Disability and identity

Instructions

1. Clarification of concepts (20 minutes)

• The facilitator hands out the following definition from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 1), and reads it out loud:“Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
• The facilitator asks: What do you think is meant when it states persons may encounter various barriers that may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others? Which barriers can people encounter if they are in a wheelchair? Or have reduced eyesight?
• The facilitator shows a presentation and reads this question out loud:
  • Q: What is the percentage of the world’s population living with disability? Answer: 16 per cent. In other words, one in six. Most of us will (to varying degrees) experience disability in the course of our lives. (Source: WHO). Why does this happen?
    
  • Q: Is the proportion of individuals with disability expected to diminish in the coming years? Answer: No, the proportion is expected to increase due to changes in the composition of the population (the number of elderly and chronic health conditions are on the rise), and health emergencies (outbreak of diseases, natural disasters and conflicts). (Source: World Health Organization).
  • Q: Who is responsible for protecting and realising the rights of people with disability? Answer: States that have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have this responsibility. As of July 2023, 186 nations have undertaken to comply with the Convention. Even though the state has the primary responsibility, it is important to keep in mind that everyone can contribute. We can for example:
    1. Report when we notice that people with disability encounter barriers in society.
    2. Support and/or become members of an organisation working for the rights of people with disability.
    3. Acquire more knowledge about the rights of people with disability.
  • Q: Mention a film where the main character or supporting characters have some form of disability. You can find examples of such films here (Tilting the Lens). Even if one in six persons in the world has a type of disability, this is not reflected accurately in films and television series.
  • Q: How many children with disability go to school in developing countries? Answer: 10 per cent. This means that 90 per cent of children with disability do not receive basic education (UNESCO).

2) The participants complete the identity exercise (20-30 minutes). You find the description of this exercise here.

• After the participants have completed the identity exercise the facilitator reads out loud the following quotation:

“People with disability often experience being seen as exclusively or primarily disabled because the disability ‘erases’ and overshadows other dimensions they have”. (Source: The report “About time” from the Committee for Gender Equality and Diversity(Norway)).

Q: What do you think about this quotation? How can you connect this to the identity exercise you just completed?

Q: Can different situations and contexts determine which aspects of our identity are important? Why? Do you have any examples of this?

Reflection

Disability can be understood in different ways:

1. As a characteristic of the person, i.e. an individual problem caused by illness or injury. This perspective is often called a “medical understanding”.
2. As a result of the interaction between individual characteristics and barriers in society. For example, for a person in a wheelchair, the disability will depend on how universally designed the surroundings are (whether stairs and doors are designed so that the wheelchair user can use them as easily as others). This is often referred to as a “relational understanding” that can be seen in connection with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

• Historically, the medical understanding has been a barrier against realising the rights of people with disability. Why is it important to highlight the interaction between individual characteristics and barriers in society when aiming to improve the human rights situation for people with disability, rather than only focusing on the individual?

Debriefing

Each one of us is a complex individual with many types of belonging and qualities. Our identity is shaped by many things. Different aspects of our identity can be activated in different situations and will depend on the context.

People with disability constitute the largest global minority. This group also represents a huge diversity with varying disabilities, backgrounds, genders, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations and age.

Historically, the medical understanding of disability has been an impediment against realising the human rights of people with disability. A significant milestone was therefore reached with the shift in focus to the interaction between the individual and society. This has made it easier to point out the barriers that prevent people from realising their rights.