Lecture 2 - Disability 101 + Reading Week 1

What is Disability?

Disability is part of the human condition and almost everyone will be temporarily or permanently impaired at some point in life

(seperated into 2 forms)

2 Forms of Disability

1) Congenital

2) Acquired

Congenital Disability

• present from birth

• before/during pregnancy or birth

Example of Congenital Disability

• down syndrome (happens during conception)

• fetal alcohol syndrome (during pregnancy)

• Cerebral Palsy (lack of oxygen from umbilical cord)

Acquired Disability

• present after birth

Acquired Disability Examples

• blindness / hearing loss

• brain injury

• amputations

Disability as a Global Phenonmenon

• 16% of world population is disabled

• affects women more then men

Why is there growing numbers of disabled people?

• aging population

• chronic health conditions

• natural disasters

• disease outbreaks

• conflicts and war

Barriers for Disabled People?

• cost (caregivers, medicine, treatment)

• Location / Transportation (physical disability makes it inaccessible)

Canadian Survey on Disability

• 27% of Canadians 15 and older have at least one disability

• grows most in young age group of 15-24 and least in seniors

• mental health increases more among people 15-24

• mental health related disabilities increased the most

Table Age Group of 15 - 24

• mental health highest with 68%

• learning second with 46%

• pain last with 34%

Table Age Group of 26 - 64

• pain related highest with 63%

• mental health second with 46%

• flexibility last with 36%

Table Age Group of 65+

• pain related highest with 68%

• mobility second with 63%

• flexibility last with 59%

Overall Disability Facts

• women experience more severe disabilities then men

  • men afraid to come out (stigma) and women healthcare doesn’t have enough info

• likelihood of experiencing multiple disabilities increases with age

Employment Rate of Disabled Canadians

• around 70% of adults with milder disabilities are employed

• around 40% of working adults with severe disability are employed

• over the past few years adults aged 25-64 with disability are employed more because of more flexible working environments (hybrid, from home)

Barriers to Accessibility (when..)

• sidewalks covered in ice/snow

• wait lines

• entrances or exits without automatic doors

• lighting or sound levels (for announcements or alarms in buildings)

• self serve technology

• public washrooms

Disability in Children in Canada

• 16% of kids 14 and under have a disability

• difficulty with learning, remembering, concentrating + emotional and mental health concerns (connect to covid)

• Gender Bias (boys > girls, we specifcally look for adhd in boys

Inverse Relationship

• disability more prevalent in single parent households

• low income = high disability

How We Define Disability

• affects the expectations of people with disability

• how people interact with them

• how teachers teach and include

2 Major Models of Disability

• Medical Model

• Social Model

  • authors emphasize that disability is more complex than just medical and social

Medical Model

• the problem is primarily within the individual

• Disability = medical/individual phenomenon

• results from impairment or abnormality in body structure/function

• disability is viewed as deficiency

• goal is to fix, treat, cure or normalize

• doctors/scientists are the main cognitive authority

Examples in Medical Model

• child who is blind and struggles in basketball

• medical model instructor would give minor accommodation (says here or there) and expects student to adapt to existing activity

2 Critiques of Medical Model

1. Too much power to medical professionals

2. Deficit/Negative View

1) Too much power to medical professionals

• medical professionals can become gatekeepers

• their diagnose limits what services and resources one receives

• overlook what the person actually wants/needs

2) Deficit/Negative View

• disability is associated with being sick/faulty/less capable

• creates negative expectations about what they can accomplish

• ex. cannot compete in competitive sport

Social Model

• society creates disability by creating barriers (disability = social construct)

• Impairment ≠ Disability

• impairment is an abnormality or restriction of body

• disability is a disadvantage created when society fails to accomodate to people

• body is not what prevents participation but social/environment does

Example of Social Model

• student with visual impairment struggles to participate because instructions are visual and equipment is hard to locate

• to fix the instructor would use a rattle ball to be able to hear

• social model asks what barriers are we creating not whats wrong with student

3 Critiques of Social Model

1) Doesn’t fully address impairment

2) Doesn’t fully address intersectionality

3) Institutional Discrimination

1) Doesn’t fully address impairment

model focuses too heavily on society that it overlooks that actual physical / individual experience of impairment

2) Doesn’t fully address intersectionality

• disability does not occur independently from other forms of oppression

• person experience can also involve (racism, sexism, ableism)

• simply changing disability realted barriers is not enough

3) Institutional Discrimination

• some problems are not just individual attitudes and can be built into institutional practices and systems

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

designs activities to reduce barriers from the beginning rather than creating an activity and later having to modify it

UDL Benefits

• greater inclusion

• more access to content

• increased learning

• less frustration

Embodiment Model (from authors)

• consider the individuals lived experience

• medical model focuses too much on medical measurements

• social model focuses too much on society

• Embodiment = body + environment + personal experience

Embodiment Example

• student with visual impairment and the teacher asks what input she may have to help her (placement, modifications, instructions)