Barriers to 'being': the psycho-emotional dimension of disability in the lives of disabled children
Clare Connors, Centre for Applied Social Studies, University of Durham
Abstract
The 'Children's Experiences of Disability' project took place from 1998 to 2000 at Stirling University. Twenty-six disabled children, aged between 7 and 15, and 24 of their brothers and sisters, aged from 5 to 19, were asked to talk about their day to day lives. Disabled children were asked about their likes and dislikes, their achievements, the barriers they faced, the support they received and their future aspirations.
The study drew on insights from the fields of disability studies and the sociology of childhood. Thomas' definition (1999) of disability - a form of social oppression which imposes restriction of activity on people with impairments and undermines their psycho-emotional well-being - was used as a frame work for understanding disabled children's lives.
The psycho-emotional well-being of children's lives was undermined, primarily, in two ways: when children came up against situations which illustrated their 'difference' from their non-disabled peers and by non-disabled people's reactions to them. When 'difference' was badly managed, it could lead to children experiencing hurt through being made to feel excluded or 'less than'. It often occurred in school settings. Children gave examples of being treated differently by some teachers, being left behind when class-mates went on a school trip and being left in school during a fire drill.
Reaction from adults included: staring, talking down (as if addressing a small child), inappropriate comments, inappropriate behaviour and overt sympathy. Children who used wheelchairs seemed to be a particular target for the public at large. Non-disabled children reacted usually by name-calling and, in some cases, bullying.
Some older disabled children (11-15) had begun to develop strategies for dealing with these barriers to 'being'. A number had become blasé about such reactions and were unafraid of replying to non-disabled people's comments. Other children had begun to recognise that the root of the behaviour could be ignorance and showed compassion towards perpetrators.
See also:
A summary
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- Connors, C. and Stalker, K. (2003) 'The views and experiences of disabled children: A positive outlook', Jessica Kingsley, London.
- Stalker, K. and Connors, C. (2003) 'Communicating with disabled children', Adoption & Fostering, 27, 1, 26-35.
- Stalker, K. and Connors, C. (2004) 'Children's perceptions of their disabled siblings: "She's different but it's normal for us"', Children & Society; vol 18: 3