CULTURAL SENSITIVITY & ABILITY:

FIGHTING BACK AGAINST ABLEISM & NEURONORMATIVITY

Part One: What is ableism?

Part Two: Empowering voices of the disabled

Materials:

1. Ableism/Language by Autistic Choya (June 16, 2013; last updated

October 11, 2014)

2. Addressing Classism, Ableism, and Heterosexism in Counselor Education

(Smith, Foley, & Chaney, 2008)

3. "Inspiration Porn" Objectifies People With Disabilities (Ellen Painter

Dollar for Huffington Post TED Weekends, July 11, 2014; last updated

September 10, 2014)

4. Disabled People Are Not Your Inspiration (S.E. Smith for xoJane.com,

August 30, 2012)

PART ONE:

What is ableism?

Section One: Ableism and our culture

It is an unfortunate fact that when one hears the words “social justice” or “cultural competency,”

one usually thinks first of race or gender, rather than personal ability. Indeed, even those who

devote their lives to dismantling racism/white supremacy and sexism/the patriarchy, often

overlook how disabilities can impact both of those axes of oppression.

In our culture, it is generally regarded as highly offensive if one says a racial slur. Likewise, it is

becoming more and more unaccepted to show open hostility towards the LGBTQQIA

community. However, it usually does not ping on our radar how we as a culture still express

prejudice, discrimination, and use problematic language that is designed to hurt the disabled

community.

It was not that long ago when persons with physical disabilities, such as paraplegia, or persons

with cognitive/developmental disabilities, such as Down’s syndrome, were regarded as inhuman.

Said people were disowned by their families, locked away into institutions for the rest of their

lives, and never spoken of. To this day, someone with a mental illness is regarded as dangerous,

even though that person is much more at risk to be a victim of violence rather than to perpetrate

it. It is still thought of as “no big deal” to use words such as lame, insane, deaf, blind, crazy, or

idiotic to describe someone or something that we don’t like.

So what is ableism?

(**from the general multiculturalism handbook)

Ableism

Discrimination in favor of able-bodied people (also includes those with mental illnesses or

neurodiversity)

Another useful word to know is neuronormativity.

Neuronormativity

The idea that those with autism or related disorders are deficient or undesirable.

To be non-disabled is to live life without a physical, mental, developmental, or emotional

disability. To be neurotypical is to live life without a mental illness or an autism spectrum

disorder.

In popular culture, disabilities are used to either make us feel better about ourselves (which is

known to some as “inspiration porn”) or to give us frightening or amusing characters to enhance

our favorite stories.

Examples:

John Locke, from the television series LOST. It is gradually revealed through flashbacks that

John, by attempting to connect with his adoptive father, is pushed out a high-rise skyscraper,

falling onto pavement, and being paralyzed from the waist down. On the mysterious island, he

somehow regains his ability to walk, and keeps this ability as long as he has faith in the island’s

magic.

Professor Xavier from the Marvel comic/films X-men (pictured on the right being portrayed by

actor Patrick Stewart). Professor X, as the leader of the X-men, is a brilliant man unhindered by

his physical handicaps, able to use his marvelous telekintetic abilities to locate mutants around

the world and to read/influence other’s minds.

Oompa loompas, from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Originally

conceived by novelist Roald Dahl in his 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they

were designed to be curiosities from a far-off land, a non-human species.

Norman Bates (left, Anthony Perkins, from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film PSYCHO; Freddie

Highmore, from A&E network’s prequel series Bates Motel)

The original portrayal of Norman Bates became the seminal portrayal of the criminally insane

killer, which reverberates through popular culture to this day. He was recently revived in

spectacular fashion by Freddie Highmore, who portrays Norman as a teen in the current

television series set before the time period of the film. Unbeknownst to most is that Norman

Bates as a fictional character (as well as Buffalo Bill in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs and

Leatherface, the chainsaw killer of 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is based upon real-life

serial killer Edward Gein (below). Ed Gein was considered to be a friendly, mild-mannered, and

slightly odd regular citizen of the small town of Plainfield, WI until a missing person’s case

uncovered a grisly collection of personal affects crafted from human remains in his small home.

Ed Gein was apprehended by police on November 16, 1957 but was never charged for his

crimes. He lived within the walls of the Mendota Mental Health Institute until his death at age 77

on July 26, 1984.

Popular culture and the mainstream media have been widely criticized by disability and/or

mental health activists and advocates for their portrayal of persons living with various levels of

physical, emotional, or mental ability or illness. Persons in wheelchairs are not “burdens,” nor

are they symbols of resilience to emulate. People born with dwarfism are not cute or mischievous

elves, nor are people born with gigantism terrible, violent giants. People who have been

diagnosed with mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are not

unhinged, volatile fiends waiting to commit murder. People with autism are not social

degenerates, and just because Adam Lanza shot up an elementary school, killing small children,

does not mean that all persons on the autism spectrum will do so.

Included in your materials is a list of ableist terms and better means of describing persons with

disabilities or mental health conditions. Also, two articles are included on how people with

disabilities are used by popular culture and the mainstream media as “inspiration porn.”

Section Two: Ableism and Mental Illness/Neurodiversity

The above billboard is from a non-profit awareness organization called “BringChange2Mind,”

speaking out against stigma that affects those with mental illnesses.

From the website:

Stigma is broadly defined as a collection of adverse and unfair beliefs. The stigma around

mental health most often leads to the inaccurate and hurtful objectification of people as

dangerous and incompetent. The shame and isolation associated with stigma prevent people

from seeking the help necessary to live healthy and full lives.

One of the best ways you can help someone with mental illness is by understanding what it is -

and what it isn't. After all, myths about mental illnesses contribute to stigma, which in turn

prevents those who are living with one from seeking help.

The fact is, a mental illness is a disorder of the brain – your body’s most important organ – and

one in four adults experience mental illness in a given year, including depression, bipolar

disorder, schizophrenia, and PTSD.

Like most diseases of the body, mental illness has many causes – from genetics to other

biological, environmental and social / cultural factors. And just as with most diseases, mental

illnesses are no one’s fault. The unusual behaviors associated with some illnesses are symptoms

of the disease – not the cause.

But most importantly, mental illnesses are treatable through medication and psychosocial

therapies – allowing those who live with them the opportunity to lead full and productive lives.

(http://bringchange2mind.org/learn/what- is-stigma/)

(http://bringchange2mind.org/learn/the- facts/)

The website also presents the FACTS vs FICTIONS of mental illness:

FICTION: People living with a mental illness are often violent.

FACT: Actually, the vast majority of people living with mental health conditions are no more

violent than anyone else. People with mental illness are much more likely to be the victims of

crime.

FICTION: Mental illness is a sign of weakness.

FACT: A mental illness is not caused by personal weakness — nor can it be cured by positive

thinking or willpower — proper treatment is needed.

FICTION: Only military personnel who have been in combat can be diagnosed with PTSD.

FACT: While PTSD is prevalent in men and women who have seen combat, experiencing or

witnessing a traumatic event can trigger PTSD, including violent personal assaults such as rape

or robbery, natural or human-caused disasters, or accidents.

FICTION: People with a mental illness will never get better.

FACT: For some people, a mental illness may be a lifelong condition, like diabetes. But as with

diabetes, proper treatment enables many people with a mental illness to lead fulfilling and

productive lives.

FICTION: Children aren’t diagnosed wtih mental illness.

FACT: Millions of children are affected by depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. As a

matter of fact, 1 in 10 children live with a diagnosable mental illness. Getting treatment is

essential.

FICTION: “Mental illness can’t affect me!”

FACT: Mental illness can affect anyone. While some illnesses have a genetic risk, mental illness

can affect people of all ages, races and income levels, whether or not there is a family history.

While BringChange2Mind helps to curb the stigma associated with mental illness, the fact

remains that many people still hold unfair biases about those who have them.

Think of the last time you heard mental illness being discussed in the news. It may have been

related to a celebrity dealing with a mental health condition:

OR it could have been when the last mass shooting happened:

Or even when a person with mental health issues does something out of desperation:

What is often not covered in the mainstream media are the everyday plights of people who suffer

from these debilitating disorders, and how, throughout history, they have been the source of great

fear and shame.

Oddly enough, a television series that is putting forth effort to expose the history of mental

health care and its atrocities in the United States is the Travel Channel paranormal investigation

series, Ghost Adventures. The Ghost Adventures crew, consisting of 3 main investigators, Zak

Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin, travels to locations such as Rolling Hills Asylum in

Bethany, NY; Pennhurst Village in Pottstown, PA; and Waverly Hills Asylum in Waverly, KY,

mainly to collect data pointing towards the existence of spirits. However, before conducting their

all-night lock-downs at these locations, they feel it is important to investigate their history. Many

emotional episodes have aired in which these three discuss what it was like for residents and

employees alike in institutions dedicated towards the care of society’s most vulnerable. At the

site of the former Letchworth Village, they spoke with a former employee, who, despite being

disgusted at the horrid, inhumane conditions of the facility, kept returning in order to bathe and

nurture its residents with profound mental disabilities and/or mental health issues.

This program does not shy away from the truth of these institutions. It includes, in often graphic

detail and with graphic images, stories of frontal lobe lobotomies, patients lying in their own

excrement, patients having all their teeth removed, and murders that took place either patient-on-

patient or staff-on-patient. Great pains are taken to make sure that only factual information is

provided, and that is what makes the tales all the more chilling and heartbreaking.

People with mental health conditions are no longer institutionalized. Some view this as a

blessing, that which benefits those suffering with mental illness. Others view it as putting them

in harm’s way of those who do not understand them.

One thing that both sides of this debate agree on is that there is still an epidemic of abuse upon

mentally ill women. Mentally ill individuals are 2/3rds at greater risk than society at large to be

the victims of violence. Often, women who have mental health conditions are re-victimized by

those who do not believe their claims of sexual assault, as they are “crazy” or “imagining

things.” Indeed, women were more often to be classically deemed mentally ill than men; the

origins of terms like histrionic personality disorder and hysteria. In the early years of

psychology, mental illnesses and other mental conditions, such as schizophrenia and autism,

were blamed on bad parenting by a child’s mother.

The World Health Organization contends that women are more prone to diagnoses of depression

and anxiety due to their subordinate position enforced by societal gender roles:

Low rank is a powerful predictor of depression. Women's subordinate social status is

reinforced in the workplace as they are more likely to occupy insecure, low status jobs with no

decision making authority. Those in such jobs experience higher levels of negative life events,

insecure housing tenure, more chronic stressors and reduced social support. Traditional gender

roles further increase susceptibility by stressing passivity, submission and dependence and

impose a duty to take on the unremitting care of others and unpaid domestic and agricultural

labour. Conversely, gains in gender development that improve women's status are likely to

bring with them improvements in women's mental health.

In contrast, men are more likely to be diagnosed with disorders associated with short attention

span (ADD/ADHD), anger (intermittent explosive disorder), and substance abuse (chronic

alcoholism). This not only harms men with labels, but erases women who also suffer from these

disorders and conditions.

Returning to an earlier subject, the ableist language referenced in the introduction (which can be

found as a detailed list in your materials) can be especially hurtful towards those with mental

illness.

If you’re neat and tidy, you don’t have OCD.

If you’re skinny, you’re not anorexic.

If you’re nervous, you’re not having a panic attack.