Lived Experiences of Women With Hidden Disabilities: A Phenomenologically Based Study

• In Event: 52.064 - Disability Studies in Education: Promoting Justice Through Critical Narratives and Lived Experiences

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of inclusion, marginalization, and exclusion in the lives of women who have a permanent, non-visible (hidden) disability. It also explored the corporeal dimensions, such as issues of embodiment, of the lived experiences for women with hidden disabilities. Finally, this phenomenologically based study examined how women with non-visible, hidden disabilities articulated the meaning of living with an invisible disability.

The study utilized a phenomenologically based approach that incorporated in-depth interviewing. Participants were four adult women who resided in the U.S. and who were diagnosed with a long-term disability or chronic illness. The respective diagnosed conditions of each participant were the following: Addison’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Stargardt’s Dystrophy, and unexplained infertility

Author

• Michelle Yee, University of San Francisco