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Minority Stress10/25/2021 This week, we’re talking about disability-related minority stress and highlighting the disabled academics advancing this area of research. What is minority stress? Minority stress is defined as chronic stress experienced by members of stigmatized minority groups due to marginalization, objectification, discrimination, and internalized stigma among others. Minority stress has been linked to both mental and physical health disparities, including hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, substance abuse, depression, suicidality, and adverse birth outcomes. Given the history of minority stress theories, research to date has predominantly focused on minority stress experienced by racial and ethnic minorities and gender and sexual minorities. Recent work led by disabled researchers Dr. Monique Botha, Dr. Richard Keller, and Dr. Kristin Conover has advanced our understanding of disability-related minority stress. In 2020, Dr. Monique Botha and colleagues explored the utility of the minority stress model for understanding autistic individuals' experiences with mental health. Dr. Botha and colleagues found that internal and external stressors, including discrimination, internalized stigma, and concealment, predicted higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of wellbeing, regardless of exposure to general stressful life events. Full Article: Extending the Minority Stress Model to Understand Mental Health Problems Experienced by the Autistic Population Article Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2156869318804297 In 2010, Dr. Richard Keller and Dr. Corinne Galgay published their qualitative study on microaggressive experiences of disabled people. To explore the nature of disability microaggressions and their consequences, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with a small group of people with disabilities. From the interviews, they outlined eight main domains in their taxonomy of microaggressions (denial of identity, denial of privacy, helplessness, secondary gain, spread effect, patronization, second-class citizenship, desexualization) and two auxiliary domains (exoticization and spiritual intervention). Full Article: Microaggressive experiences of people with disabilities Article Link: http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-12742-011 Building on the work of Drs. Keller and Galgay, Dr. Kristin Conover and colleagues developed a measure, the Ableist Microaggressions Scale, to assess external stressors that contribute to minority stress. Their three-study research project established that four related, but distinct, factors contribute to experiences of disability-specific microaggressions: Helplessness, Minimization, Denial of Personhood, and Otherization. Full Article: Development and validation of the Ableist Microaggressions Scale Article Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011000017715317 The formative research studies led by Drs. Botha, Keller, and Conover have numerous implications for future research and policy, as well as in the training and practice of health providers. When we think of minority stress most may think of this in relation to being Black, Latinx, or any person of color in a society driven by white privilege. Disability-related minority stress does not exist in isolation of other minority stressors, but it compounds them and creates space where it feels like being othered within minority groups that have had to be strong to survive. The associations of weakness and disability bring about a certain taboo within minority groups where disability may be seen more like a crisis in faith. Being proud to be disabled and proud to be Black, for example, could be seen as an oxymoron. Yet, it can and does exist. When Dr. Moya Bailey and Dr. Izetta Mobley wrote their work on the Black Feminist Disability framework, this also speaks to three different forms of minority stress that can all exist together at the same time. This framework calls “scholars of African American and Black Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Disability Studies to have a flexible and useful methodology through which to consider the historical, social, cultural, political, and economic reverberations of disability.” This work extends beyond the audience of scholars, but to each of us who work through the minority stress and the fears of being othered to understand “What does Disability mean to me as a Black woman?”
Bailey and Mobley synthesize the critical nature of the establishment of the ADA and intersectionality in this way “Both Crenshaw’s articulation of intersectionality and the signing of ADA serve as pivotal interventions that illuminate the oppressive structures that impact women of color and disabled people, respectively. Crenshaw noted the interplay between race and gender in violence against Black women; we take up intersectionality to argue that a single-issue approach to disability fosters the same pitfalls. Our intervention requires intersectionality to explicitly attend to disability. It is our contention that racism, sexism, and ableism share a eugenic impulse that needs to be uncovered and felled.” To exist as a Black Disabled woman, many of us are still viewed in light of the “myth suggests that Black women are uniquely strong, able to endure pain, and surmount otherwise difficult obstacles because of their innate tenacity. Black women are disallowed disability and their survival is depoliticized.” This is a part of the catalyst of minority stress at the intersection of blackness and being a woman. You can read more about the Black feminist disability framework here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0891243218801523 Minority stress can look like something different at each intersection, but it is important to note however we identify, whether it is Black, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, Disabled or anything else, that there is nothing inherently stressful about being any of those things. Fundamental attribution error is a term used by social psychologists to describe the cognitive bias of assuming that a person's actions and/or situation in life depend on what "kind" of person that person is rather than on the social and environmental forces that influence the person. Fundamental attribution error is clear in popular use of the term “disabilty,” as people born in bodies that are “different” than the majority are inherently disabled. Rather, society literally disables people who are "different" than the characteristics of the power majority. It is critical to talk about "disabled" as a verb and act of violence by the ableist majority. This distinction is SUPER important in mental health treatment because we realistically will not be able to convince the majority with any ease that they need to see their existence differently. So having the right language to make sense of the reality of our experiences is a powerful way to reduce stress and healing—as we change the world. The minority stress can even come from within the disability community itself, it is harder in a way to move through disability advocacy spaces dominated by white disability advocates. #DisabilityTooWhite is critical to how we conceive of the intersectionality of not only feeling othered as a Disabled person of color by an ableist majority, but also by those in the disability community. Health inequity will impact the lives of Disabled people of color more than white disabled people. We thank Jade for talking about how most service dog handlers are white and the inequities that exist in service dog handlers.
Acceptance of disability being dynamic, visible, invisible, mental and/or physical, but all are valid in the Disability community. Acceptance also speaks to taking steps to dismantle our internalized ableism and everything that our cultures have told us or have led us to believe about disability. If you have a mental or physical disability, you deserve to have the accommodations you need in the classroom to help you thrive. You have the right to call yourself disabled as disability exists on a spectrum whether you are formally diagnosed or not.
Compassion as a disability identity can seem out of place at first with marginalized identities, but you can be proud of all that you are. Disability doesn’t equal weakness and disability pride is real. #MyDisabilityMadeMeGoodAt is a powerful hashtag where many of us through out #DisabilityTwitter talk about the good things that their disabilities have taught them. ADHD can make a person good at being creative. Fibromyalgia can help a person by not pushing themselves too much and signaling when they have. Community like #DisabilityTwitter, @BlackDisability, etc when medical racism and trauma happens that you are never alone. Being a person of color in a medical setting does make each of us more vulnerable to medical trauma and racism, but it can be easier to manage emotionally to know that you have a community. A community is also great for when you are newly diagnosed with #ADHD for example since late diagnosis is so prevalent as people of color, but if you ask for advice and tag #AskADHD so many people will reply and interact to help you. Health inequities exist and in community, we can help each other thrive. Empathy for those who are just beginning a disability journey and helping each other to come to a place of peace in the midst of disability. It is also important to understand that being disabled does not mean you cannot be an ally, each of us can be an ally to a community that we are not a part of. Those who are sighted as allies to those who are not sighted in our community and each of us who are sighted without communication based disabilities should be adding alt text to not exclude anyone from this community. White disabled people are allies to Disabled people of color as our experiences can be so different and there could be a different version of privilege or power that a white disability advocate may have to help out marginalized disability communities. Streamlining because we may be able to do everything, but for our health we don’t have to do everything. Being #InvisibleDisabilitiesWeek, it is important to know that we don’t have to act nondisabled just because that is what is seen on the outside. Being #DEHEM21, we don’t have to compromise our #AcademicMentalHealth to meet norms set by academia that never respected health needs. It is okay to have days where you are more productive and days where you are less productive. Be kind to yourself as barriers in society may not often be kind to us existing as disabled people. Safety because it is critical to find safe places to rest, safe friends to talk to that understand disability, safe allies who will help support you in bad times, safe medical providers that you can trust and safety within yourself to let your disability stop you when it is needed. Minority stressors can make it hard to feel safe in your life especially when disability compounds with being a person of color. We each can create safe spaces for ourselves to thrive.
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Tackle Your Ableism10/20/2021 Hello to our allies in the community! You may be wondering how you can participate in #DEHEM21 and support disabled students, staff, faculty, colleagues, and individuals in the community. One thing you can do is unlearn & tackle your ableism. Ableism is the discrimination & social prejudice against disabled people. Everyone can experience ableism, but it is most prevalent for disabled individuals. It can be both explicit or implicit. What can you do to tackle your ableism? Here are some Don’ts for Disability as an Ally: 1) Don’t use disability as a punchline or to mock people with disabilities. Often, people use disability in jokes or use ableist language to describe others. This language harms disabled people & the disabled experience. 2) Don’t ask disabled people invasive questions about their medical history or personal life. People often assume they can ask whatever they like, but no one has a right to know anyone’s medical history or have access to their personal life. 3) Don’t talk to disabled people like they are children or speak for them. Often, people presume that disabled people are incompetent to express their own needs. This isn’t true. It often leads to the neglect of what a person’s needs are. 4) Don’t assume that if you can’t see someone’s disability, then that person must not be disabled. Visible disabilities are only one type of disability, and invisible disabilities make up a large majority. Disabled people are diverse and dynamic! 5) Don’t frame disability as a tragedy. Don’t assume that our quality of life is less just because we have a disability. While it is difficult to be disabled, disabled people also have fantastic lives & accomplish many things. 6) Don’t frame disability as an inspiration. This is often how the media portrays disability, and it is called inspiration porn. This is harmful as it portrays disability as something deserving of pity & objectifies disabled people to the benefit of nondisabled people. Inspiration porn can seem well intentioned, but it can also be very exploitative, dehumanizing & make assumptions about how disabled people live or what disabled people think or feel. This perpetuates stereotypes of what disability is and what disabled people are capable of. 7) Don’t refuse to give disabled people the accommodations they deserve. Accommodations provide disabled people access to the same world you have access to. They are a necessary part of the inclusion of disabled individuals. Refusing them is to deny access to disabled people. 8) Don’t assume that if you know one person’s disability, you know every other person’s disability. Disabled people are diverse and each person’s needs and abilities are different. 9) Don’t assume disability is static. What one disabled person needs one day can be different the next. It can change even within hours & can vary across time. Disability is dynamic! Here are some Do’s for Disability as an Ally: 1) Do understand what ableist language is & why it is harmful. This website provides some background & substitutes for ableism language [link] https://www.autistichoya.com/p/ableist-words-and-terms-to-avoid.html. Understand the language preferences of disabled people around you. Most disabled people have language preferences for how they describe their disability (e.g. person-first vs. identity first). Ask individuals what language they prefer, and stick to that. It is always best to ask! 2) Do ask disabled people about their needs and accommodations, if appropriate. Often, we may need accommodations & accessibility is not considered by others in our environment. 3) Do talk directly to disabled people when they are present. Disabled individuals are experts in their own lives and in their own needs. Be respectful & treat them as valuable members of the community! 4) Do understand that disabilities come in all forms & from all backgrounds. Disability affects so many different people in different ways. People may be physically disabled and/or they can be invisibly disabled, or both! 5) Do understand that disability is dynamic. Disability can be temporary or life-long. It can be visible or invisible, or somewhere in the middle. Presentation & needs can change on a daily or hourly basis. Understand that disability is not a monolith & is very diverse! 6) Do consider accessibility in everything that you do. By considering accessibility from the get-go, you can ensure disabled people have access to the community & other environments. Think about whether your university, lab, and community are accessible to disabled people. Likely, you will find that many environments are not readily accessible to disabled people. Start thinking about how you can improve the environments around you to be more accessible & inclusive to disabled people. Understand frameworks such as universal design and how to implement them to ensure an accessible environment. Hire disabled people as consultants for events or in other planning. Make sure that there is an office or forum for an event that can take accessibility requests. Make sure these things are well advertised so that people know where to go to request accessibility. On the internet, make sure your images have alt-text or image descriptions, use camel case in hashtags (#DisabledInSTEM), & use captions on videos. You have privilege as an ally. Use that privilege to help make accessible spaces for your disabled friends/colleagues! 7) Do make sure you are providing the accommodations disabled people need and believe disabled people about their needs. Again, disabled people are experts on their own lives & needs. You may not understand every need, but do respect them. 8) Do listen to us! Being a good ally to disabled people means being able to listen and not speak for us. Do not come into conversations with disabled people with assumptions. Listen and you will learn how to best support us! 9) Do remember that you are not our savior. Disabled individuals are full individuals just like anyone else. We deserve to be seen as valuable members of any environment we are in. Remember that disabled people have unique perspectives to bring to the table. 10) Do listen to the disabled community on issues affecting them. Here are some great Twitter accounts to follow: @DisVisibility, @AAPD, @BlackDisability, @HabenGirma, @Imani_Barbarin, @sampson_dog, @the_tweedy, @bennessb, @DisabledAcadem. We welcome allies into the community. They are vital to our mission of dismantling ableism & other forms of systemic oppression.But, it is important that disabled people have agency over their own lives and stories as well as be seen as valuable members of the community! These are only some things that allies can do to tackle their ableism. Does anyone else have anything else to add for allies who want to unlearn their ableism? Here are some more resources for allies on ableism & supporting the disability community:
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Disability 10110/20/2021 As we launch Disabled Empowerment in Higher Education Month, it's important to talk about what disability means, how it is defined and discussed, and the basics people need to know. This thread will kick off #DEHEM21 by serving as “Disability 101”
What is disability? There is no easy answer to this question. It depends on what model you are using. The CDC defines disability as “any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world (participation restrictions)” This CDC definition of disability is consistent with the medical model of disability, which is one way of conceptualizing what it means to be disabled in society. The medical model of disability defines disability by what a disabled person lacks in physical and productive ability. We can see this reflected in the term “impairment” in the CDC definition. As a result, the medical model of disability conceptualizes the challenges faced by disabled people in society as a product of the disabled person’s reduced ability. For example, in the medical model, the issue is that a wheelchair user is not able to walk up the steps to a building, or that a blind person can not see a restaurant menu to read it. For these reasons, and more, many disabled people prefer the social model of disability. The social model of disability conceptualizes disability as the barriers disabled people face, because society is not accessibly designed. Under the social model of disability, the issue is not that the wheelchair user can not walk up the steps, but that there is no ramp or elevator to allow them access to the building. Using the social model allows us to remove the stigma from disability, and focus our effort on addressing societal barriers to access and equity for disabled people. An example of the social model of disability many allies are likely familiar with is the use of corrective eyewear, like glasses and contacts. Many people require glasses and contacts to perform everyday tasks like reading, writing, driving, and more. However, we as a society do not consider needing glasses a disability, because we have provided people who need glasses a societal accommodation. Glasses are widely available, affordable in comparison to many aspects of health care, and importantly, are largely no longer stigmatized in our society. With this appropriate accommodation, those who need glasses can participate in all aspects of our society in the exact same way as people with natural 20/20 vision. Because society often views disability through the lens of the medical model, many people often view disability as something to be seperated from personal identity, because disabilities are seen as bad, shameful, or somehow a “wrong” way of being human. This attitude towards disability as something to be corrected, rather than a part of a person's identity, can be seen in the way society expects us to overcome disabilities instead of making things accessible. An all too common example of this is inspiration porn. In considering the way we think about disability, and what it means to be disabled, it's also important to address the way we talk about disability. Disabled In Higher Ed (and DEHEM) use identity-first language, also terms disability-first language in some countries, because we view disability as a personal identity. Disability is a part of our personal identity, like any other identity. In the same way members of our team are women, and bisexual, and non-binary, and Black, we are all also disabled. We respect the right of every disabled person to identify in the way they feel most comfortable, and some disabled people do prefer person-first language. You should ask a person’s preference and/or notice how they refer to themselves. Person first language is the act of asserting personhood before condition or diagnosis. For example saying “a person with autism” rather than the identity first alternative “an autistic person.” The use of person-first language as the default among non-disabled people can perpetuate the idea that disability is something separate from the personhood of disable people by implying that a reminder of our humanity is necessary. Disabled in Higher Ed do not accept disability euphemisms from non-disabled people (e.g.) differently abled, etc… Many disabled people face ableism, which is defined as prejudice or discrimination against disabled people based on the idea that disability is a diminished state of being human. Ableism can take many forms, from assumptions and stereotypes, to policies and procedures, to the physical environments in which we live and work. The goal of #DEHEM21 is to bring attention to the institutional and interpersonal ableism faced by disabled people at all levels of higher education, and to work to address these systemic barriers for a more equitable academy Join us for our month of programming as we explore these themes through four core lenses: Intersectionality & Disability Identity, Accessibility & Allyship, Mental Illness & Minority Stress, and Marginalization & Accommodations. References
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Welcome to our Blog9/25/2021 Welcome to the Disabled in Higher Ed blog! Here, we want to share stories, both anonymously and named, of disabled people's experiences in higher education and academia (at any level). We welcome any story people would like to share - good, bad, neutral or a mix of all. You can chose to work with our editors or we can post your story as you wrote it (with added content warnings, if needed). It's up to you! With this blog, we hope to spread some awareness of the barriers and ableism that exist in higher education, and (hopefully) some of the good experiences and triumphs people have had. Thank you for reading this and if you'd have any questions feel free to get in touch with us via our contact form! The Disabled in Higher Ed Team If you'd like to share an anonymous story please fill out this google form. If you'd like to share a named story, please fill out this google form. Categories |