Perceptions of disability

I thought the topic of stigmatization or pathologization based off culture was interesting, particularly in terms of mental health. Across cultures, perceptions of health, healthcare, and treatment are so different, it is interesting to see how the dialogues on how to treat people are always changing. Mental ability in particular seems to vary in its perceptions and “treatments”.

Becker talks about Western views of what the autonomous, abled person embodies. There is also conversation about how cross culturally, these views are not static or single faceted. Even in the US, the cultures surrounding disability are entirely different. Conversations in the US seem to focus on disability justice and advocacy while globally there really is no focus, or the topic is of little importance in the first place. For example, in the US, diagnosing autism, ADHD and ADD often has an attached stigma but they are at least diagnosed and options exist for people to work with their conditions. So, there is stigma, but there is also help. In my experience with east-Asian cultures, mental ability is something that is ignored, lumped together as a single type of “crazy” or attributed to someone’s personality. An autistic person in Korea may not be seen as someone with a disability. Rather, they may be seen as awkward or crazy but not disabled. In which case, there is stigma but no help. In other cultures however, being perceived as neuro-nontypical may not have the negative connotations. If you take the autistic person in Korea and transplant them to the US or to another culture entirely, they may or may not be perceived as disabled at all. Which inherently asks the question, what defines mental disability? This is another cross cultural question.

“The normative, or transcendent, self is viewed as cohesive, bounded, autonomous, continuous, and stable ... This view of the self has been related to Western traditions and values of autonomy and independence … and has been weighted toward the effects of social structure and individual agency. In contrast, the contingent self is viewed as culturally determined and has been linked most often to cross-cultural work (Murray 1993). This view emphasizes contested and negotiated meanings, diversity, and inner experience… Ewing (1990) suggests that individuals continuously reconstitute their identities in response to internal and external stimuli as a "string of selves," ever changing, in which a person may overlook inconsistencies and experience wholeness and continuity. This perspective is supported by recent research on the narrative structures of life stories (Luborsky1 993)” (Becker, 387)

I chose this quote because I feel it succinctly sums up why people experience health and ability differently. It also touches on the idea that mental ability as part of identity politics.  As healthcare providers or even anthropologists, it is impossible to try and analyze a culture without looking at the factors that constitute it. The image I chose relates to the idea of different cultures creating different realities about identity dialogues. The image is a photo of a letter. The letter is from the Autism Speaks foundation , asking a Ms. Dana Commandatore to donate money to help cure autism and promote self-advocacy for those with autism. However, the language in the letter does not reflect promoting self-advocacy; rather it promotes the idea that those who are neurotypical should make decisions for those with autism and try to get rid of autism. Commandatore obviously takes issue with the language and the intent of the letter in general and annotates and returns it to the foundation.

I feel like this image is a good example of conflicting cultures regarding metal ability. Though this foundation is probably well meaning, their goal is to cure a condition that they have already stated is incurable. Instead of building support and advocacy networks that help people live with autism, their main goal seems to be curing autism. This ignores the main issue, which is that  people with mental disabilities are often silenced and oppressed and have little room to create those advocacy networks for themselves in a society that in inherently ableist.

- James

Becker, Gay. "Metaphors in Disrupted Lives: Infertility and Cultural Constructions of Continuity." Medical   Anthropology Quarterly 8.4 (1994): 383-410. Print.

Picture: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb8wgwS6fv1r2i8g6o1_1280.jpg