The Construction of Disability & Health:

The Role of Spaces & PlacesAPHA Disability Section Chair’s Forum 2013

Ableism:A form of discrimination or social prejudice

against people with disabilitiesWikipedia.com

Tannis Hargrove

“Normalized culture makes it impossible to know that it creates itself by Otherizing those at its margins.”

~ Phil Smith, 2005

LandscapesPhysical Space• Lack of curb cuts, ramps, doors• physical inaccessibility as the default

Social Space • Lack of people with disabilities in the media, lack

of awareness of disability issues in general

Cultural Denial Privilege • Privilege in space – ramps in back vs. stairs in front – Not

having to think about these issues • Reinforcing “out of site out of mind” cultural attitude

Cost of Change• Money and power• Attitudes

Overcoming AbleismIdentifying Ableism in the collective & spatial consciousness• Creating awareness, education and advocacy• A new framework for viewing society as a whole

focusing on created space

For Your Consideration• What is your vision for a non-ableist world?

• Can a wheelchair user come over to your house?

• How can we shift the focus of the cost of change?

Beyond “Special Places for Special People”

Tannis Hargrove

“…rather than being born with a predisposition to recognize and categorize Other, we learn to categorize through cultural practice…”

~ Rob Kitchin 1998, 344

“Specialized” Cultural PracticeSpecial places usually associated with disability• Special ED• Transportation: “Short Bus” & Para-transit• Special Olympics• Special Populations: Emergency Planning

Special is Never Equal• Special creates the illusion “you get

something that I don’t”

• Creation of a divide – us vs. them•Amusement Park, Ski Hill lines•Creation of difference

Labeling and “Accessibility”• “Accessible” bathrooms

• “Accessible” parking

• Practically necessary for participation

• They create “special” places

For Your Consideration

• Do special places legitimize social segregation?

• How do special places contribute to health disparities among people with disabilities?