The Construction of Disability

Paper Summary:

This paper explores how normalcy and disability are constructed, with particular reference to the field of education. It argues that the construction of the "normative" is a manifestation of social and cultural power "written" upon the bodies of people with and without disabilities by medical authority. It explores issues of discrimination, as well as concepts of the medical and social models of disability to better understand how disability construction has historically occurred and continues to define disability in an inequitable way today.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The "Normative" as a Discriminatory Cultural Construct
Assessment of Disability and the Medical Model of Disability
Analysis

From the Paper:

"As the above discussion indicates, there is considerable reason to be concerned at one's being assessed as possessing a disability. First, it is necessary to recognize that while such assessments are often arbitrary, they nonetheless produce considerable cultural meaning that has historically been applied in a discriminatory fashion. Second, it must be acknowledged that this discriminatory process has - in its implied construction of a "normative" or standard of normalcy - clear analogues to discriminatory practices that have historically reinforced sex, race and gender discrimination."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Linton, Simi. "Reassigning Meaning." In Claiming Disability, Knowledge and Identity. New York: NY University Press, 1998, 8-33.
• Middleton, Laura. Disabled Children: Challenging Social Exclusion. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.
• Safford, Philip, and Safford, Elizabeth. A History of Childhood and Disability. New York: Teachers College Press, 1996.
• Titchkosky, Tanya. Disability, Self, and Society. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.
• Thomas-Garland, Rosemarie. "Disability, Identity and Representation." In Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Representation. New York: Columbia University Press, 5-9.

More papers on The Construction of Disability:

• Descriptive Essay # 133286 : "The Construction of the Normate in the Context of Disability"
• Persuasive Essay # 136185 : "Models of Identity"
• Term Paper # 138694 : "Gender and Disability"

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