Editing Disability (section)

=== Societal norms ===
In contexts where their differences are visible, persons with disabilities often face [[social stigma|stigma]]. People frequently react to disabled presence with fear, pity, patronization, intrusive gazes, [[Disgust|revulsion]], or disregard. These reactions can, and often do, exclude persons with disabilities from accessing social spaces along with the benefits and resources these spaces provide.<ref name=":1x">{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://donnareeve.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ReeveChapter2004b.pdf|title=Reeve Chapter 2004|last=Reeve|first=Donna|publisher=The Disability Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-9528450-8-9|editor-last=Barnes|editor-first=Colin|location=Leeds, UK|pages=83–100|chapter=Psycho-emotional dimensions of disability and the social model|editor-last2=Mercer|editor-first2=Geof|access-date=April 19, 2016|archive-date=May 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505134229/http://donnareeve.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ReeveChapter2004b.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Disabled writer/researcher Jenny Morris describes how stigma functions to marginalize persons with disabilities:<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://repositoriocdpd.net:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/605/L_MorrisJ_PrideAgainstPrejudice_1991.pdf?sequence=1|title=Pride Against Prejudice Transforming Attitudes to Disability|last=Morris|first=Jenny|publisher=The Women's Press|year=1991|location=Aylesbury, Bucks, UK|pages=21, 22|access-date=April 19, 2016|archive-date=April 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423174531/http://repositoriocdpd.net:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/605/L_MorrisJ_PrideAgainstPrejudice_1991.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|Going out in public so often takes courage. How many of us find that we can't dredge up the strength to do it day after day, week after week, year after year, a lifetime of rejection and revulsion? It is not only physical limitations that restrict us to our homes and those whom we know. It is the knowledge that each entry into the public world will be dominated by stares, by condescension, by pity, and by hostility.}}
Additionally, facing stigma can cause harm to the psycho-emotional well-being of the person being stigmatized. One of the ways in which the psycho-emotional health of persons with disabilities is adversely affected is through the internalization of the oppression they experience, which can lead to feeling that they are weak, crazy, worthless or any number of other negative attributes that may be associated with their conditions. Internalization of oppression damages the self-esteem of the person affected and shapes their behaviors in ways that are compliant with dominance of those with no acknowledged disability.<ref name=":1x" /> Ableist ideas are frequently internalized when disabled people are pressured by the people and institutions around them to hide and downplay their disabled difference, or, "pass". According to writer Simi Linton, the act of passing takes a deep emotional toll by causing disabled individuals to experience loss of community, anxiety and self-doubt.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Linton|first1=Semi|title=Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity|date=1998|publisher=NYU Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8147-5134-3|archive-url=https://archive.org/details/claimingdisabili00lint/mode/2up|archive-date=September 30, 2013|pages=19–21|url=https://archive.org/details/claimingdisabili00lint/page/19|access-date=May 3, 2016}}</ref> The media play a significant role in creating and reinforcing stigma associated with disability. Media portrayals of disability usually cast disabled presence as necessarily [[Social exclusion|marginal]] within society at large. These portrayals simultaneously reflect and influence the popular perception of disabled difference.

==== Tropes ====
{{Further|Disability in the media}}
There are distinct tactics that the media frequently employ in representing disability. These common ways of framing disability are heavily criticized for being dehumanizing and failing to place importance on the perspectives of persons with disabilities. As outlined by [[Disability studies|disability theorist]] and [[rhetoric]]ian [[Jay Timothy Dolmage]], ableist media tropes can reflect and continue to perpetuate societal myths about disabled people.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Dolmage |first=Jay Timothy |title=Disability Rhetoric |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8156-3324-2 |edition=1st |location= |pages=31–61}}</ref>

===== Inspiration porn =====
[[Inspiration porn]] refers to portrayals of persons with disabilities in which they are presented as being inspiring simply because the person has a disability. These portrayals are criticized because they are created with the intent of making viewers with no acknowledged disability feel better about themselves in comparison to the individual portrayed. Rather than recognizing the humanity of persons with disabilities, inspiration porn turns them into objects of inspiration for an audience composed of those with no acknowledged disability.<ref>{{Cite web|  last = Young | first =Stella  |url=http://www.abc.net.au/rampup/articles/2012/07/02/3537035.htm|title=We're not here for your inspiration|website= Ramp up | publisher = ABC Services   |  location  = Australia  |language=en-AU|access-date=April 19, 2016|date=July 2, 2012|archive-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428121659/http://www.abc.net.au/rampup/articles/2012/07/02/3537035.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===== Supercrip =====
The supercrip trope refers to instances when the media reports on or portray a disabled person who has made a noteworthy achievement but centers on their disability rather than what they actually did. They are portrayed as awe-inspiring for being exceptional compared to others with the same or similar conditions. This trope is widely used in reporting on disabled athletes as well as in portrayals of autistic savants.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Representing Autism Culture, Narrative, Fascination|last=Murray|first=Stuart |publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2008| isbn = 978-1-84631-092-8 |location=Liverpool}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author1= Hardin, Marie Myers |author2= Hardin, Brent |title=The 'Supercrip' in sport media: Wheelchair athletes discuss hegemony's disabled hero |journal =Sociology of Sport Online |volume=7 |issue=1 |date=June 2004 |publisher=School of Physical Education, University of Otago | issn = 1461-8192|url=http://physed.otago.ac.nz/sosol/v7i1/v7i1_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040819191636/http://physed.otago.ac.nz/sosol/v7i1/v7i1_1.html |archive-date=August 19, 2004 |access-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref>

These representations, notes disability scholar Ria Cheyne, "are widely assumed to be inherently regressive",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cheyne |first=Ria |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e541dbd4-c418-4250-bf50-4c84e3cbbe54/external_content.pdf |title=Disability, Literature, Genre: Representation and Affect in Contemporary Fiction |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-78962-077-1 |edition=1 |location=United Kingdom |publication-date=2019 |pages=62–3 |language=en |quote=Although the authors do not expand on their analysis in depth, they do not need to: supercrip representations are widely assumed to be 'inherently regressive' (Schalk 75). To label a representation as deploying this stereotype is 'the ultimate scholarly insult', a form of critical dismissal which decisively locates that text as unproductive from a disability studies perspective (Schalk 71). |via=OAPEN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221192952/https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e541dbd4-c418-4250-bf50-4c84e3cbbe54/external_content.pdf |archive-date= February 21, 2024 }}</ref> reducing people to their condition rather than viewing them as full people. Furthermore, supercrip portrayals are criticized for creating the unrealistic expectation that disability should be accompanied by some type of special talent, genius, or insight.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Schalk |first=Sami |date=2016 |title=Reevaluating the Supercrip |s2cid-access=free |url=https://samischalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Schalk_Reevaluating-the-Supercrip_JLCDS-2016.pdf |journal=Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=71–86 |doi=10.3828/jlcds.2016.5 |s2cid=147281453 |issn=1757-6458 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108013753/https://www.samischalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Schalk_Reevaluating-the-Supercrip_JLCDS-2016.pdf |archive-date= November 8, 2022 }}</ref>

Examples of this trope in the media include Dr. Shaun Murphy from ''[[The Good Doctor (American TV series)|The Good Doctor]]'', Marvel's [[Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)|Daredevil]], and others.

Scholar [[Sami Schalk]] argues that the term supercrip has a narrow definition given how widely used the term is. As a result, Schlak provides three categories of supercrip narratives used:<ref name=":9" />

# The regular supercrip narrative in which a disabled person gains regulation for completing mundane tacts. This is commonly seen as a disabled person being able to accomplish something despite their disability. 
# The glorified supercrip narrative in which a disabled person is praised for succeeding at something even a non-disabled person would not be able to do. This narrative form is commonly used to talk about disabled [[Paralympic sports|Paralympic athletes]].
# The superpowered supercrip narrative which appears in functionalized representations of disabled characters. Characters of this narrative type gain superpowers due to their disability. Common examples of this narrative form in action are prosthetics limbs that make one more powerful than expected or have futuristic technology that makes one a [[cyborg]].<ref name=":9"/>

===== Disabled villain =====
Characters in fiction that bear physical or mental markers of difference from perceived societal norms are frequently positioned as villains within a text. Lindsey Row-Heyveld shares ways students should be taught to begin to further analyze this issue.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Row-Heyveld|first=Lindsey|date=2015|title=Reading Batman, Writing X-Men Superpowers and Disabilities in the First-Year Seminar|journal=Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture| volume = 15 |pages=519–26|number =3|doi=10.1215/15314200-2917105|s2cid=146299487}}</ref> Disabled people's visible differences from the abled majority are meant to evoke fear in audiences that can perpetuate the mindset of disabled people being a threat to individual or public interests and well-being.

===== Disability drop =====
The "disability drop" [[Trope (literature)|trope]] is when a supposedly disabled character is revealed to have been faking, embellishing, or otherwise not actually embodying their claimed disability. [[Jay Dolmage]] offers [[Kevin Spacey]]'s character, Verbal Kint, in the film ''[[Usual Suspects]]'' as an example of this, and depictions like this can reflect able-bodied society's mistrust of disabled people.<ref name=":5" /> In addition, this reveal of a character's nondisabledness often serves as the narrative climax of a story, and the use of disability as a source of conflict in the plot, narrative obstacle, or a device of characterization aligns with other disability studies scholars' theory of "Narrative [[Prosthesis]]", a term coined by David T. Mitchell and Sharon Snyder.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=David T. |title=Narrative Prosthesis: Disability and the Dependencies of Discourse |last2=Snyder |first2=Sharon L. |date=2000 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-06748-0}}</ref>

===== The disabled victim =====
Another frequent occurrence is when someone with a disability is assumed to be miserable or helpless.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Silver |first1=Roxane Lee |date=1982 |title=Coping with an undesirable life event: a study of early reactions to physical disability |oclc=25949964 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/40770ff2b3c68e79f22147c3fe430cb5/1}}</ref>

''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame's]]'' [[Quasimodo]], ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man's]]'' [[Joseph Merrick|John Merrick]], ''[[A Christmas Carol (2009 film)|A Christmas Carol's]]'' [[Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)|Tiny Tim]], and even news broadcasts that refer to people as "victims" or "sufferers" are a few examples of this stereotype.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Colin |title=Disabling Imagery and the Media |date=March 15, 1992 |publisher=Ryburn Publishing |isbn=1-85331-042-5 |location=Krumlin, Halifax}}</ref>

===== Eternally Innocent =====
Characters with disabilities are frequently portrayed in movies as being angelic or childish. These films include ''[[Rain Man]]'' (1988), ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' (1994) and ''[[I Am Sam]]'' (2001).<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Byrne |first=Peter |date=May 18, 2002 |title=I Am Sam |journal=BMJ: British Medical Journal |volume=324 |issue=7347 |pages=1223 |doi=10.1136/bmj.324.7347.1223 |issn=0959-8138 |pmc=1123184}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pettey |first1=Homer B. |title=Mind Reeling: Psychopathology on Film |date=2020 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-8102-9}}</ref>

The innocent and endearing person with a disability often points out the inadequacies of their "normal" adult peers, which helps them achieve salvation.<ref name=":11" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=Thomas E. |title=Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality |date=2008 |publisher=Brazos Press |isbn=978-1-4412-0263-5}}</ref>

Like all the others, this stereotype perpetuates patronizing perceptions that are simply untrue and are therefore damaging.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disability stereotypes in the media {{!}} Aruma |url=https://www.aruma.com.au/about-us/blog/run-forest-run-disability-stereotypes-in-the-media/ |website=Aruma Disability Services |access-date=October 8, 2022 |language=en |date=August 24, 2020}}</ref>

While there are many disability tropes, disability aesthetics attempts to dispel them by accurately depicting disabled bodies in art and media.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Siebers |first=Tobin |date=2005 |title=Disability Aesthetics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25486181 |journal=PMLA |volume=120 |issue=2 |pages=542–546 |doi=10.1632/S0030812900167860 |jstor=25486181 |s2cid=233314914 |issn=0030-8129|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==== Self-advocacy ====
Some disabled people have attempted to resist [[marginalization]] through the use of the social model in opposition to the medical model; with the aim of shifting criticism away from their bodies and impairments and towards the social institutions that oppress them relative to their abled peers. Disability activism that demands many grievances be addressed, such as lack of [[accessibility]], poor representation in media, general disrespect, and [[ignorance|lack of recognition]], originates from a social model framework.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Owens |first1=Janine |title=Exploring the critiques of the social model of disability: the transformative possibility of Arendt's notion of power |journal=Sociology of Health & Illness |date=March 2015 |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=385–403 |doi=10.1111/1467-9566.12199 |pmid=25524639 }}</ref>

The creation of "disability culture" stemmed from the shared experience of stigmatization in broader society.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Steven E. |date=Spring 2002 |title=What Is Disability Culture? |url=https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/343/434 |journal=Disability Studies Quarterly |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=34–50|doi=10.18061/dsq.v22i2.343 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Embracing disability as a positive identity by becoming involved in disabled communities and participating in disability culture can be an effective way to combat internalized prejudice; and can challenge dominant narratives about disability.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reeve|first=Donna|date=2002|title=Negotiating Psycho-Emotional Dimensions of Disability and their Influence on Identity Constructions|url=http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/69654/1/ReeveArticle2002.pdf|journal=Disability & Society|volume=17|issue=5|doi=10.1080/09687590220148487|access-date=April 19, 2016|pages=493–508|s2cid=17324956|archive-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428003831/http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/69654/1/ReeveArticle2002.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Intersections ====
{{expand section|date=February 2018}}
[[File:Disabled BIPOC in front of pride flag.jpg|alt=Pictured are three Black and disabled people. On the left is a non-binary person holding a cane, in the middle there is a woman sitting in a power wheelchair, and on the right is a woman sitting in a chair. They are all partially smiling at the camera while a rainbow pride flag drapes on the wall behind them.|thumb|Three Black and disabled people in front of a [[pride flag]]]]
The experiences that disabled people have to navigate social institutions vary greatly as a function of what other social categories they may belong to. For example, a disabled man and a disabled woman experience disability differently.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Begum |first1=Nasa |title=Disabled Women and the Feminist Agenda |journal=Feminist Review |date=March 1992 |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=70–84 |doi=10.1057/fr.1992.6 |s2cid=143930177 }}</ref> This speaks to the concept of [[intersectionality]], which explains that different aspects of a person's identity (such as their gender, race, sexuality, religion, or social class) intersect and create unique experiences of oppression and privilege.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pettinicchio |first1=David |last2=Maroto |first2=Michelle |chapter=Employment Outcomes Among Men and Women with Disabilities: How the Intersection of Gender and Disability Status Shapes Labor Market Inequality |date=January 1, 2017 |editor-last=Altman |editor-first=Barbara M. |title=Factors in Studying Employment for Persons with Disability |pages=3–33 |series=Research in Social Science and Disability Vol. 10 |publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited |doi=10.1108/s1479-354720170000010003 |isbn=978-1-78714-606-8 |s2cid=158400534|url=https://zenodo.org/record/5816165 }}</ref> The United Nations [[Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]] differentiates between a few kinds of disability intersections, such as the age-disability, race-disability, and gender-disability intersection.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lawson |first1=Anna |title=European Union Non-Discrimination Law and Intersectionality: Investigating the Triangle of Racial, Gender and Disability Discrimination |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-13921-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) {{!}} United Nations Enable |url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-Persons-with-disabilities.html |access-date=February 21, 2024 |website=www.un.org}}</ref> However, many more intersections exist. Disability is defined differently by each person; it may be visible or invisible, and multiple intersections often arise from overlapping identity categories.

===== Race =====
Incidence of disability is reported to be greater among several minority communities across the globe, according to a systematic analysis of the [[Global Burden of Disease Study]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Theo Vos | collaboration=GBD 2016 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators <!-- There's 700 collaborators, it's best to use a group name. --> | title=Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 328 diseases and injuries for 195 countries, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 | journal=The Lancet | volume=390 | issue=10100 <!-- 390(10100) is the correct volume and issue. --> | year=2017 | issn=0140-6736 | doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(17)32154-2 | doi-access=free | pages=1211–1259| pmid=28919117 | pmc=5605509 }}</ref> Disabled people who are also racial [[minority group|minorities]] generally have less access to support and are more vulnerable to [[Police brutality|violent discrimination.]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Frederick|first1=Angela |last2=Shifrer|first2=Dara|date=July 11, 2018|title=Race and Disability: From Analogy to Intersectionality |journal=Sociology of Race and Ethnicity|volume=5|issue=2|pages=200–214|doi=10.1177/2332649218783480 |s2cid=150155324|issn=2332-6492|doi-access=free}}</ref> A study in the journal ''Child Development'' indicated that minority disabled children are more likely to receive punitive discipline in low and middle income countries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hendricks|first1=Charlene|last2=Lansford|first2=Jennifer E. |last3=Deater-Deckard|first3=Kirby|last4=Bornstein|first4=Marc H. |date=July 29, 2013|title=Associations Between Child Disabilities and Caregiver Discipline and Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries |journal=Child Development|volume=85|issue=2|pages=513–531|doi=10.1111/cdev.12132 |pmid=23895329 |pmc=4151611|issn=0009-3920}}</ref> Due to the fact that children with disabilities are mistreated more often than those without disability; racialized children in this category are at an even higher risk.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sullivan |first1=PM |last2=Knutson |first2=JF |title=Maltreatment and disabilities: a population-based epidemiological study. |journal=Child Abuse & Neglect |date=October 2000 |volume=24 |issue=10 |pages=1257–1273 |doi=10.1016/s0145-2134(00)00190-3 |pmid=11075694|s2cid=20946280 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Randall |first1=W |last2=Sobsey |first2=D |last3=Parrila |first3=R |year=2001 |title=Ethnicity, disability, and risk for abuse |journal=Developmental Disabilities Bulletin |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=60–80}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Horner-Johnson |first1=W |last2=Drum |first2=CE |title=Prevalence of maltreatment of people with intellectual disabilities: a review of recently published research. |journal=Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews |date=2006 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=57–69 |doi=10.1002/mrdd.20097 |pmid=16435331|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=J |last2=Cohen |first2=P |last3=Johnson |first3=JG |last4=Salzinger |first4=S |title=A longitudinal analysis of risk factors for child maltreatment: findings of a 17-year prospective study of officially recorded and self-reported child abuse and neglect. |journal=Child Abuse & Neglect |date=November 1998 |volume=22 |issue=11 |pages=1065–78 |doi=10.1016/s0145-2134(98)00087-8 |pmid=9827312|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perkins |first1=S |title=An Ecological Perspective on the Comorbidity of Childhood Violence Exposure and Disabilities: Focus on the Ecology of the School. |journal=Psychology of Violence |date=January 2012 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=75–89 |doi=10.1037/a0026137 |pmid=34621555 |pmc=8494429}}</ref> With respect to [[disability in the United States]], Camille A. Nelson, writing for the ''[[Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law]]'', notes the dual discrimination that racial minorities with disabilities experience from the criminal justice system, expressing that for "people who are negatively racialized, that is people who are perceived as being non-white, and for whom mental illness is either known or assumed, interaction with police is precarious and potentially dangerous."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nelson|first1=Camille|date=Spring 2010 |title=Racializing Disability, Disabling Race: Policing Race and Mental Status |journal=Berkley Journal of Criminal Law|volume=15|issue=1 |url=http://www.bjcl.org/articles/15_1%20Nelson%20(1-64).pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204124256/http://www.bjcl.org/articles/15_1%20Nelson%20(1-64).pdf |archive-date=February 4, 2020|access-date=May 3, 2016}}</ref>

===== Gender =====
The marginalization of people with disabilities can leave persons with disabilities unable to actualize what society expects of gendered existence. This lack of recognition for their gender identity can leave persons with disabilities with feelings of inadequacy. Thomas J. Gerschick of [[Illinois State University]] describes why this denial of gendered identity occurs:<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gerschick|first1=Thomas|title=Towards a Theory of Disability and Gender |journal=Signs|date=Summer 2000|volume=25|issue=4|pages=1263–68|jstor=3175525|doi=10.1086/495558|s2cid=144519468}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=Bodies operate socially as canvases on which gender is displayed and kinesthetically as the mechanisms by which it is physically enacted. Thus, the bodies of people with disabilities make them vulnerable to being denied recognition as women and men.}}
To the extent that women and men with disabilities are gendered, the interactions of these two identities lead to different experiences. Women with disabilities face a sort of "double [[social stigma|stigmatization]]" in which their membership to both of these marginalized categories simultaneously exacerbates the negative stereotypes associated with each as they are ascribed to them. However, according to the framework of intersectionality, gender and disability intersect to create a unique experience that is not simply the coincidence of being a woman and having a disability separately, but the unique experience of being a woman with a disability. It follows that the more marginalized groups one belongs to, their experience of privilege or oppression changes: in short, a black woman and a white woman will experience disability differently.<ref>{{cite book |chapter="When Black Women Start Going on Prozac ..." The Politics of Race, Gender, and Emotional Distress in Meri Nana-Ama Danquah's Willow Weep for Me |date=May 2, 2013 |editor=Lennard J. Davis |title=The Disability Studies Reader |pages=415–435 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780203077887-41 |isbn=978-0-203-07788-7}}</ref>

According to The UN Woman Watch, "Persistence of certain cultural, legal and institutional barriers makes women and girls with disabilities the victims of two-fold discrimination: as women and as persons with disabilities."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.un.org/womenwatch/enable/|title= Feature on Women with Disabilities|last=WomenWatch |website=UN |access-date=October 24, 2017|archive-date=September 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928042447/http://www.un.org/womenwatch/enable/|url-status=live}}</ref> As Rosemarie Garland-Thomson puts it, "Women with disabilities, even more intensely than women in general, have been cast in the collective cultural imagination as inferior, lacking, excessive, incapable, unfit, and useless."<ref>{{cite journal|date=Winter 2005|title=Feminist Disability Studies|doi=10.1086/423352|journal=Signs|volume=30|issue=2|pages=1557–87|last1=Garland-Thomson|first1=Rosemarie|s2cid=144603782}}</ref>

===== Socio-economic background =====
Similar to the intersections of race and disability or gender and disability, a person's socio-economic background will also change their experience of disability. A disabled person with a low socio-economic status will experience the world differently, with more obstacles and fewer opportunities, than a disabled person with a high socio-economic status.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ong-Dean |first=Colin |title=Distinguishing Disability |date=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |doi=10.7208/chicago/9780226630021.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-226-63001-4}}</ref><ref name="Lustig 2007 194–202">{{cite journal |last1=Lustig |first1=Daniel C. |last2=Strauser |first2=David R. |title=Causal Relationships Between Poverty and Disability |journal=Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin |date=July 2007 |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=194–202 |doi=10.1177/00343552070500040101 |s2cid=144496704 }}</ref>

A good example of the [[Socioeconomic status and mental health|intersection]] between disability and [[Socioeconomic status|socio-economic status]] is access to education, as we know that there are direct links between poverty and disability - <ref name="Lustig 2007 194–202" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neufeldt |first=Aldred H. |date=1995 |title=Empirical Dimensions of Discrimination against Disabled People |journal=Health and Human Rights |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=174–189 |doi=10.2307/4065213 |jstor=4065213 |pmid=10395720 |issn=1079-0969}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grech |first1=Shaun |title=Poverty and disability |journal=Disability & Society |date=December 2011 |volume=26 |issue=7 |pages=888–891 |doi=10.1080/09687599.2011.618747 |s2cid=144977018 }}</ref> often working in a vicious cycle.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jenkins |first=Richard |date=1991 |title=Disability and Social Stratification |journal=The British Journal of Sociology |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=557–580 |doi=10.2307/591447 |jstor=591447 |pmid=1838293}}</ref> The costs of special education and caring for a disabled child are higher than for a child with no acknowledged disability, which poses an immense barrier in accessing appropriate education.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lukemeyer |first1=Anna |last2=Meyers |first2=Marcia K. |last3=Smeeding |first3=Timothy |date=2000 |title=Expensive Children in Poor Families: Out-of-Pocket Expenditures for the Care of Disabled and Chronically Ill Children in Welfare Families |journal=Journal of Marriage and Family |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=399–415 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00399.x |issn=0022-2445}}</ref> The inaccessibility of appropriate education (at any stage), can lead to difficulties in finding employment, which often results in the vicious cycle of being 'bound' by one's experience as a poor and disabled person to remain in the same social structure and experience socio-economic exclusion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barnes |first1=Colin |last2=Sheldon |first2=Alison |title=Disability, politics and poverty in a majority world context |journal=Disability & Society |date=December 2010 |volume=25 |issue=7 |pages=771–782 |doi=10.1080/09687599.2010.520889 |s2cid=144808946 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Soldatic |first1=Karen |last2=Pini |first2=Barbara |title=The three Ds of welfare reform: disability, disgust and deservingness |journal=Australian Journal of Human Rights |date=November 2009 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=77–95 |doi=10.1080/1323238X.2009.11910862 |s2cid=148904296 }}</ref> In short, this vicious cycle exacerbates the lack of [[Economic capital|economic]], [[Social capital|social]], and [[cultural capital]] for disabled people with a low socio-economic background. On the other hand, a disabled person of a high socio-economic status, may have an easier time accessing appropriate (special) education or treatment - for example by having access to better aids, resources, or programmes that can help them succeed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Auerbach |first1=Susan |title='Why Do They Give the Good Classes to Some and Not to Others?' Latino Parent Narratives of Struggle in a College Access Program |journal=Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education |date=October 2002 |volume=104 |issue=7 |pages=1369–1392 |doi=10.1111/1467-9620.00207 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perna |first1=Laura W |last2=Titus |first2=Marvin A |title=The Relationship between Parental Involvement as Social Capital and College Enrollment: An Examination of Racial/Ethnic Group Differences |journal=The Journal of Higher Education |date=2005 |volume=76 |issue=5 |pages=485–518 |id={{Project MUSE|185966}} |doi=10.1353/jhe.2005.0036 |s2cid=32290790 }}</ref>