Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes

Disabled individuals are often disempowered and steered clear of, as the average, able-bodied person, “feels sorry for [a] disabled person, feels awkward about relating to the person, believes that the government or charity should provide special services, and gives thanks for not being disabled” (D...

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Main Author: Kwang, Qi Qi
Other Authors: Graham John Matthews
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2017
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70363
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-703632019-12-10T11:58:46Z Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes Kwang, Qi Qi Graham John Matthews School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Humanities DRNTU::Social sciences Disabled individuals are often disempowered and steered clear of, as the average, able-bodied person, “feels sorry for [a] disabled person, feels awkward about relating to the person, believes that the government or charity should provide special services, and gives thanks for not being disabled” (Davis 2). The image of a disabled person is therefore, inferior and one that the mainstream normative should shun away from. With this, the binaries that are instituted between the disabled and the able-bodied; the normal and the abnormal are clearly seen. The disabled are “defined in opposition to a norm that is assumed to possess natural physical superiority” (Thomson 19), which often leads to the marginalisation and oppression of the disabled minority by the dominant able-bodied majority. Susan Wendell, in “Toward a Feminist Theory of Disability”, asserts that the “able-bodied fail to identify with the disabled” because “[s]uffering caused by the body, and the inability to control the body, are despised, pitied, and above all, feared. This fear, experienced individually, is also deeply embedded in our culture” (248). The mainstream society’s fear of becoming disabled and losing control is seen in their refusal to confront pain, suffering and the image of the broken body. These fears are subsequently projected upon disabled individuals by marginalising them. Through this, the able-bodied are able to gain superiority and position themselves as a community that are unlike the disabled individuals. Drawing from the field of disability studies, and specifically the social model of disability, this paper posits that it is not disability itself that limits the disabled individual, but society’s perceptions of the disabled that constrains them. Bachelor of Arts 2017-04-21T01:58:00Z 2017-04-21T01:58:00Z 2017 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70363 en Nanyang Technological University 34 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Humanities
DRNTU::Social sciences
spellingShingle DRNTU::Humanities
DRNTU::Social sciences
Kwang, Qi Qi
Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes
description Disabled individuals are often disempowered and steered clear of, as the average, able-bodied person, “feels sorry for [a] disabled person, feels awkward about relating to the person, believes that the government or charity should provide special services, and gives thanks for not being disabled” (Davis 2). The image of a disabled person is therefore, inferior and one that the mainstream normative should shun away from. With this, the binaries that are instituted between the disabled and the able-bodied; the normal and the abnormal are clearly seen. The disabled are “defined in opposition to a norm that is assumed to possess natural physical superiority” (Thomson 19), which often leads to the marginalisation and oppression of the disabled minority by the dominant able-bodied majority. Susan Wendell, in “Toward a Feminist Theory of Disability”, asserts that the “able-bodied fail to identify with the disabled” because “[s]uffering caused by the body, and the inability to control the body, are despised, pitied, and above all, feared. This fear, experienced individually, is also deeply embedded in our culture” (248). The mainstream society’s fear of becoming disabled and losing control is seen in their refusal to confront pain, suffering and the image of the broken body. These fears are subsequently projected upon disabled individuals by marginalising them. Through this, the able-bodied are able to gain superiority and position themselves as a community that are unlike the disabled individuals. Drawing from the field of disability studies, and specifically the social model of disability, this paper posits that it is not disability itself that limits the disabled individual, but society’s perceptions of the disabled that constrains them.
author2 Graham John Matthews
author_facet Graham John Matthews
Kwang, Qi Qi
format Final Year Project
author Kwang, Qi Qi
author_sort Kwang, Qi Qi
title Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes
title_short Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes
title_full Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes
title_fullStr Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes
title_full_unstemmed Autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes
title_sort autism, the social construction of disability, and the rejection of cultural stereotypes
publishDate 2017
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70363
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