-Ableist Bioscience Education.

Society and education are inherently ableist. Disabled people are routinely excluded from education, or have poorer outcomes within educational systems. Improving educational experiences and outcomes for people of color has required educators to design antiracist curricula that explicitly address racial inequality. Here, we explore parallel antiableist approaches to bioscience education in an essay coauthored by a disabled bioscience student and able-bodied faculty member in bioscience. Our work is underpinned by Critical Disability Theory and draws on disability and pedagogical scholarship as well as our own experiences. The biosciences has a unique need to confront its history in the discredited pseudoscience of eugenics, which has led to discrimination and human rights abuses against disabled people. We provide a brief history of the relationship between biological sciences research and eugenics and explore how this legacy impacts bioscience education today. We then present a recommended structure for antiableist biology education. Our approach goes beyond providing disability access, to a model that educates all students about disability issues and empowers them to challenge ableist narratives and practices.

Teacher education students’ experiences navigating inherent requirements within their courses of study

ABSTRACT Inherent requirements define core competencies that all students must demonstrate to be accepted, progress, and successfully complete professionally accredited programmes such as teaching. This paper presents research that examines how students of teacher education navigate supposed abilities to teach through their courses of study, to inform the development of a statement of inherent requirements for a large school of education in an Australian university. Drawing on critical disability perspectives, we present results from a survey conducted with students enrolled in teacher education courses. This analysis demonstrates that inherent requirements have little affect for students whose bodily capacities align with preconceived notions of abilities to teach. Yet, students with disabilities will likely experience impose barriers to their success within teacher education because of perceived inherent requirements to practice, which is not easily addressed through disclosure and reasonable adjustments. The paper concludes with a discussion addressing how when seeking to expand their impact in support of inclusive local and global communities, universities must necessarily start by paying close attention to the ways that they frame competency in relation to equity. Here we draw from concerns raised by students in the present study, and critical disability theory, to support an institutional transposition from inherency to coherency, reframing how ability to teach can align with contemporary policy aspirations and inclusive practices. The paper is unique for drawing on student experiences to inform the development of knowledge in the field of teacher education along with critical disability perspectives with which to analyse them.

Mythopoetic Bodies. Representations of Disability in Contemporary Italian Narratives

Il presente articolo investiga la tendenza a rappresentare la disabilità come una condizione totalizzante che non lascia spazio ad altre caratteristiche dell’individuo. Nel fare ciò, il saggio analizza alcuni topoi della costruzione narrativa della disabilità: l’accostamento ad una seconda vita, la visione della disabilità come accusa o colpa, e la sua percezione come una forma di mancanza. Tale approccio fa risaltare la capacità mitopoietica alla base di un notevole corpus di produzioni narrative nel romanzo italiano contemporaneo. Al centro del discorso si trovano, fra gli altri, autori come Alessandro Perissinotto e Piero d’Ettorre, Michela Murgia, Carmen Verde, e Simona Vinci, scrittori che l’articolo propone come riferimenti contemporanei al tema della disabilità e che ricevono il testimone da autori più canonicamente studiati come Dacia Maraini e Giuseppe Pontiggia.

Representation of Invisible Disability: Exploring the Lived Experience of Teenagers With ADHD to Inform Game Design

Representation of Invisible Disability: Exploring the Lived Experience of Teenagers With ADHD to Inform Game Design

Disability Representation in French and Tunisian Media: A Comparative Analysis of Paralympic Games Coverage

This study is part of a broader investigation into the portrayal of disability within the context of the Paralympic Games. Focusing on media coverage from 2008, 2012 and 2016 in French and Tunisian newspapers, representing two distinct cultural landscapes, we explore the nuances of how disability is depicted. Employing a multifaceted approach involving statistical analysis utilizing the Chi-squared test, discourse content analysis, and photo analysis, we delve into uncharted territory by examining the treatment of impaired athletes in Tunisian media. Our findings highlight significant disparities and instances of discrimination, not only between disabled and able-bodied athletes but also among genders within each nation. Of particular concern are the disparities in photo representation, notably the portrayal of Tunisian women athletes. By contextualizing our findings within the existing body of literature, this study provides valuable insights into the complex dynamics of disability representation in sports media. Furthermore, it contributes to a deeper understanding of societal attitudes towards disability and offers actionable recommendations to foster more inclusive media coverage in the future.

Coloring Outside the Lines: Teaching Graphic Medicine as Disability Studies

The article argues for the importance of teaching undergraduate graphic medicine courses informed by disability studies. Using her experiences teaching graphic medicine classes over the last eight years, the author argues for the importance of graphic medicine courses beyond medical school curricula. This creates an opportunity not just to introduce disability studies concepts to undergraduates, but also for disability studies and graphic medicine to meaningfully illuminate each other. The article argues that framing comics through disability aesthetics and disability activism (including precepts such as access intimacy and disability justice) reveals how powerfully and consistently graphic medicine centers each. In turn, graphic medicine provides powerful opportunities to reimagine disability representation and access as aesthetics and accommodation. The article shares experiences of teaching graphic medicine, reflects on related dilemmas, and offers fruitful strategies for anyone wishing to teach graphic medicine courses informed by a disability studies approach.

Fostering Inclusivity for Clients with Disabilities: Universal Design in Family Therapy

Over a quarter of adults in the United States live with a disability. Historically, disability was contextualized from the lens of a medical model, which identifies disability solely as impairment for the individual and should be treated or eradicated. Individuals with disabilities have been seen as abnormal and a threat to the family system. Critical Disability Theory challenges this thought by suggesting that disability is a social construct in which one's environment prioritizes able bodies. Although numerous accommodations have been mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, the environment of an individual living with disabilities frequently fails to meet their needs, including the family therapy office. Universal Design (UD) is a design strategy that increases access for individuals of all abilities, mental states, and learning types. Utilizing UD principles in family therapy settings can increase client engagement, representation, and learning in a in a safe, accessible environment.

The representation of disability in the Italian media: The case of Ansa

The representation of disability in the media significantly influences the social perception of disability among the general population, as well as among individuals with disabilities themselves. This study focuses on the case of Ansa, the primary Italian press agency, to examine its portrayal of disability and persons with disabilities in the year 2022. Through the content analysis of a corpus comprising 1692 articles collected via keyword search, the research aims to draw a ‘map’ that can describe the disability narrative conveyed by Ansa. Key findings highlight Ansa’s narrative as displaying a form of under-representation of disability. Physical and mobility disabilities dominate the discourse, adhering to the common mediatic ‘hierarchy of disabilities’. But even more clearly, Ansa’s representation tends to be generic, abstract and lacking in specificity, thus presenting disability as a depersonalised and collective label. The narratives predominantly revolve around political interventions, funding, and institutional aid, with limited attention given to personal life stories that rarely attain national news status. Ultimately, the agency’s portrayal appears as a narrative of disability without the disabled persons, representing the phenomenon as a systemic issue that can be resolved through public frameworks and policies, with no direct involvement of those affected. This reinforces the notion that disability is a depersonalised problem that always needs external solutions.