Chapter 15: Negotiating Identities, Negotiating Environments, (Low, 1996)
Chapter 16: The Normality of Doing Things Differently (Hansen & Philo, 2007)
Disabled Identities
Emphasis on disabling the social and environmental barriers.
Negotiating Environments
Students with disabilities have to negotiate their environments daily in terms of mobility, accessibility, locations changes, and isolation. They seek to have independence but are reluctant to ask for help and choose to take on a role of "passing".
"Passing" is when an individual with a disability acts in a way to conceal their disability. It is how they try to blend in with the rest of society and make efforts to appear normal (Low, 1996, p. 244)
"Understandably students with disabilities frequently make efforts to conceal their disability and those with concealable disabilities want to keep them hidden," (Low, 1996, p. 244).
Individuals with disabilities just want to be treated as normal.
Non-Disabled Identities
The individuals want to be able to break through their disability to "normalized" interaction, and have normal relationships (Low, 1996, p. 245).
Tactics of Negotiation
Individuals use slight modifications to conceal their identity to be like everyone else.
"It is up to the student with the disability to see them as any other student," (Low, 1996, p. 245). This makes it seem as though it is their job to have their peers and teachers see them as normal, when it should be up to society to be viewing it differently themselves.
"Breaking through" to normalized relationships. (Low, 1996, p. 246)
Some of the tactics mentioned in the chapter that help these students to conceal their identities include speaking out and increasing visibly, reasoning with others, using humour, adopting aggressive or assertive attitudes, avoiding confrontation with others and distancing themselves from other students with disabilities (Low, 1996, p. 246).
Everyday, individuals with disabilities identities are reinforced by the isolating nature of environments which constrain their interactions with others (Low, 1996, p. 236)
Independence is a barrier because individuals may need the help but feel reulctant to ask so they do not stick out as needing help or different.
Goes beyond the social model into disability geography. This is the idea that there are physical accessibility concerns and acceptability of ableism in everyday spaces (Hansen & Philo, 2007, p. 252).
The "Wrong Body" in the Wrong Place
Individuals with disabilities may have a visible impairment, but it is not to be assumed that they also have a mental impairment.
Constantly feel pressure to conform to societies norms and fit in and perform as "normally" as they can (Hansen & Philo, 2007, p. 254).
Don't belong and feel out of place.
Have to constantly explain themselves to others why they are "different".
Timing and Spacing of the Impaired Body
Simple tasks can be painful and distressing daily such as getting ready for the day.
The "little demands" of each day expose the "hidden geographies" (Hansen & Philo, 2007, p. 258).
Constantly being "on approval" or not matching up to abelist expectations (Hansen & Philo, 2007, p. 258). They are treated as though they are disruptive in their daily lives. For example, boarding a train or bus and wasting able-bodied individuals time.
Provisional Spaces
Making individuals feel like they are on "approval", making them feel out of place, and being left to have to explain and justify their presence under the most mundane circumstances. (Hansen & Philo, 2007, p. 260).
Society needs to think in ways in which disabled individuals occupy spaces so that it is not viewed as something that needs to be corrected or avoided. There is a lot of suffering when it comes to the normality of doing things differently.
It needs to be tolerated, accepted, and celebrated! Society needs to celebrate difference not avoid it or think it is wrong.