Exploring Disability Identity With Adolescents

• In Event: Identities in Context: Understanding How Context Influences Adolescents' and Emerging Adults' Functioning

Abstract

Disability identity can be described as a “sense of self that includes one’s disability and feelings of connection to, or solidarity with, the disability community” (Dunn & Burcaw, 2013, p. 148). A coherent disability identity is believed to help individuals adapt to disability, including navigating related social stressors and daily hassles (Forber-Pratt & Zape, 2017), just as other social identities have been linked to numerous health outcomes (Haslam et al., 2009). Despite this, disability identity is relatively understudied compared to other social identities, and the literature mostly focuses on adults with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore how adolescents conceptualize disability identity. Our study involved interviews with 24 middle and high school disabled students. All the researchers identify as disabled and have been involved with various projects related to disability identity over the years. Therefore, the purpose of this discussion is to highlight how youth conceptualize disability identity and to begin to discuss what interventions might be relevant for disabled youth. The youth interviews revealed that experiences in school environments were salient to their understanding of their disability identity. One student discussed how their disability and accessibility needs influences their daily experiences in a classroom, “Well, first being a teenager, in general, is just a lot. Everybody understands that, but then when you throw in a wheelchair disability, it becomes so much more…Such as being in high school. What do you do when you go into the classroom and all the desks have the seat attached to it? Where do you go? How do you sit? Do say something to the teacher? You don't really want to cause a big scene. You know what I mean?” (Lindsey). Other students had negative interactions with teachers because of their disability. One participant said, “Well, they have an IEP in place and well, that’s what usually we do with that. Me personally, sometimes I find it very hard to just try and do that if I'm struggling with something. Because I'm always worried whether I'll just be shut down and told that's not a real problem and that I shouldn't have to do and that that should be a problem” (Linda). These quotes show that experiences in school settings influence the participant’s perceptions about their disability and their experiences as a student. Armed with a better understanding of this phenomenon, interventions can be tailored to positively shape disability identity. However, more is needed at the foundational level of youth and their meaning-making around disability identity which this conversation aims to address.

Authors

• Anjali J. Forber-Pratt

• Bradley Minotti, University of Florida

• Rachel A. Hanebutt, Vanderbilt University