disability studies

Once Upon An Ivory Castle

unsureunderwaterobot3 Comments

I have written and rewritten the first sentence of this course journey narrative a dozen times. I think I will just tell it like a chronological tale.  

Once upon an ivory castle, there was an English class. The class was bountiful in credits and aligned beautifully with my schedule, so alas, I registered. To my pleasant surprise, the class was all things activism—a passion that runs rampant through my veins. The class began unlike many, recognizing positionality and introducing ourselves on an interpersonal level. Already, the professor was breaking the fourth wall and making space to include students of all diverse backgrounds.  

The first day of class a rush of nerves spiraled in my stomach and up my spine. It was my first class meeting in person in two years. The classroom was dark, a basement cellar of sorts, but we recreated the space into something much more vibrant. The vibrancy of this space was cultivated through the words we shared.  

“Disability studies,” a subject I was barely acquainted with. Before the start of the quarter, I understood the social model of disability, but did not have the language to articulate it. I understood the dangers of pity and inspirationPorn, but I was unaware of the proper language and the more philosophical/rhetorical influences of disability studies. I was ignorant of the nuance of disability studies. I did not have exposure to many anecdotal experiences of folks with diverse disabilities. I did not know about the exact legislation regarding disability rights. I had minimal knowledge regarding Kiarotic spaces, crip space/time, Metis, or other intersections of disability and rhetoric. Before this class, I had a loose understanding of disability studies, now, eleven weeks later, I feel more well-rounded and have the language and understanding to ask more questions moving forward.  

In the first weeks of class I felt hesitant to give my perspective on disability-oriented topics. I felt comfortable expanding on the greater hierarchal structures and connecting the topics in class to ideas I understood, but I did not want to mis-speak. As the quarter went on, I grew more confident expressing my questions and ideas surrounding the subject.  

Several aspects played a role in becoming more comfortable in class, the key player was gaining knowledge. I gained the proper terms and understanding to participate courageously. Additionally, the dynamic environment aligned with the way my brain functions. The class was flexible in a way that allowed for fluidity. There were no wrong answers, just concepts to be further discussed. I felt comforted by the nonacademic aspects of the class, I learn best visually and through storytelling; our word maps and nonfiction readings/viewings provided an ideal learning environment.  

Overall I came a long way in this class. It was structured in a way that I was able to stay (mostly, with the exception of  sick days) engaged in the content. I know everyone has a different learning style, but if I could learn all subjects through this pedagogy, I would have a much more successful college experience.  

Interplay: Or My Evolving Understandings of Dependency, Access, and Accommodation in the Context of ENG 401 and Disability Studies.

Clover3 Comments

A) My current understanding of disability studies: The completion of this Composite Essay has brought me to consider what I know at this time about disability studies, based on my three weeks as a student in ENG 401. This far into our course, I understand disability studies to be the academic interpretation of disability, especially in play with society, beginning with the principle that disability exists as a social construct and not a physical condition. A disability may stem from various physical or mental impairments, but those do not inherently make someone disabled. So, disability studies would strive as a cause to re-educate the public through disability awareness, and establish more equitable systems in society for those who are disabled.  Personally, I subscribe to the social model of disability, which proposes that disability arises from social barriers as opposed to physical impairments. I resonated with the model after reading the chapter “Reassigning Meaning” by Simi Linton from Claiming Disability, one of our Week One assigned texts. Something I find particularly relevant to my understanding of disability studies from this chapter is the way Linton regards disability terminologies, which she claims “have been used to arrange people in ways that are socially and economically convenient to the society” (Linton 9-10), and this precedes even their definitions. In my experience, becoming aware that American society is not inherently designed to accommodate disability, at first, carries a charge of blame to it, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where or to whom. While perhaps our lawmakers have work yet to do, I think Linton’s observations illustrate an important point; that disabled people are a minority, and that societies unfortunately trend towards expediency to accommodate the largest number of people with the least resources. So, the minority status of disability is central. I think this helps to get at the definition of disability studies, too, because much of the focus of disability studies is in identifying gaps in accessibility, which helps institutions to avoid oppressing the disabled and lowering their quality of life. On page 12, Linton writes that “a premise of most of the literature in disability studies is that disability is best understood as a marker of identity”, and I like to extend this to disability studies as well, which approaches disability as a highly integrated facet of the self as part of the whole bodymind. So, disability studies, in short, is a sociocultural understanding of disability as a construct, with an emphasis on equity and inclusion and in resistance to the classic, medicalized understanding of disability. Or that’s what I know of the topic so far in this course.

B) What I would like to see more of as the quarter continues: Our class had a discussion last week on what topics we would like to pivot towards as the quarter drags on, and I maintain interest in disability and masking, workplace discrimination, and crip theory. As well, I would appreciate further instruction in rhetoric, because I felt my writing skills get stronger almost immediately after reading the Grant-Davie text. Having the language to articulate someone else’s argument in abstraction from the text has been a massive insight for me. I know that the rhetoric is secondary to the disability studies focus of the course, but it has been what’s stuck with me the most so far. Of course, the three topics below are also things I would like to revisit further into the quarter.

C) Three concepts with significance to me thus far: For the third part of this composite piece, I’ve selected three topics that have been on my mind, and in my journal, recurrently this quarter. I’m going to discuss dependency, access, and accommodation, because I think these topics are similar in a lot of ways, but distinct, and they identify some of the social ‘rubs’ of disability. The topics are highly interconnected in the adult sphere of disabled life: for example, graditations of dependence requiring improved accessibility and accommodation to manage, improving access helping to manage dependency, and accommodations which improve access in society. Social opinion is heavily enforced by these topics, which are often subject to public scrutiny, as there’s usually a democratic process to expanding access/accommodation using public funds. I am interested in the way each topic feeds into the next, and with my interest in theory, have been priority topics for me thus far in the course.

Concept one: Dependency

I’ll start with dependency, which I view as one part of disability that society is not capable of ignoring, and has an obligation not to dismiss. Unfortunately, the responsibilities of providing economic support, additional needed care or technology to those who would require them has poisoned society’s understanding of dependence as anything other than a social problem. Eva Feder Kettay, who authored the chapter “Dependency” from Keywords for Disability Studies, wrote that many scholars of disability acknowledge, contrary to this, that “what undermines the ability of disabled people to flourish is the view that being self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self determining is the norm, and the only desirable state of persons in a liberal society” (Kettay 54). Dependency isn’t a lack of independence; rather a state of recurrent need for assistance in some way. Viewing those who are dependent as a sunk cost invites the incorrect assertions that teaching independence “ultimately saves public expenditures because the provisions sought are less costly” (Kettay 57). Dependency is a relationship which can be managed, and managing dependency allows those needing care to “select and optimize the opportunities that such acknowledgment makes possible”, growing synergistically with those involved in their care to where both parties feel respected and understood (Kettay 58). I wanted to address dependency first because dependency seems to be the line at which society takes issue with disability. As well, society’s understandings of both access and accommodation are both intimately informed by understandings of dependency, and what dependency looks like, and what it allegedly costs to the public.

Concept two: Access

Second to dependency, I believe the concept of access is a helpful foil, and is a topic that has dominated our class discussions this quarter, so is worthy of notice. Chapter three of Keywords for Disability Studies, by Bess Williamson, is all about access. Williamson defines it access in a few ways: as “ the ability to enter into, move about within, and operate the facilities of a site, and is associated with architectural features and technologies, including wheelchair ramps, widened toilet stalls, lever-shaped door-handles, Braille lettering, and closed-caption video”, but also acknowledges the figurative aspect of access, the “set of meanings linked to a more inclusive society with greater opportunities for social and political participation” (Williamson 14). The type of access I had considered over the quarter so far would be access in society; to jobs, resources, experiences, states; so, the first kind Williamson mentions. It’s this kind of access that the disabled are not privy to in whatever regard which sets the field of ableist privilege in society. I agree with Williamson that besides representing a type of social liberty, access and accessibility convey “arguments about rights and opportunities” (Williamson 15). Access is in this way a positive skew on the elimination of opportunities, but must not mandate “overcoming the reality of barriers” (Williamson 17). Access is not achievability, but availability. It’s through examining access that accommodation can be taken, anyhow.

Concept three: Accommodation

As mentioned twice above, I view accommodation is the praxis of access. I would have said walking into this class that accommodation was a goal of disability advocates outright, but today I would say that it is part of a customization process that some disabled people elect for and pursue to achieve better social inclusion. I was surprised that Keywords for Disability Studies’ chapter on accomodation, by Elizabeth F. Emens, only really acknowledges accomodation in institutional terms. Although the term first “gained prominence as a keyword in disability politics and theory through legal discourse” (Emens 18), it has since gone on to describe the set of manipulable parameters an institution can customize to better suit the needs of an employee, student, customer, client, etc. therein. As something that exists between institution and individual, accommodation is an intensely litigated topic, and Emens believes that to some scholars it will “always be too limited a model”,  because it’s “grounded in antidiscrimination principles” from its origins in the courthouse (Emens 20). I think that accommodation is central to disability studies because it exists in the liminal space between exclusion and inclusion, so when accommodations are available there is an additional responsibility that they must be freely and readily given. Part of my own frustration with the institutions who helped to manage my disability when I was young were the inconsistencies in delivering accommodations. To our class, the topic of accommodation is treated almost as an option to rectify the exclusion of societies which are ableist by design, and has so been a third and final focus of mine this quarter.

Conclusions:

I chose to discuss dependency, access, and accommodation because of how connected they are to each other, and to public conceptions of disability in society, one concern of disability studies. As the quarter progresses, I do expect my understanding of these topics to change, and something I would be interested in is revising this essay at the end of the quarter and measuring my academic growth on these topics. I’m grateful for the chance to be in class every day, growing my understanding, and I hope my empathy, but I am by no means a definitive authority on any of these topics. 

Works cited:

Linton, Simi. (1998). Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity. “Reassigning Meaning” pp. 8-17. New York University Press.


Adams, R., Serlin, D., & Serlin, D. (2015). Keywords for Disability Studies (Keywords). Chapters by: Emens, Elizabeth F., Kettay, Eva F., Williamson, Bess. “Accomodation”. “Dependency”. “Access”. New York: NYU Press.

Sexuality, Race, and Community

turtle4 Comments

To me, Disability Studies is a term used to describe the study of disability in terms of social, political, medical, economic, and educational structures. Disability Studies focuses on analyzing and education oneself on what it is to be a part of the disability community and the discrimination, segregation, and marginalization that they receive. Alice Wong writes, “Disability is sociopolitical, cultural, and biological.” (xxii) in the introduction of Disability Visibility. Disability is so much more than that though, as she later writes, “Disability is pain, struggle, brilliance, abundance, and joy.” (xxii). I feel like my definition of Disability Studies has come to a more full understanding over the last few weeks and I hope it will continue to do so.

As we move forward with this class, I hope to address many things. I feel as if I have more questions every time I leave the classroom. When I really think about it, the main things I am interested in are international. How do we compare in our societal and political treatment of the disabled community with other countries? How might we do better on Western Washington University’s campus for our peers who identify as disabled? I would also like to talk about lack of resources for children, like the kids in Gaza who are made disabled as a result of war and do not have access to what they need. I am from Palestine and every day I see and speak about people who have become disabled as a result of war and their fight to survive, now on a different level, as Israel continues to deny them the medical attention and supplies they need to survive. In terms of that, I also wonder about international law. I do know that there is an international law of war that protects the disabled community from targeted violence. Are there other laws like this? How well is this law maintained, especially considering we cannot always physically see or observe another person’s disability?

The first topic that really connected with me was sexuality in terms of Disability Studies. I had not really thought about the sex life and/or sexuality and what that entails for people from the disability community. In society’s eyes, they are undesirable and unwanted, they are not sexual beings. Humans are sexual beings, we crave love and physical affection from those we think highly of, members of the disabled community or human first and therefore have the same urges and experiences that others do, whether society is willing to admit that or not. I really connected with the documentary Sins Invalid because of the message it had. People of all colors, sexuality, creative method, and disability were on a stage taking back what is rightfully theres. They took back their sexuality and tore down the misconceptions that society gives us. The way everyone put their feelings, thoughts, and souls into their art made it feel so vulnerable and so incredibly touching. I want to continue to push past misconceptions created by society, to educate others, and push the boundaries down so that we can have more open discussions about sexuality in our communities, to normalize disability in terms of sexuality and embrace it instead of the ideas that society has put in our heads.

The second topic that I connected with was race. I have spent a lot of this class making connections to my experience as a marginalized person due to my race. I have been able to see similar ways that I, as an Arab, have been discriminated against that is very similar to the discrimination that the disability community faces. Later, we did a reading from Keywords for Disability Studies where I read the chapter on race. I learned about the problems of connecting race and disability and why making these comparisons can be very detrimental for the disability community and their goals. The book says, “The act of correlating race and disability is often fraught with violent and oppressive overtones.” (145). I’ve learned a lot about why I shouldn’t make this comparisons and how detrimental it can be, that these overtones will be assumed about the disability community if we keep making these connections and that can hinder their goal. In the end, I think this society requires deeper understanding of the terms ‘race’ and ‘disability’ in order to be able to compare and contrast without risk of misconceptions. Without creating these definitions, how can we move past these overreaching comparisons that create negative assumptions and make it difficult to work with race and disability in context of each other. Sometimes, we need to start at the basics in order to be able to move forward.

The third topic I took particular interest in was community. As a marginalized person of color living in the United States, I’ve had my fair share of imposter syndrome. I did not feel like I belonged anywhere, no one around me had many shared experiences or understanding for my culture, faith, or race. Throughout this class so far, we have been exposed to this feeling of belonging. Through the documentary, Sins Invalid, and the book, Disability Visibility, we have been able to see the power community holds and how big of a difference it makes to surround yourself with people that can empathize and understand your struggles, pain, and joy. In Disability Visibility it says, “Members of many marginalized groups have this shared experience touchstone, this sense of unexpected and vivid belonging.” (272). I found my community at Western and I remember that overwhelming feeling of belonging, of finding my family. I have come to notice that we do not have many safe spaces for people with disabilities to create communities and find empathy, comfort, and belonging with each other. I want to learn more about how we can create and use these spaces to best help the people within our community. Everyone deserves this feeling of belonging, a community to fall back upon and as a school, as a country, and in this world we need to put more emphasis and effort on creating these safe places for communities to develop and thrive in order to be a happy and productive society.

Works Cited

Adams, Rachel, and Benjamin Reiss. Keywords for Disability Studies. NYU Press, 2015. 

Wong, Alice. Disability Visibility. Crown Books for Young Readers, 2020.