Disability Studies Lecture Review

Introduction

• "Ideal" to "Norm" Shift: The concept of the "ideal," once viewed as unattainable, has shifted to the idea of the "norm."
  • Norm Definition: A statistical approach that marginalizes those outside the normal distribution bell curve.
    • Blends physical and moral attributes into a standard.
    • Creates a "normal" versus "abnormal" binary.
  • Average: The idea of "average" was developed through statistics.
  • Eugenics: Striving for a world without "defectives."
    • Disabled people grouped with criminals and the poor.
    • "Scientific" effort to improve human traits via selective breeding.
• Terminology Evolution:
  • "Handicapped" replaced with "person with a disability."
  • Identity-first language is preferred.
  • Reclaimed terms like "crip" by the disabled community.
• Disability in Pop Culture:
  • Often portrayed as villains, pitiable, or superhuman.
  • Rarely shown as ordinary people or played by disabled actors.
  • Critique of "inspiration porn," depicting people as "inspirational" for overcoming adversity.
• History of Disability Activism:
  • Drew inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement.
  • Lack of accessibility led to increased activism.
    • 1970-80s: Protests against government delays in civil rights legislation.
    • 1977: Longest federal building occupation in San Francisco demanding disability rights (504 Sit-in).
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990: Passed after high-profile demonstrations.
    • Capitol Crawl: Disabled activists crawled up Capitol steps to pressure Congress.
    • ADA definition includes impairments limiting major life activities.
  • Legal issues arose when courts excluded correctable conditions from disability classification.
• Impairment vs. Disability:
  • Impairment: Physical, sensory, or mental limitation within an individual.
  • Disability: Societal and environmental barriers preventing participation.

Myths About Disability

• Visibility Myth: Disability is not always visible.
  • Parking lot example: Assuming women in heels/nicely dressed are not disabled, excluding invisible disabilities like chronic pain or illness.
• Tragedy/Burden Myth: Disability is not always a tragedy or burden.
  • Disabled people in media are often pitied or villainized.
• Helplessness Myth: Disabled people are not helpless or dependent.
• Asexuality Myth: Disabled people can be sexually active and romantically involved.

Topic 1: Questions & Answers

• Origin of "Normal":

  • Emerged in the 1830s, tied to industrialization and statistical analysis.
  • Reinforced a binary of normal vs. abnormal.
  • Justified discrimination against disabled people and marginalized groups.

• Eugenics Origins & Relevance:

  • "Scientific" movement advocating selective breeding to improve human traits.
  • Targeted disabled people, racial minorities, and the poor.
  • Justified forced sterilizations and institutionalization.
  • Persists in prenatal genetic testing, influencing abortion decisions for fetuses with disabilities.

• Statistics Discipline:

  • Statistics played a key role in defining "normal" and justifying eugenics.
  • Statistical methods were used to measure and classify bodies.
  • Fields like economics rely on statistical norms to shape policies.
  • Economic models privilege productivity, marginalizing those who don’t fit capitalist labor standards.
  • The concept of the “average” person was weaponized → marginalized those outside the error curve
  • Normal distribution replaced this concept, shifting focus from mere outliers to ranking human traits along a spectrum
  • No longer focused on deviations from the mean, but began to view certain traits as inherently better

• Crip Camp - Accessibility:

  • The 504 Sit-In protest.
  • Government refused to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, requiring federally funded spaces to be accessible.
  • Access meant equal participation in public life.
  • Activists occupied government buildings with support from the Black Panthers and local activists.
  • Judy Heumann's experience with discrimination in school: labeled a "fire hazard" due to inability to walk, forced to take classes in basement special education classrooms despite intellectual ability.

• Crip Camp - Interesting Moment:

  • Many people never dated outside of camp due to social stigmas surrounding the sexuality of people with disabilities.
  • Assumption that woman with CP could not be sexually active.
  • Things difficult for disabled kids (dating, social “coolness,” popularity) became more possible at Camp Jened.
  • Discussion about overprotective able-bodied parents of disabled children.
  • Many disabled people are denied the right to privacy.
  • Balance of dependence on parents while also wanting autonomy.

• Invitation to Dance - Model of Disability:

  • Social Model: Simi Linton’s work critiques how society excludes disabled people.
  • Film discusses lack of accessible polling stations, employment, and public transportation.
  • Simi advocated for accessible taxis in NYC.
  • Disability Studies incorporated dance to make a space reserved for able-bodied people more inclusive.
  • It is not the disabled dancers fault, but society’s fault for excluding certain bodies from dance

• Invitation to Dance - Accessibility (NYC):

  • NYC curb cuts were originally designed for garment workers rolling racks of clothes, not disabled people.
  • City prioritized economic efficiency over disability access.
  • Accessibility is seen as an afterthought, not a fundamental right.
  • At a Disney experience, using a ramp restricted Simi’s view of the architecture that is a valued part of the experience
  • Accessibility should not just accommodate basic needs, but allow disabled people to enjoy the same luxuries as able-bodied people (artistic enjoyment)

Definitions & Research: Models of Disability

• Social Model:
  • Views disability as a result of societal barriers rather than individual impairment.
  • Focuses on removing environmental, institutional, and attitudinal obstacles.
  • Distinguishes between disability and impairment.
  • Requires self-advocacy from disabled people themselves to enact change.
• Medical Model:
  • Defines disability as an individual’s physical or mental impairment.
  • Focuses on diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.
  • Emphasizes the role of healthcare professionals in “fixing” the person.
  • Promotes research by “outsiders” (able-bodied people).
  • Can increase genetic understandings of disability and makes information more accessible
  • Problematic, but can also be scientifically beneficial
• Charity Model:
  • Does not explain the cause of disability.
  • Sees disabled people as objects of pity in need of charity or benevolence → personal tragedy
  • Encourages donations and paternalistic interventions.
• Moral Model:
  • Attributes disability to moral failings, sin, or divine punishment.
  • Historically linked to religious and cultural beliefs → represents a connection with God / higher power
  • Disability in one area can lead to “supernatural” ability in another
• Affirmation Model:
  • Celebrates disability as a positive identity.
  • Promotes pride, self-worth, and community-building among disabled individuals.
• Minority Model:
  • Frames disability as a social and political identity akin to race or gender.
  • Emphasizes discrimination, oppression, and the need for civil protections.
• Cultural Model:
  • Examines disability as a socially constructed concept shaped by cultural narratives.
  • Recognizes the diversity of disabled experiences across different societies.
  • Highlights the role of media, art, and literature in shaping disability representation.
• Relational Model:
  • Disability is an interaction between the individual and their social environment.
  • Recognizes both personal impairments and societal barriers.
• Nagi Model:
  • Distinguishes between impairment (biological condition), functional limitation, and disability (inability to perform social roles).
  • Functional limitations are the restrictions that impairments impose on an individual’s ability to perform the tasks of their roles and “normal daily activities”.
  • Roles are context dependent depending on the society you live in
  • Pathology leads to impairments, which can cause functional limitations and disability in a relative socio-cultural context
• Human Rights Model:
  • Focuses on inherent dignity and societal barriers, not just medical characteristics.
  • Advocates for human dignity as the central value in policy-making.
• Human Development Model:
  • Wellbeing includes the capabilities and functionings individuals value.
  • Emphasizes human flourishing, multidimensional wellbeing, and individual choices.
  • Applies the Capability Approach - wellbeing, human development, agency.
    • The goal of accommodations is to achieve personal agency
  • Human development is multidimensional, not just based on economic output
  • Health is not just determined by genetics, but also social environment.
  • Conversion functions - how you convert resources to capabilities.
    • How you use income to translate into opportunity.
• International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF):
  • Understands disability as any of the three…
    • Body functions and structures (impairments).
    • Activities (limitations) - self care, showering, bathing.
    • Participations (restrictions) - working, socializing, etc…
  • Combination of medical and social model.
• Critique of Individualized Models of Disability (Medical):
  • Reductionism - Focuses on disability as a personal flaw, ignoring social, cultural historical, and economic factors.
  • Impacts of medicalization.
    • Infantilization of disabled people
    • Reinforcement of professional power and societal norms
    • Disability becomes a label of dependence and inability
    • Disabled people framed as helpless and asexual, leading to their exclusion from societal participation
• Social Model Critique:
  • Assumes nothing about disability is inherent but is merely constructed by social barriers.
  • Does not fully address the lived experiences of disabled people (chronic pain, physical discomfort).
  • Perceptions of disabilities change over time.
  • Requires a strong sense of self-advocacy from disabled people themselves to enact social change.
• UK vs. US Social Model:
  • UK Disability Activism rooted in Marxism - Economic and social structures of society contribute to the oppression of disabled people (ableism equated with elitism).
    • Disability is more of a social construct → people with impairments are oppressed, making them disabled
    • Challenged the structural exclusion of people with disabilities
    • Calls out the systemic discrimination of people with disabilities.
  • US Social Model (minority model) - Disabled people are seen as a minority and should be treated as a group of marginalized people.
    • Advocates for anti-discriminatory legislation and disability pride
    • Society devalues and marginalizes disabled people → denied equal rights and membership in society
    • Inspired by the Civil Rights movement
  • Disability Discrimination Act (DDA): UK law that defines a disabled person as having a physical or mental impairment with substantial and long-term adverse effects on day-to-day activities.
• Types of Disability Research:
  • Non-participatory: Researcher-led, traditional academic studies on disability
  • Participatory: Shared knowledge, collaboration between researchers and disabled participants
    • Uses inclusive research practices
  • Emancipatory: Action research, disabled people working with academics to lead research to challenge discrimination
    • Co-produced action
    • Disabled people organizations (DPO) work together with no power imbalance
• Different research approaches:
  • Traditional research often frames questions individually, ex: Instead of asking, “What is wrong with you?”, researchers should ask, “What is wrong with society?”
  • Measuring disablement: Quantitative, policy-focused research assessing exclusion
  • Understanding disablism: Qualitative, critical analysis of societal attitudes and barriers

Topic 2: Questions & Answers

• Capability Approach vs. ICF Model:
  • Capability Approach: emphasizes individuals’ abilities to achieve well-being based on their real opportunities and freedoms
    • Disability is viewed in terms of how impairment affects an individual’s real opportunities for functioning
  • ICF Model (World Health Organization): classifies the different aspects of disability (impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions)
    • Understands how health conditions impact individuals’ functioning in society
    • More medical / functioning perspective
    • Interplay between health conditions and contextual factors
• US/Canada Social Model vs. UK Social Model:
  • UK Disability Activism rooted in Marxism - Economic and social structures of society contribute to the oppression of disabled people (ableism equated with elitism)
    • Disability is more of a social construct → people with impairments are oppressed, making them disabled
    • Challenged the structural exclusion of people with disabilities
    • Calls out the systemic discrimination of people with disabilities
  • US Social Model (minority model) - Disabled people are seen as a minority and should be treated as a group of marginalized people
    • Advocates for anti-discriminatory legislation and disability pride
    • Society devalues and marginalizes disabled people → denied equal rights and membership in society
    • Inspired by the Civil Rights movement
• Definition of Disability: YES, the definition of disability can vary significantly depending on the context and purpose behind the definition

Topic 3: Measures

• Qualitative methodology - interviews, narrative discourses, focus groups

  • Analyze data in a lot of depth → good insights but cannot be generalizable

• Quantitative data - US census bureau, poverty rate

  • Country typically collects data for a national system → population statistics

• How does one measure disability in population based surveys?

  • Assessments by survey staff (trained researchers)

  • Self-reports - ask individuals / household respondents

  • Self-identification: “Do you have a disability?”

    • Problematic because there is no agreed upon definition and some people may be apprehensive to say yes due to stigmas

  • Impairment measures: individuals are queried about impairments that might include blindness, deafness, developmental disability, stammering and stuttering, complete or partial paralysis

    • Reinforces the conception that disability is rare
      • Limited sight does not count as blindness → only captures more extreme ones

  • Health conditions - some surveys ask if respondents have specific health conditions

    • Health conditions may be temporary or chronic, physical or mental, life threatening or not, infectious or non-communicable
    • Some people may not have access to healthcare, which is necessary to receive a proper diagnosis
    • Stigmas associated with some health conditions
      • Instead of asking about diagnoses, they try to develop questionnaires that can diagnose through respondents answers

  • Functional limitations - difficulties experienced with particular bodily functions such as seeing, hearing, speaking

    • Issue of the proxy - proxy may not know the situation of every household member
    • Resources can change the answers people give
      • Ex: someone with glasses may not say they have seeing issues because they have accommodations
    • There is a subjective element

  • Broad activity limitations - lost days of normal activity due to ill-health in the past six months or year

    • Is normal activity limited? (education, work)

    • The question does not go in depth or account for changes in health conditions / school environments / etc…

• ADLs - Activities of Daily Living

  • Basic ADLs - fundamental for functioning and include self-care activities such as feeding oneself, dressing, using the bathroom without help
  • Intermediate ADLs - physically more demanding
  • Complex ADLs
  • ADLs are adapted to different contexts
    • Ex: in NYC you would not ask someone if they could draw a pail of water from a well

• Washington Group on Disability Statistics set of questions has become prevalent → a group of stakeholders within the UN

  • Main point is having questions that can be applicable to multiple countries
  • Questions cover functional limitations in:
    • Seeing
    • Hearing
    • walking/climbing steps
    • Self care
    • concentrating/remembering
    • Communicating
  • Each question has a four point scale (no difficulty, cannot do)
    • Graded answer scale tries to determine severity
  • Asks questions solely in the context of health conditions

• Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)

  • DALYs combine years lost from premature mortality with the loss experienced by living with a disability
    • Expressed as a unit of time
    • Calculated by multiplying years spent living with a disabling condition that results from a particular disease or injury by an associated disability weight
  • Ex: a woman acquires a chronic illness that leads to her living 10 years with a condition that has a disability weight of 0.4 and then dying 10 years prematurely
    • Her loss in health would be 14 DALYs – the sum of the 10 years lost of life and four years lost (10 x .4) from a disabling condition
  • DALYs are an effort to develop data on the consequences of health conditions
    • Primary drive is prevention (medically focused)
    • Inform policy makers – ex: we should spend money on HIV because HIV has high DALYs

• Direct measurements - asks people to report if they are limited in their opportunity or achievements / activities due to an impairment / health condition

  • Ex: how does your environment limit xyz (direct measure of social model)
  • Broad activity questions are difficult to understand why someone may be limited–environmental barriers, health conditions, pain, mental state, etc… (capabilities approach)
  • Direct measurement approach is convenient (1 question that takes little space), but is not always insightful

• Indirect measurement - identifying people with impairments or health conditions, and the subset who are well being deprived

  • Isolating a population that is at risk of having human rights limited
  • Within the group, you determine whether or not that risk came into fruition (do they have jobs, go to school, etc…)

• Calculating Disability Prevalence - Adjusted v. Unadjusted

  • Unadjusted prevalence - a simple count of people with disabilities in a population
  • Adjusted prevalence - accounts for factors like age, sex, and socioeconomic status to provide a more accurate comparison across different populations
    • Some populations naturally have higher unadjusted disability rates due to ages in distribution
  • Example:
    • Country A has an older population → Higher disability prevalence (since disability is more common among older individuals)
    • Country B has a younger population → Lower disability prevalence (fewer disabilities among younger individuals)
    • This doesn’t necessarily mean Country A has more disability overall—it just has more older people
  • Global weighting - ensures that differences in prevalence are due to actual disability rates, not demographic differences
  • Factors impacting disability prevalence - Age, race, and socioeconomic status influence prevalence

Topic 3: Questions & Answers

• DALYs do not align with the WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF), which recognizes the role of social and environmental factors in disability
• Using a model such as Nagi’s:
  • You would expect to have a group of people with health conditions, with a subset of impairment, subset of disability
  • Is this in line with what the data suggests?
  • The data has errors → the boxes are not perfect
  • There are challenges in terms of picking up health conditions or impairments
  • Some people cannot access proper diagnosis
  • Some people can report a role limitation but no properly diagnosed impairment
• Biocertification: the process of certifying disability through legal and medical frameworks
  • Criticisms of biocertification
    • Limited consideration for accessibility in the process of certifying disability
    • Different government / medical entities define disability differently
    • Assume disability is inherently linked to poor health, reinforcing the medical model over the social model
    • Treat a year lived with disability as less valuable than one lived without
    • This could divert resources away from disabled people → interventions that extend the life of a disabled person are considered less cost-effective than those that prevent disability
    • Public health funding prioritizes prevention over improving the lives of the already disabled
    • Measure years lost due to premature death / years lived with disability, but do not measure quality of life improvements for disabled individuals
    • Public health interventions that mitigate limitations are not reflected as a health improvement in DALY calculations
• Purpose of measuring disability
  • Assess exclusion and discrimination, inform policy, and ensure equitable access to resources
  • Understand the lived experience of people with disability, track systemic barriers, drive social / political change
  • Examples
    • Governments and researchers collect data on disability and employment gaps to shape labor policies and workplace accommodations
      • Uses legal definitions of disability (SSI eligibility) and functional limitation measures (difficulty with physical tasks)
      • Assesses employment status and labor force participation
      • Reinforce economic productivity as the primary concern, rather than structural barriers to employment
    • Public health research tracks disability prevalence to allocate medical resources and ensure accessible healthcare
      • Self-reported impairments and health conditions
      • Functional limitation assessments (ADLs)
      • Biophysical measures
      • Focus on medical model / medicalized definitions
    • Disability activists and researchers analyze societal barriers to push for policy changes and inclusive design
      • Qualitative interviews on lived experiences
      • Environmental audits of accessibility in public places
      • Social role participation surveys
• Risks of no or poor measurement
  • Exclusion from benefits, accommodations, healthcare, etc.
  • Underrepresentation
• Rigidity of bureaucratic systems makes it difficult to seek help as stated in I, Daniel Blake
• Examples from literature where disability is measured and effects of that measurement occurs:
  • The blind pianist from Samuels reading has to keep verifying her disability every year in order to receive benefits
    • She can not read any of the words on the form
    • The form of measurement was not accommodating and was actively making her life more difficult

Topic 4: Disability and Economy

• Poverty Measure:
  • Poverty threshold - annual income below which a family is officially considered poor
  • Poverty rate - percentage of the population with incomes below the poverty threshold
  • Orshansky (SSA) measure - families earning less than 3x cost of purchasing a nutritionally adequate diet did not have adequate income
    • Not sufficient because share of total income spent on food has decreased, whereas that of other things (health, transportation, housing, etc…) has increased
  • Official poverty measure does not have an adjustment for where you live and what the cost of living is (ex: 30k in Manhattan is not sufficient)
  • Supplemental poverty measure - adjusts the threshold to where people live to account for variable costs of living
    • Subtract key expenditures (essential to live), such as healthcare, childcare, etc…
  • Certain measures of poverty are asset based
    • Measuring poverty with assets instead of income can be useful to account for generational wealth, informal sectors of work (job without a contract), seasonal jobs, etc… → address fluctuations in income
      • Example: a farmer during planting season will have more income during a dry season
  • Material hardship measures - subjective questions people are asked about whether they struggle to make ends meet
• Multidimensional Poverty Measure (MDM) - Used to assess economic well being across different dimensions
  • Dimensions contributing to poverty - Considers monetary (consumption, expenditure) and non-monetary (education, living conditions) factors at individual and household levels
  • Relationship between poverty and disability
    • Poverty can cause disability (malnutrition, poor healthcare)
    • Disability can lower living standards through education, employment limitations, additional living costs, and reduced earnings
  • Causal links between several dimensions of wellbeing
• Dual Cutoff Multidimensional Poverty Measure (Alkire & Foster)
  • First cutoff - traditional dimension-specific poverty
    • Is the person deprived with respect to that dimension?
  • Second cutoff - determines how widely deprived that person is and is it enough to be considered poor?
    • Formulas account for how many deprivations person (i) experiences
      • Ex: crowded house, unemployed, but finished highschool = two deprivations
    • Then you compare the deprivation count (ci) to the threshold (k) to determine poverty
  • How to implement it
    • Select dimensions and weights
      • Wellbeing, health, education, political voice, social connections, etc…
    • Choose deprivation cut-offs for each dimension
    • Set number of dimensions beyond which someone is considered poor
• Criticism of Multidimensional Poverty Measures
  • Unidimensional measures based on consumer expenditures or income are in fact multidimensional (PCE could be considered indirectly multidimensional)
  • A composite index can be misleading
    • Combining different deprivations (health, education, living standards) into one score or number can hide important variation
  • Why should we aggregate deprivations into a composite index if a disaggregation is needed for policy purposes
    • Governments and NGOs need to know specific areas of deprivation to create effective interventions, rather than one combined index
  • Weight and cutoff choices may be arbitrary
• Poverty measured via non-health per capita expenditure (PCE) - survey disability prevalence and socioeconomic status without including health expenses
  • Subtract healthcare before comparing to poverty lines
    • Including healthcare could understate poverty
    • If a household has high health spending (due to disability), it may appear less poor even though those expenses are not optional / discretionary
  • Focuses on income-like resources available for living, whereas MDM measure has a broader view of well-being and quality of life
  • Limitation - does not account for additional non-health disability costs (assistive tech, transport, etc…)
• “Disability and Poverty in Developing Countries: A Multidimensional Study” - Main Takeaways
  • Disability and poverty are mutually reinforcing
  • People with disabilities face higher levels of MDM Poverty than non-disabled people in most countries study:
    • Women, older adults, and those with multiple disabilities more vulnerable to higher MDM Poverty
  • PCE alone underestimates poverty for disabled people
    • Does not account for additional health and non-health related costs
  • Main poverty dimensions impacting disabled people include PCE, education, and employment
  • Poverty differences between disabled and non-disabled people are greater in middle-income countries than in low-income ones
  • Disability prevalence is higher in rural areas and among women:
    • Varies due to cultural and demographic factors
  • MDM Poverty measures offer a fuller picture than income alone
• Extra costs of living can specifically burden disabled people, even if their income is average or above
  • General expenses - applicable to all, but often higher for disabled people:
    • Transportation, healthcare, etc…
      • Example: a wheelchair user may pay more for accessible transportation or require personal assistance daily
  • Disability-specific expenses - items / services like assistive devices, personal care, rehabilitation, and home modifications
  • Geography affects costs
    • Urban areas may have more accessible services but higher costs
    • Rural areas may lack services entirely, forcing relocation or long travel
  • Other cost influencing factors: education, technology access, support networks, insurance availability, and infrastructure
• Social Determinants of Health
  • Health inequities arise from unequal living conditions, not just biology or personal behavior
  • WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health:
    • Improving daily living conditions
    • Fair distribution of power, resources, and money
    • Building knowledge and institutional capacity
  • Every sector impacts health (education, housing, labor, justice)
  • Empowerment leads to better outcomes - access to land, services, cultural resources, etc…
  • Social policies can reduce avoidable inequalities by targeting fairness across groups
• Disability-related financial hardship stems from
  • Higher expenses (inaccessible transport, more costly services, …)
  • Lower income (employment barriers, care responsibilities, …)
• Types of disability-related costs
  • Direct costs - assistive devices, healthcare, transportation
  • Indirect costs - lost income, opportunity costs for caregivers, etc…
    • Example: a family moving to a city to access services incurs relocation and living costs
• Cost Estimation Methods
  • Subjective approach - people report what they believe they need to spend for equal participation
    • Based on personal perception
  • Comparative Approach (Goods & Services Method) - compares expenses between disabled and non-disabled people
    • Limitation - may over/underestimate due to spending habits or access limits
    • Limitation - It’s difficult to capture all potential expenses, as they vary based on disability type, location, and local context
  • Standard of Living (SOL) Approach - compares assets and living standards between similar households with and without disabled members
    • Advantage - uses existing large-scale data
    • Limitation - captures actual spending, not necessary spending for full inclusion
  • Goods & Services Required (GSR) Method - builds on GS by focusing on what is NEEDED for equal participation, even if it is not purchased
    • Limitation - LMICs may need services that are unavailable, requiring hypothetical price estimates
  • Budget standards approach - asks what people need (not just what they buy) and assigns prices to those items
• Challenges in low and middle income countries (LMICs)
  • Lack of accessible infrastructure and public support
  • High reliance on family-based caregiving, increasing household financial strain
  • Social protection programs often exclude disability-related costs
  • Participation leads to higher costs, but limiting participation (staying home) reduces costs but deepens marginalization
• Casual links from poverty to disability
  • Impairment leads to:
    • Discrimination, and disability
    • Exclusion from education, employment, community, political processes, healthcare, resources, and support
    • Results in:
      fewer skills, lower health, lower self-esteem
    • Income generating opportunities reduced
    • Income poverty leads to chronic poverty which leads to further exclusion, thus perpetuating the cycle
  • Why does chronic poverty lead to exclusion?
    • Limited access to education / employment, legal processes, land and shelter, sanitation, healthy food, and healthcare
      Forced work in hazardous conditions, lack of hygiene, physical weakness, and higher risk of illness / impairment which leads to disability
  • Overall takeaway - demonstrates that disability and poverty are mutually enabling

Topic 4: Questions & Answers

• Advantages of using the World Bank poverty measure:
  • Allows for cross-country comparisons using a consistent, widely recognized poverty line.
  • Data is often already collected and accessible
• Disadvantages of using the World Bank poverty measures
  • Ignores disability related extra costs such as assistive devices, higher transport fares, etc…
  • May underestimate poverty among disabled people because it doesn’t adjust for their higher living costs
• Advantages of using a multidimensional poverty measure such as Alkire:
  • Captures multiple aspects of poverty (education, health, living standards, etc.), not just income.
  • Better reflects the full range of disadvantages disabled people face
• Disadvantages of using a multidimensional poverty measure such as Alkire.
  • Still may not fully account for extra disability-related costs
  • Data requirements are complex, and disability-specific data may be lacking (congregating different dimensions into one score is problematic)
• Identifying significant extra costs of living with a disability does not suggest that persons with disabilities are economically in a sound position, it could just mean that necessary goods and services are unavailable, unaffordable, or underreported. Disabled people may be forgoing essential participation or care due to financial limits
• Causal factors that may drive the disability-poverty correlation besides the causal links:
  • Lack of accessible infrastructure and services increases daily costs and limits opportunities
  • Social stigma and discrimination can reduce hiring chances or result in underemployment
  • Inadequate social protection programs fail to cover disability-related expenses
  • Geographic barriers (urban v. rural) reduce access to needed supports
  • Family opportunity costs - when caregivers must forego work or education to provide care
  • Lack of access to assistive tech that could enable employment or participation
• Assuming that we aim to identify the extra costs of living with a disability in the neighborhood surrounding Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, use Goods and Services Required (GSR) method to:
  • identify what is needed for equal participation, not just what is currently spent:
  • Public transportation, political participation, healthy environment, employment, social / leisure activities, navigable infrastructure, adequate nutrition, physical safety, public goods and services
  • Captures local barriers like transportation accessibility, healthcare, and housing
    More accurate in reflecting unmet needs and true cost of participation in that specific area

Topic 5: Justice

• Rawls, Theory of Justice framework
  • Justice is impartial; fairness applies to all people
  • Imagine a veil of ignorance
    • Not knowing the position that we would occupy in the society we are considering
    • Make judgements from behind the veil of ignorance
      • Causes equal chance of having any of the positions occupied by individuals in that society
  • Natural primary foods - result in natural inequalities, based on chance
    • Strength, health, intelligence, talents, abilities, etc…
  • Social primary goods - “all-purpose means” and resources that free and equal persons need to carry out life plans
    • Features of institutions or of the situations of citizens in relation to them
      • Basic liberties, freedom of movement and choice of occupation, powers and prerogatives of offices, income and wealth, the social bases of self-respect
    • Serve fundamental interests of cooperating and rational citizens
    • Determine conditions of advantage → need to be fairly distributed
• Principles of the Theory of Justice
  • First principle - each person has a fully adequate scheme of equal basic liberties