LSE disability identity conference

1. LSE disability identity conference disability is rarely celebrated as an aspect of diversity and stereotyping is common impairment and disability are not automatic bedfellows

2. The Equality Act 2010 ‘framework for a fairer future' recognises multiple identity including dual characteristics includes discrimination by association and perception streamlines legislation protected characteristics-race, gender disability, age, sexual orientation, religion and belief, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership

4. majority world 600 million people disabled globally (1 in 10) 80% located in majority world countries mainly living below the poverty line conflict and poverty are major causes –(UNESCO) please refer to Emily Freeman’s slides in the pack

9. UN convention (article 1) to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity

19. 'dominant groups in society reduce minority culture to discourse of the other' (Peeters 2000:588) 'the expression 'special needs' puts together two of the terms most commonly used in patronising euphemisms. Special segregates' (Valentine 2002:220)

32. Time to Change http://time-to-change.org.uk/ Erik Baurdoux e.j.baurdoux@lse.ac.uk Lecturer in Statistics, LSE

33. A social movement for mental health: individual support • 50,000 + Facebook fans • 25,000 + supporters on our database • 14,000 + pledges • Celebrity supporters: Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax, Ulrika Jonsson, Alastair Campbell, Fiona Philips, Frank Bruno, Patsy Palmer… • I got involved last year “Don’t get me wrong” video on youtube, radio, newspaper etc.

34. 2010: Introducing you to your prejudice Getting people to recognise their part in the problem

35. Thank you e.j.baurdoux@lse.ac.uk http://time-to-change.org.uk/

37. Invisible / Visible Disability Erin Pritchard, Newcastle University

38. Disability and Stereotypes • Jade: … I had wheelchair user tell me off once for using a disabled toilet, because I wasn't in a wheelchair. I explained how I couldn't reach the sink, the lock, the dryer or see the mirror. She still didn't think that they were also for us, because that symbol seems to say that it is specifically for them. There are four groups of disabled people in this country, one you've got some sort of very obvious facial or physical impairment such as a limb missing. Then there are the people with learning disabilities, then the ones with sensory impairments and then the wheelchair users. We don't fit into any of those so we are not really disabled, yet we have the same barriers and attitudes but probably a bit worse in some ways...Yet, we are not considered disabled by the disabled community and by the wider community. It's not a case of degrees of disability and who is more disabled than others but people just don't get where we fit in.

39. Social Model • The social model does not deny the problem of disability but locates it squarely within society. It is not individual limitations, of whatever kind, which are the cause of the problem but society’s failure to provide appropriate services and adequately ensure the needs of disabled people are fully taken into account in its social organisation. (Oliver, 1996, p. 32)

40. Psycho-emotional Disability • Psycho-emotional dimensions of disabilism refer to barriers which affect who people can be; for example dealing with the thoughtless comments and stares of strangers which can leave people with impairments feeling psychologically and emotionally undermined (Reeve, 2006)

41. Dwarfism and misrepresentations • Dwarf humour is historically common with origins in the circus and is still evident in contemporary comedy in a way that racist humour probably isn’t (Martin, 2010).

42. Identifying themselves as disabled • Self-identity arises from social interaction with others – how we see ourselves is affected by how others perceive and react to us (Reeve 2006). • The ways in which people with impairments see themselves as disabled or not is affected by interactions with other people (ibid).

43. The Normal Body • ‘…the most spectacular form of visual novelty that can prompt stares are breaches of the common human scale and shape.’ (Garland-Thomson 2009: 161)

44. Conclusion • Dwarfs experience both physical and social barriers which disable them • Society needs to be more aware of the various disabilities that exist

45. References • Deal, M. (2003) Disabled people’s attitudes towards other impairment groups: a hierarchy of impairments Disability and Society 18 (7) 897-910 • Garland-Thomson, R. (2009) Staring, Oxford University Press • Grosz, E.(1991) Freaks Social Semiotics 1 (2) 22-38 • Imrie, R. (1996) Disability and the City Salisbury: The Baskerville Press • Kruse, R. (2002) Social spaces of little people: the experiences of the Jamisons, Social and Cultural Geography 3 (2) 175-191 • Kruse, R. (2003) Narrating Intersections of gender and dwarfism in everyday spaces The Canadian Geographer 47 (4) 494-508 • Martin, N. (2010) A preliminary study of some broad disability related themes within the Edinburgh fringe festival Disability and Society 25 (5) 530-540 • Oliver, M. (1996) Understanding disability: from theory to practice Basingstoke, Palgrave Press • Reeve, D. (2006) '‘Am I a real disabled person or someone with a dodgy arm?’: A discussion of psycho-emotional disablism and its contribution to identity constructions', paper presented at Disability Studies: Research and Learning, Lancaster University, 18-20 September. • Shakespeare, T., Wright, M. and Thompson, S. (2007) A Small Matter of Equality: Living with Restricted Growth. Newcastle University

46. The Holist Manifesto Challenging the social construction of specific learning ‘difficulties’

47. Paradox On the one hand, we are: humiliated, categorised, mislabelled, psychologised, patronised, invalidated, bullied, medicated, outcast and imprisoned Disabled On the other hand: Expertise: science, sport, ICT, mathematics, leadership, comedy, acting, creative arts and architecture

48. Paradigm shift laterality meaning

49. ‘Working Memory Difficulties’ “I have a terrible memory- ….I get upstairs and can’t remember what I’m here for…” ….I can’t remember names, it’s embarrassing…” ….I can’t remember my pin number, it’s so annoying….”

50. The Myth of ‘Working Memory Difficulties’ Information can be processed Sequentially or Holistically requires Working memory Imagination