Power and Dis-Ability
Timothy S. Hartshorne,
Ph.D.
School Psychology Program Director
Professor of Psychology
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
989-774-6479 phone
989-774-2553 fax
e-mail:
tim.hartshorne@cmich.edu
Society, and the logic of social living, asks its members to cooperate
through the life tasks (work, love, friendship). Success
with the life tasks involves using one’s abilities in a
useful and creative manner to support the well-being of
community. When a person courageously uses his or her
abilities and develops these with a sense of social
interest, he or she becomes useful to society, and so
acquires power - influence. This is the power of perfecting
what one has to offer – one’s abilities. But when people
have dis-abilities this can become problematic.
Part of the difficulty is how we tend to think
about disabilities. Fine and Asch (1988) challenged five
assumptions that influence attitudes toward disability: (1)
that disability is located solely in biology, (2) that the
problems of the disabled are due to disability-produced
impairment, (3) that the disabled person is a “victim”, (4)
that disability is central to the persons’ self-concept,
self-definition, social comparisons, and reference groups,
and (5) that having a disability is synonymous with needing
help and social support. The son of a friend severely broke
his leg and after six weeks in the hospital was in a wheel
chair for a period of time. I saw father and son one day
leaving school. I smiled at the father, Tom, and said, “Now
you see the importance of wheel chair accessibility and
handicapped parking spaces.” Tom replied, “I never got it
before.” His son was not permanently disabled, and in fact
at 9 years old today is an excellent football goalie. But
to the extent that buildings and parking were not
accessible, during that time he was disadvantaged. The
physical condition did not make him disabled. The physical
barriers that existed in the world reduced his abilities.
If the barriers can be removed, a person’s dis-abilities may
no longer be so significant. However, these barriers are
not always physical; they are frequently social as well.
Adlerian psychology is a psychology of use and not possession; it is
about what you do with the abilities that you have. But
society may not always recognize the use, and societal
structures may serve to increase feelings of inferiority
among those who find that their disabilities block them from
access to society. Consider the life tasks.
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Work: are there abilities that
compensate for the disabilities? Are the disabilities
relevant to the work? I was asked recently whether a
person who as Cerebral Palsy should be hired as a school
psychologist. I asked about her training and
experience. She had graduated from a training program,
and had worked as a school psychologist before and
evidently did well. But although she seemed quite
capable, the school to which she had applied for a
position was very concerned.
-
Love: are there traits that
compensate for not representing the ideal in beauty or
masculinity? My friend Jim was divorced and had
decided it was time to start dating again. A widow I
knew was also interested in a social life. But she was
born with only one arm, and wore a prosthetic. I asked
Jim if it would bother him to date someone with one
arm. He said that it would.
-
Friendship: What would other people
say if you were friends with that person? In college I
knew a fellow student who today we would say had high
functioining autism. He seemed very isolated, and I
suggested to my girlfriend that perhaps I should try to
make friends with him. She thought that was a terrible
idea, because others would judge me for being friends
with him. A family eating out with their severely
disable son had to endure people changing tables to move
away from them.
This leaves few options for those with disabilities. One is to form a
community separate from the larger society, and some
societies support this by providing programs and developing
structures that guarantee the isolation of this community of
dis-abled. The deaf community is a good example. Members
have developed their own culture and language, and in many
cases have developed a sense of superiority. The deafblind
are not generally welcome in the deaf community, nor in many
cases are people who have physical disabilities in addition
to their deafness. The use of cochlear implants is frowned
upon because it implies there is something wrong with being
deaf. But within the deaf culture a member’s abilities are
recognized and valued and the hearing impairment is
irrelevant.
Special Olympics is an extremely popular way to provide some power to a
disadvantaged group. But despite the enormous amount of
volunteer work by those without disabilities, the program is
one of only relative power. In the context of one’s own
group there is the potential for achievement, but in the
eyes of society it is in some respects still “pretend”
olympics, and unfortunately perpetuates the separation and
isolation of the disabled. “We give them their program.”
There is no real power here. There is no Lance Armstrong –
the disease has not been overcome.
Another option is to strive to compensate for one’s disabilities and
become a success, and so powerful; striving for a personal
superiority. Some societies like to parade the heartwarming
stories of those who have succeeded in spite of every
obstacle society may have laid in their way. Christopher
Reeve was a very powerful individual, but he was powerful
before his horse riding accident. There was a librarian I
knew with CP who was evidently quite brilliant, at least
according to the heart warming newspaper article I read
about him. He still appeared to lead a life of isolation,
but he was a success. Judy, in a wheel chair and with a
hearing impairment has managed to succeed at work despite
problems with a co-worker. “If it was up to her, I’d have
been gone long ago. Fortunately, she and I are at the same
level and she’s not a manager, so I don’t have to worry
about that….After thirteen years, I really don’t care
anymore. I’m still here, that’s the best revenge.” These
people seem to have done it in spite of the barriers. Of
course this leads to discouragement for those who have tried
and failed, and more fail than succeed, and for the few who
succeed it interferes with social interest (because group
membership is contingent) and creates the fear of losing
one’s position. As Green, Davis, Karshmer, Marsh, and
Straight (2005) note, “The difficulty, of course, is that
where the attitudes of others lead to discrimination,
chances of attaining positions of power are limited thus
encouraging further discrimination and status loss” (pp.
209-210).
According to Link and Phelan (2001), the lack of access to social,
economic, and political power leads to the possibility of
stigmatization, as seen in labeling, stereotyping,
separating, reducing status, and discriminating.
Labeling assigns social salience to recognized differences. It is one
thing to have difficulties relating and communicating with
others; it is another thing to be autistic. Labels create
their own realities, which is why this is countered in the
US with person first language. I would not dare to refer to
a “deafblind person” in the US; I would have to say “a
person who is deafblind” to emphasize that they are a person
first and foremost. In other parts of the world persons
who are deafblind want to be referred to as “deafblind
persons,” because it is part of the social definition they
have created for themselves, much like the deaf community,
which is never called a community of persons who are deaf.
Stereotyping is assigning negative attributes to the labeled
differences, or placing social significance on differences.
Would you date a one-armed woman? Would you be seen with a
one-armed woman, or a college student with Aspergers? Would
you eat at the table next to a woman with CP who was
drooling? Is that one unfair?
Separation results in a sense of “otherness;” a sense of not
belonging. When the reactions of others unmistakably
communicate not only a lack of acceptance, but a rejection
of whatever abilities one might be able to contribute, this
is deeply discouraging. This is very hard for parents to
see happening to their children. I spoke with the mother of
a young girl with a genetic syndrome who was sitting on the
floor slightly rocking. Although the girl was functioning
very well, even on grade level at school, the mother worried
about the rocking. “If we could only get her to stop the
rocking she would be nearly normal.” This mother
eventually gave her daughter plastic surgery to improve her
facial features. “I want her to have a date for the prom.”
Status loss and then discrimination occurs when the ability to
participate fully in the community is denied. I knew a
woman with epilepsy who was prevented from attending school
after fourth grade due to her condition. We now have laws
to prevent this, but as we know, you can outlaw
discrimination but you cannot outlaw prejudice and
stigmatization.
Besides living in one’s own group where some power may be available, or
striving for personal superiority by compensating for one’s
disabilities, a third option is to courageously advocate for
recognition of those abilities that can still serve society
and make a contribution, if society will remove some of the
roadblocks that are in the way. But advocacy takes a great
deal of courage. The strongest advocates tend to be the
parents, although not all parents have the courage to do
this, and even those who do can be worn down. Let me
mention two strong advocates, both fathers. I spent a day
with the father of a young adult girl with a genetic
syndrome on a train and bus trip from Brisbane to Surfer’s
Paradise. Ken has been a mover and a shaker for persons
with his daughter’s syndrome in Australia. It was a
difficult trip. On the train his daughter dropped the
stuffed animal she was carrying. When I tried to pick it up
for her, she briefly attacked and scratched me. At a mall
she had to go to the bathroom. She was capable of going by
herself, but she was gone a long time. Eventually Ken had
to go into the women’s room to fetch her out. Of course we
endured many stares as we journeyed. I asked Ken the next
day as he was sitting and starring into space if it was
hard. All he could do was nod and work to keep the tears
from welling up. Another father was sitting with his son
who was engaged in self-stimulation. Like Ken, this father
has been a strong advocate for disability rights and
inclusion. The father, with an affectionate smile on his
face said, “Son, you are acting retarded.” His son, who is
profoundly deaf, continued the self-stimulation. The father
continued to smile, but a bit wistfully. Advocacy means
both living with the child and facing the community’s
barriers and attitudes. Both can be exhausting and
discouraging.
Adlerians should be advocates for the courageous who seek to belong in
spite of dis-abilities through the recognition of the
abilities that are there. Adlerians should think about the
kinds of statements that discourage those with disabilities:
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The counselor who tells the parents
that they have to grieve over the child they did not
have before they can love their disabled child.
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The physician who works on the
child’s hands and legs as if the limbs were not attached
to a whole person.
-
The falsely encouraging parents who
assure their children that they can grow up to be
anything they want to be, even when the children want to
be ballerinas or football players in spite of their
wheelchairs.
-
The colleges that tell persons with
disabilities that they cannot be accepted because they
would not be able to cut it with the rest of the
able-bodied students.
-
The mother who does not want her son
to marry a disabled woman or the father who does not
want the man with a disability to marry his daughter.
-
The therapist who tells clients that
they are in denial of their disabilities.
It is not about the disability – it is about the person and
their courage to contribute. Adlerians should use their
holistic perspective to see beyond the disability and see
the abilities.
Adlerians should help society to focus on the “use” of all people,
instead of what they possess. When interviewing parents of
children with disabilities I administered an inventory
popularly used to measure stress in these parents. One of
the questions was “Do you do as much now as a family as you
did before your child with disabilities was born?” One
mother very quickly responded “No,” which according to the
authors of the instrument would indicate greater amounts of
stress. But then she continued, “We now do more.” I once
asked a group of fathers how they had been changed by having
a child with severe disabilities. One raised his hand
immediately and replied, “Before he was born I had two other
sons with whom I spent no time at all. I was either working
or drinking. After this child was born I recognized that I
could no longer continue like that, and I gave up drinking
and I changed jobs so that now I can spend time with all
three of my boys.” That is power.
References
Fine, M., & Asch, A. (1988). Disability beyond
stigma: Social interaction, discrimination, and activism.
Journal of Social Issues, 44, 3-21.
Green S., Davis, C., Karshmer, E., Marsh P., &
Straight, B. (2005). Living stigma: The impact of
labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and
discrimination in the lives of individuals with disabilities
and their families. Sociological Inquiry, 75,
197-215.
Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2001). Conceptualizing
stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 363-385.
