Module 3 - Intellectual Disabilities

The article that I chose for this week is called ‘Attitudes Towards People with Disabilities - What do People with Intellectual Disabilities Have to Say?’. This article was published in The Official Journal pf the British Institute of Learning Disabilities and was written by Sandra Corr McEvory. 

At the time of publication Sandra was a woman in her late forties with an intellectual disability. She had a life long dream of doing research and her research became a reality and her reality is this article. 

In September of 2008 Sandra had the chance to conduct research with the Inclusive Research Network  and she chose to do her research on peoples attitudes towards those with intellectual disabilities. In order to conduct her research Sandra found seven focus groups. She found focus groups through the disability agency that supports her. There are three centers in this agency and she had different focus groups from each center. Each group consisted of 5-6 participants all with intellectual disabilities. In order to determine how people with intellectual debilities view other peoples attitudes towards themselves, the participates were asked a series of 10 questions. Questions ranged from what does a disability mean, do you have a disability, to how they had been treated by others. It was the hope that participates would share stories and examples from their own life. 

Looking at the answers to the questions there were a wide range of answers for each question. When first asked what a disability was, participates answered  by saying that it was being unable to speak,  having a hard time learning new things, and even saying it means getting mixed up. Some participates knew what their disability was and others were unsure if they had a disability. When participates who stated that they did have a disability were asked how they knew they had a disability most answered with they realized they couldn't keep up when they were in school or because an assessment told them that they had a disability. 

Out of the group of 41 members, 31 participants stated that people with intellectual disabilities are not treated fairly. They recited examples of people calling them names, making fun of them, and noting getting a job because of their disability. People even shared accounts of being short changed, rushed or not served at shops, restaurants and pubs because of their intellectual disability. 

Overall, she found that there is a strong mix of how people with intellectual disabilities feel when it comes to how they are being treated  and if they are respected. 

I found this article extremely interesting and I enjoyed it even more because someone with an intellectual disability wrote it. When I came across the part of the article where she acknowledges that she too has an intellectual disability I felt so proud of the writer. I was proud that she as able to fully and openly admit. She was not ashamed, she was not hiding behind her disability, but rather shedding light upon the fact that people with intellectual disabilities can still work hard and produce quality work. It made me frustrated the think that there are probably people who come across they fact that she has an intellectual disability and completely discredit this article and move on to something else. I am sure that there are also other people who then scour this article looking for mistakes. 

I really connected this article to how my students are looked at and treated when we go out into the community. A few weeks ago we walked to Costco to get one of their giant pizzas for lunch. Once we were there the students sat down and staff got the pizza, plates, drinks and napkins.  We got a lot of looks. Some were looks that seemed disapproving and others that were looks of pity. One lady even asked us what group we were part of. On the way out one of the students had a tantrum. Yes, it looked odd, but other peoples reactions did not make the situation any better. As we were walking back to school we agreed that we were thankful that our students really did not realize the ways that others were talking about them, looking at them, or feeling about they being in the same space as them. Not all people with disabilities are this “lucky”. It just makes me sad. 

Mcevoy, S. C., & Keenan, E. (2013). Attitudes towards people with disabilities -      

         what do people with intellectual disabilities have to say? Br J Learn Disabil 

         British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(3), 221-227. doi:10.1111/bld.\    

         12032