Stereotypes

  1. The Disabled are “Welfare Cheats”

While Appalachia has been coined the “disability belt”, disability itself is not a popularized stereotype of the region. Stereotypes that intersect with disability include perceived welfare cheating and the region’s generally poor health. Stereotypes of moonshine, smoking, opioids, and economic poverty create a stereotype of negative health and welfare cheating. While such stereotypes do not specifically describe disability, they suggest the region has higher rates of disability and that its people appropriate disability welfare.

2. Disability Recipients Do Not Want to Work

Another common stereotype is that disabled people apply to SSDI because they don’t want to work, not because they are not able to. The Washington Post reports that “Some recipients subsist on benefits alone, unable to work at all because of their disability, and some find paid part-time work.” The reality is that the majority of disabled individuals want to work, as having a job provides a sense of accomplishment and meaning in life for many. Even if they are eligible to work, disabled people face extreme discrimination in the workforce.

3. Framing the Disabled as “Victims”

It is also a general perception by the public that individuals with disabilities want our pity. Disability is often immediately associated with a poor quality of life and tragedy. While these may be true in some cases, many individuals with disabilities do not want patronizing comments all the time and are able to live fulfilling lives.

4. Framing the Disabled as “Heroic” & “Inspirational”

When individuals with disabilities are able to overcome their daily struggles in certain ways, they are automatically deemed as objects of “inspiration” to the general public. Think of it this way: Disabled people are sometimes applauded for daily tasks that are not big deals to them, and seen as heroic just for existing in their bodies. As Stella Young, a disabled woman from Australia points out, “I want to live in a world where we value genuine achievement for disabled people.” One of the comments on her Ted Talk points out a metaphor we can all understand: “Telling a person who has a disability that they’re so brave for living their everyday life is like someone telling you that you’re such an inspiration for eating cereal in the morning. It’s just weird.”

5. The Disabled as “Others”

When labelling disabled individuals as inherently different than the non-disabled population, we are taking part in their dehumanization. The pointing and whispering about visible disabilities leads to the treatment of humans as objects. Also, the notion that a disability has to be visible is just plain wrong; there is no one specific way to define a disability and what it looks like.