I Am Proud to Be Disabled: The Liberatory Power of Identity Construction for Those With Mental Health, Neurological, and Substance Abuse Conditions

Presenter(s)

Evan Clerinx

Abstract or Description

Our society systematically demands the contortion and mutilation of the disabled body, mind, and spirit itself into a normative shape. The mainstream Medical Model of Disability views those disabled by Mental Health, Neurological, and Substance Abuse (MNS) Conditions as helpless victims of disease. Under a medical model, disabled voices that state they are different, not disordered, are deemed mentally incompetent- incapable of knowing what is best for themselves. This model ignores the individual context and environmental factors that construct disability and views disability as a personal defect one is individually responsible for. Disabled people who exist in this framework experience profound shame and internalized ableism that is often negatively expressed in their treatment of themselves and other disabled people. This research project instead views MNS Conditions and other disabilities as social constructs, meaning that disability only exists because society excludes disabled people. It focuses on how those with MNS Conditions construct collective identity, how identity construction functions as meaning-making, and how disability pride is a tool to overcome internalized shame and organize collective action. The planned methodology will apply discourse analysis to qualitative data collected from open-source, online communities of those with MNS Conditions and was chosen to limit the erasure of disabled voices in academic research. Disability is not a tragedy. The true tragedy is the systematic dehumanization, stigmatization, and disenfranchisement experienced daily by disabled people. Through rejecting medicalization, building community, and expressing disability pride, those with MNS Conditions can organize to demand an accessible, accommodating society for all.

Mentor

Stephen Rohs, Lucy Thompson