Please check, just in case…

1. Please check, just in case…

2. How disability gets constructed: The power of language & the media Readings: Peter (2000) and Haller, Dorries, & Rahn (2006)

3. Quick questions or quandaries?

4. Announcements: • Watch "There's Something About Mary" by class next week. • Your film review is due in two weeks. Don't delay in getting startd! • I strongly recommend that you watch and discuss your film in small groups. However, the paper must be INDIVIDUALLY written.

5. APA Tip of the Day: Format of citation for quotes • You start AND end the quote with quotation marks. • You MUST include the authors’ last names, year of publication, and page number for all quotes – the author and year must go together, but the page number can be apart. • The page number must be in parentheses and either directly before or after the quote. • The wording of the quote must be EXACTLY as written in the original – you may not change tense or other grammatical conventions to better fit your sentence structure.

6. Examples • According to Gomez (2010) “ blah, blah and more blah” (p. 27). • According to Gomez (2010, p. 27) “ blah, blah and more blah.” • Some argue that “blah, blah and more blah” (Gomez, 2010, p. 27).

7. Where’s Trig? Presenters: Julia Scherba de Valenzuela, Ph.D. Susan Copeland, Ph.D. Associate Professors, Special Education University of New Mexico An analysis of the use of disability in the 2008 Presidential campaign

8. Purpose: To analyze the social construction of disability in the 2008 Presidential campaign, through a wide range of traditional and non-traditional media.

9. Type of study • Qualitative (thematic analysis) • Theoretical framework: Social construction of disability The “biological fact [of disability] cannot be meaningfully understood outside the contexts, relationships, institutions, or situations that define and shape the meaning of disability.” (Jones, 1996).

10. Research Questions: • How were references to Trig Palin used to construct different perspectives on disability? • How were references to Trig Palin used to construct different perspectives on Gov. Sarah Palin?

11. Importance • Focus not only on the construction of individuals with disability, but also on how disability is used to construct individuals without disability.

12. Our positionality • Family members with disabilities. • Deep feelings about the impact of negative stereotypes on the treatment of family members with disabilities. • Professional stance on a variety of issues related to this research (e.g. education, social services).

13. Data Collection: • Convenience sample (probable N = ~716,000, n = 192) • Elicited recommendations • Snowball technique • Deliberate search for variety: • Political perspectives • Personal vs. “professional” • Local vs. national • Print and on-line • Media formats

14. Media Formats: • Extended written text (e.g. newspapers, blogs) • Photos • Audio • Video • Non-traditional text (e.g. merchandise)

15. Media type Online (y/n) Information on publication source Description of content or context Relevant quotes Explicitly pro or con Palin Disability themes Palin themes Predetermined and emerging coding categories FileMaker Pro 9

16. Setting the stage…

17. Master status – “other”. Unable to advocate for self – must be advocated for by family or others. Requires extraordinary care, burden. Baby (forever child), innocent, gift from God. Disability themes • Damaged: • Illness • Disease • Affliction • Unwanted, frequently aborted. • Different: • Special • Anomaly • Unique • Loved, part of the family vs.

18. Results: Master status “a label, that once attached to an individual, becomes the central focus of how others relate to that individual. It is a stigma that tells the world you do not measure up; your identity is spoiled (Goffman, 1963).” (Bogdan, 1980, p. 77)

19. Results: Master status “She gave birth to Trig, a baby with Down syndrome, nearly eight hours later” (Newsweek, 9/15/08, p. 34). “…Sarah Palin reveals more about the birth of her Down syndrome son Trig” (http://www.lifenews.com/nat4278.html, 9/6/08) “…Sarah Palin's five-month-old baby, Trig, who has Down syndrome…” (The New Yorker, 9/22/2008, p. 70).

20. Results: Unable to advocate for self "would"

21. Results: Requires extraordinary care, burden “While they certainly deserve consideration for the suffering they will endure as parents of a handicapped child...” (MacArthur, J. R., http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_rick17_09-17-08_USBIOHS_v9.1a5a2f5.html)

22. Results: Baby (forever child), innocent, gift from God “Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives.” (Palin family statement, Anchorage Daily News, 4/18/08)

23. Results: Baby (forever child), innocent, gift from God

24. Results: Different (“special”)

25. Results: Damaged “Palin and newborn Trig, afflicted with Down syndrome” (Caption for USWeekly cover photo, 9/5/08). “Down syndrome patients” (http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/09/trig-palin-and-his-witness-to.html, 09/10/2008) “…her 4-month-old son Trig, who suffers from Down syndrome” (The Globe, 9/29/08, p. 4).

26. Results: Unwanted, often aborted

27. Results: Loved and part of the family

28. Palin themes: Fit or un-fit to be VP: FIT: • “One of us” • Advocate • Supermom • Moral character: • Pro-life • Traditional family values • Loves a damaged child. UNFIT: • Unaware of realities • Not an advocate • Shirking responsibility • Using disability as a political tool.

29. Palin fit: “One of us” “Mom” Family challenges Understands our struggles

30. Palin fit: “One of us” “John McCain's running-mate is a special needs mother. She knows how important our health and life needs can be” (http://bumperstickers.cafepress.com/item/palin-special-needs-moms-sticker-oval/303020840). “I went to a Palin rally in Carson a couple of weeks ago and proudly brought my 3 year old DS son BECAUSE Sarah and I share a bond. I couldn't help but notice that everywhere I looked, parents had brought out their DS sons and daughters in droves. I think parents like us love to feel like we're not alone.” (Audience response, http://images.huffingtonpost.com, 10/21/08)

31. Palin fit: “One of us”

32. Palin un-fit: Unaware of realities “Tonight, John McCain told us that Governor Palin ‘knows more about autism than any other American I know.’ Perhaps he should get out more.” (Grillo, J., http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-grillo/my-autistic-son-is-not-a_b_135421.html)

33. Palin fit: Advocate “To the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you. For years, you’ve sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters and I pledge to you that, if we’re elected, you will have a friend, an advocate, in the White House.” (Gov. Sarah Palin, ).

34. Palin fit: Advocate

35. Palin unfit: Not an advocate “Palin's record as governor of Alaska is decidedly uneven when it comes to special needs children - and her advocacy, nonexistent. Her policy outline as formulated in Pennsylvania is both hollow and disingenuous.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/28/EDE213PJQG.DTL

36. Palin unfit: Not an advocate

37. Palin fit: Supermom “She [Palin] calls herself a 'hockey mom' and manages to juggle the lives of her five children (the last, born with Down syndrome, is less than 5 months old) while running the state of Alaska and routinely angering the powers that be” (Newsweek, 8/29/08, p. 29).

38. Palin fit: Supermom

39. Palin fit: Supermom Photo scanned from Time magazine, 09/16/08

40. Palin fit: Supermom Went right back to work and was signing bills, baby in arms.

41. Palin fit: Supermom Can give a stump speech and still fulfill her motherly duties.

42. Palin unfit: Shirking responsibilities “For starters she has an infant with Down syndrome. What family-oriented mother would willingly choose the demanding and extremely busy life of vice president when faced with the needs of her own child?” (Shaffer, R. E., & Coombs, W. P., http://www.appeal-democrat/common/printer/view.php?db=marysiville&id=68980) “As Trig grows older, it's going to be a full time job, for both parents, to care for a Down's Syndrome kid. Frankly, if Palin wants what's best for Trig she should have turned down the VP nominations.” (Audience response, http://images.huffingtonpost.com, 10/21/08)

43. Palin fit: Moral character/Pro-life "She [Palin] stands by her boy, who is a witness that no matter what the culture of death says, there is no such thing as life unworthy of life.“ (Dreher, http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/08/more-palin-love.html)

44. Palin fit: Moral character/Pro-life

45. Palin fit: Moral character/Pro-life & loving a damaged child “Challenging circumstances now also have made her a shining example of personal pro-life convictions” (World Net Daily, 5/20/08, para. 1). “Keeping a Down-syndrome baby or refusing preferential treatment in prisoner-of-war conditions is a measure of character” (letter to the editor, Time magazine, 9/22/08, p. 15).

46. Palin fit: Moral character/Traditional family values Everyone helps out: Willow

47. Palin fit: Moral character/Traditional family values Everyone helps out: Piper

48. Palin fit: Moral character/Traditional family values Everyone helps out: Bristol, with help from fiancée

49. Palin fit: Moral character/Traditional family values Everyone helps out:Dad (Mr. Mom)

50. Palin unfit: Using disability as a political tool “I completely believe that she uses this poor kid in a shameless attempt to propel her own political career.” (Audience response, http://images.huffingtonpost.com, 10/21/08) “Why should I cast a ballot for a candidate who is so desperate for my support that she’s willing to exploit her unlucky offspring as a campaign prop?” (MacArthur, http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_rick17_09-17-08_USBIOHS_v9.1a5a2f5.html)