Abstract

In recent decades, the social sciences have acknowledged that identities that were once considered static and biological, particularly gender, are actually socially constructed (Butler, 1989). One identity that is seldom included in this idea is disability. Disability status is typically considered strictly biological; in reality, disability is a social construct that may be influenced by individual psychology and the perceptions of others. I argue that the disability learning curve includes both physical effort and emotional self-reflection, without which the more practical learning cannot take place. This project asks how individuals come to recognize themselves as disabled. Research took place over four months of ethnographic study through participant observation and interviews with physically disabled participants, the transcripts of which were then coded and analyzed using a grounded theoretical approach (Glaser, 1978). The results suggest that disabled individuals may see their disability identity differently depending on their type of disability, age of onset, symptomology and their own perception of themselves. Additionally, the disability learning curve was seen affecting the disabled participant’s friends and families as well as themselves. It is hoped that the results of this and future research could aid disabled individuals in accepting their disability identity, which has been shown to lower psychological distress (Bogart, 2015). 

Keywords

Disability Identity, Disability, Emotional Labor, Social Construct, Chronic Illness

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