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Understanding positive subjectivities made possible online for disabled people
Abstract
The ideology of individualism underlying identity and psychology's focus on a visual ontology may serve to inhibit the social value of people with disabilities. The online medium with its capacity for textual self presentation presents a potentially new environment to operate within. This study set out to explore the psychological meaning of what it meant to be online for people with disabilities. Following the tradition of discursive psychology, we focused especially on constructions of how online experience provided alternative frameworks for social positioning. Participants were recruited from various disability organisations in New Zealand and were invited to take part in an online interview. Three key linguistic resources were identified: uncontaminated judgement, exhibiting strengths, and operating independently. Embedded within these resources was the idea that the physical and attitudinal barriers, disrupting the ability of people with disabilities to display their capabilities independent of a disabled identity, are eliminated online. Consequently, being judged outside of the constraints of a disabled identity affords people with disabilities the opportunity to enjoy a more socially valued subjectivity and a more positive identity.
... Bloustien and Wood (2015) found that the avatars of disabled people on Second Life revealed a negotiation of their disability self-representation that contested traditional notions of a disabled body. Bowker and Tuffin (2007) investigated the positive implications of being online for disabled people in New Zealand, finding that they experience "positive subjectivity." This means that in online spaces disabled bloggers are judged more for the content they share than their identity as a disabled person. ...
... Bloggers from the blindness community who fit with other disabled groups utilize blogs to educate the public about disability (De Los Reyes, 2018). Information flow about blindness is coming from the visually impaired to sighted people as well as their peers, or so-called peer-support (Bowker and Tuffin, 2007;Thompson et al., 2015). ...
... With that, visually impaired older people wanted sighted people to be listeners of their blogs rather than being creators of blindness blogs (Brewer and Piper, 2017). However, some in the disability community oppose the argument that visual impairment issues are to be discussed only by visually impaired people, calling it "well-intentioned segregation" (Strully and Strully, 1985), "online separatism" (Bowker and Tuffin, 2007), and "ghettoization" (Zola, 1991). ...
In this study, 19 bloggers from the blindness community discuss the meaning of blogging both for themselves and for other persons within this community. Bloggers with visual impairments, their relatives, and blog editors of blindness organizations are interviewed to answer the following questions: (1) What motivates people from the blindness community to still use blogs? (2) How does blogging enable the blindness community to shape their identity and share their lived experiences? (3) How do people with visual impairments and their allies see the future of blogs? Using critical disability studies to interpret the findings, we argue that blogs are a significant form of communication and awareness-raising for the blindness community, as well as enhancing the identity of members of the blindness community. The analysis of the interviews shows that visually impaired people’s participation in blogging changes their self-perception in a positive way, as well as others’ perceptions of blindness. According to the study participants, bloggers with visual impairment and their allies consider themselves more knowledgeable about the topic of blindness because their blogs communicate authentic lived experiences. Overall, the participants are generally optimistic about the future of blogging for the benefit of the blindness community.
... First, ICTs increase the information access of PWDs, who are traditionally disadvantaged and oppressed; through information access, PWDs can improve their life chances and overcome previous impediments or domination (Dobransky and Hargittai, 2006). Second, ICTs permit PWDs to hide or remove disabling aspects of themselves through use of online pseudonyms in the digital world until they decide to reveal their true identity, which may help them to overcome barriers of stereotype and prejudice (Bowker and Tuffin, 2007). Third, ICTs enable PWDs to increase social interaction, establish interpersonal relationship, and develop online communities and identities (Goggin and Newell, 2003;McClimens and Gordon, 2009). ...
... As Mr Yun said, the Internet distinctly opened my mind, broadened my horizons and increased my knowledge. I have learned so much knowledge and gained so many skills from the Internet, all of which would have seemed impossible without it for a disabled person like me! (Interview, Yun, 2017) Second, ICTs help PWDs to avoid offline social discrimination and stigma by using online anonymity to connect with other PWDs to form relationships and a community in the virtual world (Bowker and Tuffin, 2007). Mr Huang stated that on the one hand, it is not compulsory to expose my disability to other Internet users, which makes me more confident and comfortable online. ...
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly important for people with disabilities (PWDs), suggesting digital inclusion as a possible social mechanism against the social exclusion of disability. This study suggests a more complicated relationship between ICTs and disability. Situated in a Chinese context and based on research methods of ethnographic participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study explains why and how social exclusion of disability in China leads to PWDs’ exodus to the Internet, where they find a possible habitat of digital and social inclusion notwithstanding the risk of more profound social exclusion. The study finally argues that the Internet habitat of PWDs is both a material enclave and a discourse heterotopia for understanding Chinese society, disability, and ICTs. In addition, future studies should further include PWDs in this field.
... The importance of this state of affairs intensifies in view of the positive impact of coming-out on the emotional (Lasala, 2000) and physical (Larson & Chastain, 1990) state of the gay individual. Considering these difficulties, and the life circumstances of marginal groups in general, many researches stressed the actual contribution of the internet as an empowering tool for these groups (Barak & sadovsky, 2008;Bowker & Tuffin, 2007;Mehra et al., 2004;Radin, 2006). ...
... The potential contribution of newsgroups for young gays coping with the coming-out process supports research studies pointing out the positive influences of the internet on different minority groups, such as cancer patients (Radin, 2006), low-income families (Mehra et al., 2004), the hearing-impaired (Barak & Sadovsky, 2008), and the physically handicapped (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007). ...
The study examines internet newsgroups as a potential mitigating tool in the complex coming-out process
of gay male youth. Employing a qualitative discourse analysis of the newsgroup’s messages, the chapter
focuses on an Israeli newsgroup that appeals to GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) youth and
operates within the most popular UGC (user-generated content) portal in Israel. The findings indicate
that the researched newsgroup functions as a social arena that offers its participants an embracing
milieu, where for the first time in their lives they are free of moral judgment of their sexuality. Through
four distinct yet interrelated ways, the newsgroup helps its participants to cope with one of the most
significant milestones in a gay person’s life – the coming-out process: (1) refuting prevalent stereotypes
of homosexuality; (2) facilitating the acceptance of one’s sexual orientation; (3) prompting its disclosure;
and (4) creating social relations within and outside the virtual environment.
... Increased access to communication technologies have been said to contribute to improvements in equitable outcomes not only for individuals with disabilities http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/4342/4108 (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007), but also for women (Khan & Ghadially, 2010), individuals of lower income stratifications, and ethnic minorities (London, Paster, Servon, Rosner, & Wallace, 2010). For deaf individuals in particular, increased use of CMC may contribute to higher English literacy skills (Garberoglio, Dickson, Cawthon, & Bond, 2015), increased independence (Akamatsu, Mayer, & Farrelly, 2006;Pilling & Barrett, 2008), less likelihood of loneliness, and higher self-esteem (Barak & Sadovsky, 2008). ...
... Online communication is most often said to contribute to positive life experiences for individuals with disabilities through several mechanisms, such as reducing the visible indicators of disability, developing greater sense of identity, increasing social connectivity, and contributing to personal empowerment (Bowker & Tuffin, 2002;Bowker & Tuffin, 2007). The benefits of communication technologies may be magnified for deaf individuals due to the nature of hearing loss, which primarily manifests as a barrier to effective communication. ...
Communication technologies are often proposed to level the playing field for individuals with disabilities, but the benefits may be magnified for deaf individuals in particular due to the communication barriers experienced by these individuals. In this paper, we set out to test the assumption that increased engagement with communication technology, specifically computer-mediated communication, during adolescence would contribute to actual attainment gains in adult life for deaf individuals in three domains: life, education, and employment. A secondary analysis using the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) was conducted, allowing for a longitudinal examination of deaf individuals' experiences in the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Findings revealed that deaf individuals who engaged with computer-mediated communication at higher frequencies during adolescence did not reveal discernible gains in adult life attainments in any domain. We propose that the benefits of communication technology only go so far, and that achieving greater equitable outcomes for deaf individuals requires larger systemic change.
... 1.2. Electronic social and emotional support studies related to people with special needs Bowker and Tuffin (2007) investigated the psychology of the online process for people with physical and sensory disabilities. Results indicated that the physical and attitudinal barriers that impinge upon the ability of people with special needs to demonstrate their competencies are reduced during the online experience. ...
... On the one hand, the e-mentoring process, which is considered to be an example of CMS intervention, has been characterized by anonymity, asynchronicity, and lack of non-verbal communication cues, and considered to be a protective environment for the disclosure of personal information and the development of personal relationships by youth with special needs (Barak, 2007;Bowker & Tuffin, 2007;Coulson, 2005;Joinson, 2001;Suler, 1996Suler, -2005Tidwell & Walther, 2002;Wehmeyer, Smith, Palmer, & Davis, 2004). In the present study, the use of informal language, such as slang phrases, by the mentors and the protégés, indicated a progression towards greater intimacy as the intervention progressed. ...
Electronic mentoring appears to have great potential for youth with special needs since it is an accessible communication medium that provides an opportunity to exchange practical information and support and to experience an accepting relationship with less prejudice. To date, few electronic mentoring intervention programs have been designed especially to support the psychological needs of youth with special needs. This paper presents the results of a study that evaluated an electronic mentoring intervention program designed to provide social and emotional support for protégés with disabilities by mentors who also have disabilities. Using a primarily qualitative research design, the study characterized the electronic mentoring process and its contributions to this population. The findings provided support for the potential of electronic mentoring for personal development and empowerment of youth with special needs. Furthermore, the findings supported the usability and utility of the e-mentoring intervention based on a conceptual framework that characterized an electronic support process for people with special needs. Implications for implementing feasible electronic mentoring programs are discussed.
... Only recently have researchers started to explore this issue when it is related to these special populations. For example, Bowker and Tuffin, (2007) investigated the psychology of the online process for people with physical and sensory disabilities focusing on how the online experience provided alternative frameworks for social positioning. The findings showed that the physical and attitudinal barriers that impinge upon the ability of people with disabilities to show their capabilities are reduced during the online experience. ...
... However, to date, this research has not examined the implications of ongoing CMS intervention. Rather, most studies have focused on the effectiveness of CMS for specific disabilities including those related to intellectual impairment, sensory impairment (visual, hearing) or physical impairment (Bowe, 2002;Power and Power, 2004;Bowker and Tuffin, 2007). In response to these limitations, the pilot study described in this paper examined a CMS intervention program designed for people with a wide range of impairments and accompanied the intervention with outcome measures that would characterize the electronic process and its implications for these people. ...
In recent years an increasing number of people under psychological distress turn to computer-mediated communication for support. A related development is the increasing number of computer-mediated support groups in which people meet, share interests, and exchange socio-emotional support through text-based messages on computer networks. To date, a few policy makers and researchers have addressed the phenomenon of social-emotional support through electronic communication for populations with special needs. This paper presents a conceptual framework developed to characterize an electronic socio-emotional support process for people with special needs. The electronic socio-emotional support framework is based on a review of the literature as well as the results of a pilot study, which examined the use of an electronic mentoring intervention program based on mutual self-disclosure and friendship between mentors and youth with special needs. The implications of the electronic socio-emotional support framework for people with special needs are discussed.
... (Boase, Horrigan, Wellman & Rainie, 2006). Cyberspace provides stigmatized participants with a welcoming venue where they discuss various sensitive and embarrassing issues (Idriss, Kvedar, & Waston, 2009;White & Dorman, 2001), express their unconventional behavior, offer or receive suitable advice and support, meet other folks staying at the fringes of the society (Hegland &Nelson, 2002, p. 141).Diverse study has been carried out by many prominent researchers have demonstrated the positive influence of the Internet on different minority groups, such as low-income families (Mehra, Merkel, & Bishop, 2004), cancer patients (Radin, 2006), physically handicapped (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007), sexual minorities (Marciano, 2011;Mehra et al., 2004), hearing-impaired people (Barak & Sadovsky, 2008), and so on.Idriss and her colleagues (2009) found thatmost of sexual minorities used internet as it was associated with provision of resources (95.3%), expediency (94.0%), access to good advice (91.0%), and lack of discomfiture when dealing with personal issues (90.8%).Internet has brought revolution in the life of sexual minorities by empowering transgenders from rehearsing in virtual world before real show of coming out to expressing their different selves and seeking emotional support, internet has always remained an ideal medium for transgenders to share, care and dare to face every challenge coming their way. ...
: Technology has irreversibly transformed the society and provided a platform to shape the values believes and culture of masses keeping in mind the elimination of gender disparity. However, the existence of Transgender section has challenged the rigid concept of this binary arrangement of social institution. As biological sex does not coincide with the gender identity, transgenders experience severe violence and harassment and most of them are subjected to housing and employment discrimination. Major technological advances such as cyberspace, internet and mass media have provided enormous opportunities for transgender upliftment. Socializing from private realms to discussing various sensitive and embarrassing issues on social platform, from offering or receiving suitable advice and support regarding coming out to sharing unconventional emotions staying at the fringes of the society, technology plays a significant role in tackling gender inequality and empowering transgender. This paper, therefore examines how cyberspace and mass media empowers transgenders by overcoming offline impediments related to their gender and awaking common masses vis-à-vis the issues transgender face due to their gender identity.
... Megan offers a three-part list of what is included in the look of autism ("those sensory things going on↓"; "some of those behavior things"; "you know (.) language that hasn't developed")-descriptions which map closely to the official diagnostic criteria of autism. Often, three-part lists function to generate a sense of completeness in a given description (Bowker and Tuffin 2007; and thus here point to how the boy's "look" is a fairly complete one-not surprisingly being read as "autistic" by official diagnosticians. Megan then offers a tentative framing of what "even…even psychologists" know about a given child. ...
In this chapter we develop a psychological approach to pain as an embodied activity in interaction based on grounded analyses of how pain as a sensorial experience is brought out as an objective matter in medical consultations. Drawing upon discursive psychology (DP) and multimodal conversation analysis, we examine the verbal and embodied resources that accomplish pain, and their organisation with respect to turn and sequence. We demonstrate how pain as a sensorial experience is a practical and joint accomplishment embedded in the ongoing social interaction. Our chapter speaks to theoretical issues within DP, demonstrating the value a praxeological and multimodal approach can have for tackling issues of embodiment, which is of central importance to understanding issues of human sociality.
... Queer folks are positioned in a heroic narrative construction as ''those who challenged traditional gender roles" (line 5-6). The way their persecution is described include the three-part list ''judicially, violently, or socially," which offers a sense of completeness and impact to the argument (Edwards and Potter, 1992;Bowker and Tuffin, 2007). And, by using adverbial emphasizers, such as actually or definitely, the factuality of the claims are reinforced (Quirk et al., 1985). ...
In this paper, we contribute to scholarship around how epistemic rights are managed discursively by considering how LGBTQ+ youth construct their arguments. We take up a critical perspective to understand how these discursive practices function in a language climate where LGBTQ+ youth’s epistemic primacy over issues affecting them is potentially delegitimized through ageism, heterosexism, and genderism. Specifically, we draw upon discursive psychology to analyze how LGBTQ+ youth build up their epistemic primacy and minimize audience critique. Drawing from a larger ethnographic study, we analyzed textual data in slide decks (i.e., PowerPoint slides) created by an LGBTQ+ youth group for presentations they gave to teachers and other youth-serving professionals about working with LGBTQ+ youth. We found that four discursive strategies were used in the slide decks to manage the youth’s epistemic rights, including: (1) using factual claims and outside corroboration, (2) claiming experiential expertise, (3) refuting anticipated critique, and (4) articulating limitations. This study’s findings point broadly to how epistemic rights are built in textual data and specifically how minoritized youth construct text to be taken seriously.
... Further of note in Jenn's post is her use of two lists (i.e., "not allergic," "not very picky," "eat wide varieties of food"; and "people who are trying to lose weight," "people who are sick," "people who are allergic"), both of which have three parts. In talk, lists are generally used to support particular claims (Jefferson, 1984), with three-part lists in particular often serving to create a sense of representativeness (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007;Edwards & Potter, 1992). ...
In this conceptual paper, we propose that insights from conversation analysis (CA) may provide a useful approach for scholars interested in online learning by focusing first on how learners themselves orient to performing social actions online. We further propose that gaining a better understanding of what conversational moves are actually doing in online discussion can help researchers and educators better assess the learning that takes place there. Through worked examples, we demonstrate the ways that three conversational features (agreements, personal experiences and stories, and cognition verbs) tend to function in online institutional talk. We illustrate how these conversational features can accomplish a variety of actions in online academic discussions, including social affiliation, displaying expertise, and distancing oneself from claims. Recognizing how these features are interactionally deployed can help scholars better understand the functions of learners’ talk. CA is a practical methodology for educators who may be reluctant to impose interactional frameworks on student discussions for learning.
... Anonymity offered by e-leisure allows an individual to neutralize or change his or her identity, which can lead to more empowerment, self-discovery, and self-expression (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007). However, the anonymity of e-leisure may also facilitate immoral, dangerous, and illegal activities (Nimrod & Adoni, 2012). ...
This article examines the ways in which information communication technology (ICT) influences how contemporary families function, build relationships, and enjoy leisure. The literature review focuses on several areas of family life influenced by ICT use, specifically e-leisure, family communication, and family intimacy. A call for future research outlines several areas of exploration, including ICT use and family leisure, changes in perception of healthy and well-functioning families, the influence ICT use has on the development and well-being of individual family members and families with diverse family structures, and characteristics of technology that might be used by family members to improve leisure and relationships.
... Knowing the impact of online comments on online users' perceptions is particularly relevant when the communication implicitly refers to people who face the problem of harmonising their gender identity with their body, i.e. transgender people. While many recent studies have explored the role of the Internet in the lives of socially marginalised people (Braithwaite & Waldron 1999, Barak & Bloch 2006, Bowker & Tuffin 2007, Barak & Sadovsky 2008, Chuang & Yang 2010, McCormack 2010, Boepple & Thompson 2014, Hixson et al. 2015 few were dedicated to transgender users (Whittle 1998, Mehra et al. 2004, Marciano 2014. ...
... Knowing the impact of online comments on online users' perceptions is particularly relevant when the communication implicitly refers to people who face the problem of harmonising their gender identity with their body, i.e. transgender people. While many recent studies have explored the role of the Internet in the lives of socially marginalised people (Braithwaite & Waldron 1999, Barak & Bloch 2006, Bowker & Tuffin 2007, Barak & Sadovsky 2008, Chuang & Yang 2010, McCormack 2010, Boepple & Thompson 2014, Hixson et al. 2015 few were dedicated to transgender users (Whittle 1998, Mehra et al. 2004, Marciano 2014. ...
The aim of this study is to investigate the elements that characterize the formation of a therapeutic relationship when the sessions are conducted through videoconference. Conversation analysis was used to analyse the first three counselling sessions with five clients, for a total of 15 sessions. The phenomena detected in the conversational sequences dealt with the following issues: starting up (early definition of the problem, motivation to use a communication technology, and therapeutic rules), technological ruptures (interruptions and multimedia repair), environment, privacy, and going beyond videoconferencing, such as inter-session contact and moving from videoconferencing to face-to-face meetings. The analysis of relational asymmetries also highlighted the relational dominance of the therapist. A series of these phenomena could be ascribed to the online modality; other ones are common in face-to-face sessions. The frequent request to integrate online sessions with face-to-face sessions might indicate that online psychotherapy is seen as a complement to face-to-face psychotherapy more than as a substitute for it. The potential of online psychotherapy is still underestimated and further studies should be conducted on the specificities of the computer-mediated communication within the therapeutic relationship.
... This process has been studied up until now from many perspectives: religious (Rosenbreg & Rashi, 2015), sociological (Kline, 2003), psychological (Pierce, 2009), educational (Asterhan & One of the focuses of discourse in this research touches on the patterns of motivation for participating in an online stutterers' forum. Many researchers have insisted on the Internet's importance in general and of forums in particular in empowering those with various disabilities such as handicaps (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007) and CP patients (Greer, 2000). For all these, forums serve not only as a means of communication with professional authorities, but mainly as a comfortable space for sharing concerns and feelings common to all members (Kouri, Turunen, Tossavainen, & Saarikoski, 2006). ...
Media technologies, such as telephones, often challenge stammers. Other media, especially applications such as SMS and social networks, enable stammers to express themselves fluently. This study looks into the multifaceted meanings of the encounter between stammers and new media, focusing on applications which enable speech through writing, and a Stammers forum website, as a site for reflexive debate on the meaning of new media opportunities. The study focuses on questions such as anonymity, the "noise" of various media and the ways in which new media helps to improve the users quality of life, but at the same time might lead them to reduce their social life to an alternative "verbal ghetto", confined to the borders of the new media platform.
... [27][28][29] Mentoring through e-mail and discussion groups shows targeted successes in education, 30,31 professional development, 32,33 and support for patients with disabilities. [34][35][36] Although individual differences in expectations and communication style are major sources of failure and frustration, 37 careful mentor matching 31,34 and interpersonal similarity 32,38 appear vital to the success of mentorship programs. ...
Objective Online health communities offer a diverse peer support base, yet users can struggle to identify suitable peer mentors as these communities grow. To facilitate mentoring connections, we designed a peer-matching system that automatically profiles and recommends peer mentors to mentees based on person-generated health data (PGHD). This study examined the profile characteristics that mentees value when choosing a peer mentor.
Materials and Methods Through a mixed-methods user study, in which cancer patients and caregivers evaluated peer mentor recommendations, we examined the relative importance of four possible profile elements: health interests, language style, demographics, and sample posts. Playing the role of mentees, the study participants ranked mentors, then rated both the likelihood that they would hypothetically contact each mentor and the helpfulness of each profile element in helping the make that decision. We analyzed the participants’ ratings with linear regression and qualitatively analyzed participants’ feedback for emerging themes about choosing mentors and improving profile design.
Results Of the four profile elements, only sample posts were a significant predictor for the likelihood of a mentee contacting a mentor. Communication cues embedded in posts were critical for helping the participants choose a compatible mentor. Qualitative themes offer insight into the interpersonal characteristics that mentees sought in peer mentors, including being knowledgeable, sociable, and articulate. Additionally, the participants emphasized the need for streamlined profiles that minimize the time required to choose a mentor.
Conclusion Peer-matching systems in online health communities offer a promising approach for leveraging PGHD to connect patients. Our findings point to interpersonal communication cues embedded in PGHD that could prove critical for building mentoring relationships among the growing membership of online health communities.
... אחדים מודלים הוצעו הקודמת המאה של והשמונים השבעים שנות במהלך Cass, 1979;Coleman, 1982 Thompson, 2001 ;Mallon, 1998 Barak & Sadovsky, 2008;Bowker & Tuffin, 2007;Mehra et al., 2004 ...
... Algunos temen que este fenómeno pueda llevar a la "impersonalización" de los contactos humanos pero, por otro lado, Internet ofrece a muchas personas unas ventajas considerables. Los psicólogos notaron el lado positivo de Internet al constatar que su uso puede llevar a levantar el nivel de autoestima y autoconfianza, disminuir los comportamientos depresivos, la ansiedad y la soledad (Bowker y Tuffin, 2002Tuffin, , 2004Tuffin, , 2007Seymour y Lupton, 2004;Vesmarivich, Hauber y Jones, 2000). Internet tiene también un papel importante en la educación, la rehabilitación y la vida social de las personas con varios tipos de discapacidades. ...
El objetivo de este artículo es presentar cómo las nuevas tecnologías pueden apoyar el proceso de aprender inglés como idioma extranjero en grupos de estudiantes con daños severos de audición. La autora propone conseguir este objetivo a través del análisis de la literatura sobre el uso de Internet y otro material tecnológico (pizarras digitales, speech to text reporter, subtítulos en tiempo real) en la enseñanza de los sordos. También se presenta la experiencia de la autora sobre el uso de las nuevas tecnologías en las clases de inglés con alumnos polacos sordos.
... Various researches have demonstrated the positive influence of the Internet on different minority groups, such as cancer patients (Radin, 2006), low-income families (Mehra, Merkel, & Bishop, 2004), hearing-impaired people (Barak & Sadovsky, 2008), physically handicapped (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007), sexual minorities (Marciano, 2011;Mehra et al., 2004) and so on. In order to understand how and why these groups use the Internet, Idriss and her colleagues (2009) mapped usage patterns, attitudes, demographics, and experiences of online support site users and found that key factors associated with using these sites were availability of resources (95.3%), convenience (94.0%), access to good advice (91.0%), and lack of embarrassment when dealing with personal issues (90.8%). ...
This paper examines the ways transgender users manoeuver between online and offline worlds in order to negotiate their complicated gender identity and to overcome offline impediments. The study is based on virtual ethnography and discourse analysis within two online arenas, a newsgroup and a website, which are central to the Israeli transgender community. The analysis suggests that transgender users employ cyberspace as preliminary, complementary, and/or alternative spheres. Delving deeper into the meaning of the alternative sphere, the paper revisits 2 central issues in Internet research, namely the relationships between the online and the offline worlds, and identity management within online settings. The paper concludes by proposing a new term – VirtuReal – to address these issues.
... So, it is not surprising that Megan's list ('sensory thing', 'behavior things', and 'language that hasn't developed', lines 2-4) matched, to some extent, the common ways of talking about, producing, and locating autism, with particular 'bodily traits' being noted, including (1) social, (2) communicative, and (3) behavioral deficits. Further, three-part lists often work to discursively create a sense of completeness and representativeness (Bowker and Tuffin, 2007;Edwards and Potter, 1993). Thus, Megan's three-part list functioned to construct autism as something that is prescriptively determined, yet just as ambiguous and open to interpretation as the 'official' diagnostic (and open to interpretation) criteria found within the diagnostic manual (DSM-IV) used by professional diagnosticians (e.g. ...
Relatively little research has aimed to understand autism from an emic perspective. The majority of studies examining the organization of the talk of individuals with autism presume that autism organizes discourse rather than examine ways in which talk itself constructs the notion of autism. This study explored the meanings of autism performed in and through the talk of the parents of children with autism and their therapists. Drawing from a larger ethnographic study, we report on findings generated from interview data with parents and therapists. Situating this study within a discursive psychology framework, we attend to the ways in which ‘normality’ and ‘abnormality’ are performed, drawing upon critical notions of disability, poststructural understandings of discourse, and conversation analysis. We point to the importance of situating the construction of an ‘ordered’ or ‘disordered’ body in relationship to the exclusionary practices and policies that individuals with autism and those close to them experience daily.
... In cyberspace, you are protected against the misleading messages given Similar insights emerged from research into CMC and shyness (Roberts et al., 2001) and also disability (Bowker & Tuffin, 2002;Todis et al., 2005), implying that online people had "the opportunity to enjoy a more socially valued subjectivity and a more positive identity" (Bowker & Tuffin, 2007). By avoiding the superficial, negative, or prejudiced perceptions of others, the potential for comfortable social interaction is improved. ...
This study builds on previous survey research by the investigators (Benford, 2008), as well as anecdotal reports, which imply that, despite having social interaction and communication difficulties, internet communication (via email, chat rooms, newsgroups and bulletin boards) is welcomed by some people with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS). Qualitative data about individual experiences, perceptions, and motivations regarding internet-based communication was obtained from 23 adults with HFA or AS, mainly via email interviewing, but also by conventional mail. Analysis based on grounded theory revealed how the sample were able to use the internet to lessen the emotional, social and time pressures experienced in offline situations. Aspects that contributed to the perception of the internet as a potentially more comfortable communication medium included visual anonymity, a different and more flexible pace of communication, and the permanence of text. Overall, the complexity of communication was lessened, and a greater sense of control could be achieved.
Badania przeprowadzone we współczesnej Polsce ukazują, że niepełnosprawność stanowi jedną z cech, która jest powodem nienawiści w internecie i powoduje cierpienie osób, które tworzą i publikują treści online na portalach społecznościowych, blogach oraz stronach internetowych. To skłoniło mnie do przeprowadzenia badań netnograficznych na temat nienawiści wobec osób z niepełnosprawnościami w mediach społecznościowych, które w wyniku epidemii COVID-19 stały się znacznie częściej używane również przez osoby z niepełnosprawnościami.
Zasadniczym celem artykułu było zrekonstruowanie, jakie wypowiedzi/komentarze są uważane za hejt przez osoby z niepełnosprawnościami, które tworzą swoje kanały, profile na mediach społecznościowych lub blogi. Następnie przeprowadziłam analizę zebranych wpisów, aby dokonać charakterystyki zjawiska nienawiści wymierzonej w osoby z niepełnosprawnościami na portalach społecznościowych w Polsce.
Słowa kluczowe: mowa nienawiści, hejt, niepełnosprawność, media społecznościowe, dyskryminacja.
Research conducted in contemporary Poland indicates that disability is one of the factors contributing to online hatred and causing suffering for individuals who create and publish content on social networks, blogs, and websites. This led me to conduct netnographic research on the hate directed towards people with disabilities on social media, which has become more prevalent due to the Covid-19 epidemic, affecting individuals with disabilities as well.
The primary objective of the article was to understand which comments are deemed as hate speech by individuals with disabilities who create their channels, profiles on social media, or blogs. Subsequently, I will analyze the gathered entries to characterize the phenomenon of hate speech in Poland against people with disabilities on social networks.
Keywords: hate speech, online hatred, disability, social media, discrimination.
Alongside the oppressionoppressionexperiences of experienced by disabled people, exists a wide array of desires, creativities, and unique understandings that are enacted through careful navigation of everyday life. In this final chapter of analysis, I offer an alternative reading of hate crime that is underpinned by stories of self-empowerment, resistance, and collaboration. More specifically, I explore some of the strategies and techniques that participants have developed as a means of managing, navigating, and challenging their experiences of hate. In doing so, I propose that occupying precarious positions offers a unique perspective of being and navigating the world. Following this, I consider the opportunity for disruptive encounters, both within and outside of the school, and the value of honest and open conversations between disabled and non-disabled people.
As we noted have noted in this book, there have been a range of ways in which autism has been conceptualized and defined. Despite the wide range of the meaning(s) of autism, we have shown that it remains that the construct itself is most often located in deficit-oriented and medicalized discourses (Biklen et al., 2005), yet while autistic people themselves tend to position their autism as biological, they construct the condition as value-neutral, as an internal reality which is inseparable from who they are, the autism is a central feature of their identity (Botha et al., 2020).
With the onset of austerity, disabled people in the United Kingdom have faced a sustained period of financial cuts, including cuts to personal income, social care and advocacy organisations. Many individuals have found themselves in increasingly precarious situations, having to rely increasingly on non-statutory, more informal structures of care. Disabled people, however, have not accepted these changes in silence but have often been vocal in their opposition to these cuts. Opposition and resistance can be seen through increased lobbying, the establishing of disability anti-austerity protest groups and the emergence of numerous online campaigns. Austerity has been accompanied by a recent growth in disability activism, as individuals find ways of resisting and coping under increasingly difficult conditions. To date, there has been very limited documentation or analysis of the political struggles of disability activists during a time of austerity. Through adopting a qualitative approach, this study examines the lives of those involved in disability activism, and the places in which their activism is enacted. The findings are drawn from 27 biographical interviews and participant observation at 13 disability activist events. Rather than being a representative study, this research seeks to provide a deep and nuanced insight into the lives of a small number of disabled people who are engaging in activism in response to austerity. It is hoped that this thesis will serve as a form of activism in itself, as a space in which stories can be both shared and heard and used as a possible resource for future generations.
In this chapter, I discuss how discursive psychology (DP) can be used to study how bodies/minds ascribed as disabled and disordered are made visible in institutional interactions and, in some cases, reframed as communicative and interactionally productive. I argue that DP is a useful approach for reframing how non-normative bodies are theorized and studied. To illustrate the key points, I share interactional data from a two-year ethnographic study that took place at a pediatric clinic. I focus exclusively on interactions that involved and/or were about autistic children who relied upon bodily movements and/or bodily sounds, described by their therapists and parents as “seemingly non-sensible,” to participate in their environment. I consider how the body is positioned as particularly pertinent in defining what counts as being autistic.
In recent years, we have witnessed a process of growing awareness and increased activity among persons with disabilities toward improvements in their living conditions and their full inclusion into society. Still, persons with disabilities experience difficulty in achieving the interpersonal competencies needed to develop adaptive social behaviors, to achieve and maintain close relationships, and to fulfill their potential. Mentoring appears to promote interpersonal development when it is conducted via traditional face-to-face methods or via electronic means. In particular, electronic mentoring programs that nurture relationships between persons with disabilities appear to have considerable potential for their empowerment. In this chapter we discuss the relevance, feasibility and utility of e-mentoring intervention programs designed especially for young people with disabilities.
Este artículo presenta un estudio piloto en el que se analiza el uso que hacen los jóvenes con discapacidad intelectual de las redes sociales. Para ello, se utiliza una investigación cuantitativa mediante un diseño descriptivo basado en la técnica de la encuesta (n=75). Los resultados obtenidos demuestran cómo los encuestados utilizan con frecuencia este tipo de medios de comunicación social para chatear con sus amigos o conocer gente con sus mismos intereses. Del mismo modo, se constata la existencia de relaciones significativas entre la presencia de malas experiencias según el perfil en el que éstos tienen configurada la red social.
Young people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can experience reduced social participation and continue to face challenges in developing and using communication and literacy skills for real-life contexts. Drawing on emerging research, this discussion article highlights the potential benefits and advantages of participation in online conversations with peers as an additional support to both communication development and social participation for this group. Cross-Age peer e-mentoring to support participation in social media is proposed as a potential intervention strategy to enhance social participation and at the same time improve communicative competence and literacy for young people who use AAC.
In response to a climate of austerity, disability has been keyed to a meta-narrative that has a political purpose, to justify extensive welfare cuts by positioning disability as a drain on so-called ‘hard-working taxpayers’. This paper explores how this meta-narrative is articulated on the online bulletin board, Reddit, to show how disablist hate speech may emerge as an attempt to secure one’s sense of self during austere times. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed to reveal these instances and highlights the normalisation of disablist hate speech within the wider context of welfare dependency. Based on these findings, this paper makes recommendations for future research and makes a call for policy change.
uso de las Tic en el apRendiZaje de lenGuas eXTRanjeRas en esTudianTes soRdos uniVeRsiTaRios. una eXpeRiencia en la uniVeRsidad caTólica de lublin Ewa Domagała-Zysk RESUMEN El objetivo de este artículo es presentar cómo las nuevas tecnologías pueden apoyar el proceso de aprender inglés como idioma extranjero en grupos de estudiantes con daños severos de audición. La autora propone conseguir este objetivo a través del análisis de la literatura sobre el uso de Internet y otro material tecnológico (pizarras digitales, speech to text reporter, subtítulos en tiempo real) en la enseñanza de los sordos. También se presenta la experiencia de la autora sobre el uso de las nuevas tecnologías en las clases de inglés con alumnos polacos sordos. Palabras clave: Enseñanza de inglés como idioma extranjero, estudiantes sordos o con problemas de audición, tecnologías de la información y comunicación, educación superior, Internet. ABSTRACT The aim of the paper is to present the ways in which ICT can support the process of learning English as a foreign language in groups of students with severe hearing impairment. The author plans to achieve this aim by the analysis of the literature on using Internet and other technological equipment (Smart Boards, speech-to-text reporter, real time captioning) in education of the deaf. The author's experience of using ICT during her English classes with the Polish deaf students will also be presented.
Persons with physical disabilities often face isolation in face-to-face settings or limited opportunities to form relationships due to an ongoing, and often derogatory, disability narrative of difference. Unlike face-to-face interactions, social media let persons with disabilities control how and when they disclose information about their disabilities and offer new opportunities for relationship formation. This qualitative study establishes a theoretical framework for exploring how and why persons with physical disabilities choose to disclose their disabilities on social media platforms. Major findings from the study describe three strategic approaches (open, secure, and limited) to disability disclosure on social media. The study also examines the relationship between age of discloser and age of the disability as key factors in approach selection.
Akiko Fuse, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a certified, licensed speech-language pathologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication Arts and Sciences at Brooklyn College, The City University of New York.
This chapter examines how survey modes can help or hinder survey participation by individuals with disabilities. It also explores how to make surveys accessible to a wider audience, including people with hearing, sight, cognitive/intellectual, and mobility impairments. In this context, accessible means "usable by people with disabilities." Although it may seem like a simple concept, its implications are as varied and complex as are the needs of people with disabilities. The author's concern is with inclusion in all kinds of surveys, but much of their discussion in the chapter is focused on participation in web and other electronic surveys. The ways that people with disabilities can access information on the Internet vary greatly, according to their individual conditions. For the purposes of the chapter, disabilities are organized into the following categories: vision, hearing, combination blind and deaf, musculoskeletal or neurologic, learning and cognitive.
Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives. Empowerment of people with disabilities entails the motivation to control as well as the knowledge and skills to adapt to and influence one's own rehabilitation process. The goal of empowered rehabilitation is to guide users to achieve their maximal independence by developing the skills necessary to overcome the physical, social and emotional barriers in their lives. We are currently witnessing a profound change in social attitudes where, after years of repression, people with disabilities struggle for their human rights and for control over resources. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have been used to empower populations who are weak due to gender, poverty, rural residence, age and disability. In this chapter, we have applied a model of patterns of social change to show how the use of novel ICT technologies may contribute to social change and empowerment of people with disabilities. Each of the model's four patterns - social planning, social reform, social development and social action - is illustrated with an example of the role of technology during this process. Lessons learned during the empowerment process for people with disabilities may also be incorporated into general ICT programs to help enhance usage in additional segments of the population including minority groups as well as those who have traditionally been challenged in this area (e.g. the elderly, people who live in remote locations).
Deaf individuals frequently capitalize upon communication technologies that increase equitable access to communication in an ongoing, effortless manner. Those communication technologies create conditions that increase direct access to language and literacy. It is the lack of direct access to language that has been historically problematic for deaf individuals, contributing to English literacy achievement gaps that are evidenced in deaf education settings. This study explored the hypothesis that increased access to English through communication technologies would be related to stronger English literacy skills for deaf individuals. A secondary analysis approach using a longitudinal large-scale dataset, the second National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2), was used to assess the frequency of computer-mediated communication as a predictor of English literacy skills in a sample of 510 deaf youths in the United States. Regression analyses demonstrated that deaf adolescents who e-mailed or chatted more frequently exhibited higher reading comprehension skills in the years ahead. These results suggest that communication technologies should be further explored as a potential avenue that may support deaf individuals' English language and literacy development.
Several studies reveal the option to disguise a disability in online interaction, but none sufficiently analyzes the various factors contributing to a disguise. The primary aim of this paper is to quantify the impact of social psychological factors like stigma consciousness (i.e. expectation of prejudice and discrimination) and self-consciousness on the disguise of the real self in online environments among people with physical disabilities. This paper uses data from an online survey with 130 participants to construct a conceptual model related to these factors. Findings reveal that stigma consciousness positively impacts the disguise of the real self. While the body and a physical disability may not be present in the online environment, it plays an important role in how people with disabilities present themselves when they expect stigmatization.
The study reported in this chapter examined gender and disability identity representation in the virtual environment, Second Life. In Second Life, identity representation is the choice of the user and is a matter of convenience, style or whim, rather than a fixed characteristic. A survey of groups that identify as disabled or having a disability, especially focusing on gender, was conducted in Second Life. The distinct categories analyzed in this study included: groups associated with disability/being disabled, race/ethnicity, gender, aging, and sexuality. In the virtual world, the visual cues that exist in the “real world” are removed. However, in the “real world”, those visual cues serve to activate schemas that may help explain the stigmas and ensuing isolation often felt by people with disabilities. Interestingly, in Second Life even when the visual cues are removed, users with disabilities still associate with others who identify as having disabilities. The study specifically explored groups (i.e. “communities”) found in Second Life that jointly identify by gender and a disability identities. Regardless of binary gender framework, the differences between the groups that are externally classified as having some degree of disability, and those who choose to self identify or affiliate with disability related groups, have rich import for the sociology of online communities as well as for the design and characteristics of games.
The Internet has opened up a range of new communication opportunities for people with special needs since it is an accessible communication medium that provides an opportunity to exchange practical information and support and to experience an accepting relationship with less prejudice. To date, few computer-mediated support intervention programs have been designed especially to support the socio-emotional needs of people with special needs. This paper presents the results of a study that evaluated an electronic mentoring intervention program designed to provide socio-emotional support for proteges with disabilities by mentors who also have disabilities. Using a qualitative research design, the study characterized the electronic mentoring process and its contributions from the mentors' point of view. The findings provided support for the potential of electronic mentoring for personal development and empowerment of young adults with special needs.
The Internet has become an ordinary and widely accepted alternative social environment—known as cyberspace—in which many people take part in numerous activities. For the hearing-impaired, cyberspace provides extra benefits for two basic reasons: means of communication, which is primarily based on visual (text and images) and not auditory channels, and the convenient possibility of concealing their handicap from other users, thus gaining more security and a sense of equality. The purpose of the current study was to examine characteristics, intensity, and types of use of the Internet by hearing-impaired adolescents compared to an equivalent group of normal-hearing participants, with gender and adolescence stage (age 12–15, or 16–19) as additional independent variables. In addition, the intensity of using the Internet as a possible moderator of deaf participants’ well-being was examined by comparing measures of loneliness and self-esteem between low- and high-intensive hearing-impaired users on the one hand, and hearing participants, on the other. Questionnaires were administered to 114 hearing-impaired and 100 hearing participants, matched for intelligence and socio-economic status. Main results showed that for both genders and for the two adolescence stages, hearing-impaired participants were motivated to use, and actually did use, the Internet more intensively than their hearing counterparts. Furthermore, the hearing-impaired used the Internet more than did hearing participants for both personal and group communication. Hearing and intensively Internet-using deaf participants were similar in level of well-being, both higher than the well-being of less-intensively Internet-using deaf participants. The Internet may thus be viewed as an empowering agent for the hearing-impaired.
Using social psychology, this study discursively explores barriers limiting the online experiences of people with disabilities. Twenty-one people in New Zealand with physical and sensory disabilities volunteered to participate in an online interview. Data demonstrated a disabling differentials repertoire (pattern), comprising four linguistic resources: negative reactions (when disability was disclosed), exclusion, gatekeeping, and disability costs. In addition to the technology alone, human values embedded in the construction of online technology, and participants’ cultural competency, as well as stereotyped attitudes and economic factors prevalent offline, define and restrain people with disabilities’ online experience. The social identity model of deindividuation is discussed.
This paper examines the portrayal of disability, gender, and identity in virtual communities where representation is a matter of convenience, style, or whim. A survey was conducted of groups, identifying themselves as disabled, with a focus on gender, in the virtual space, Second Life. Four distinctive categories were analyzed in this study: groups associated with disabilities or being disabled, race/ethnicity, gender, aging, and sexuality. In the “real world”, the visual cues that activate schemas serve as an explanation for the stigmas and ensuing isolation often felt by people with disabilities. In Second Life, where the visual cues are removed, users with disabilities are associating with others who identify as being disabled. Additionally, gender appears to play a role in the group (i.e. “communities”) found in Second Life. Regardless of binary gender framework, the differences between the groups that are externally classified as having some degree of disability, and those who choose to self identify, or affiliate with disability related groups, have rich import for the sociology of online communities as well as for the design and characteristics of games.
Suggests that a central theme in Western culture is the underlying belief that order and coherence are achieved by means of personal control and mastery. The author describes Western culture's ideal of personhood as a centralized, equilibrium structure. Developments in nonequilibrium theory in physics, deconstructionism in literary criticism, and decentralized, anarchic notions of governance are presented to introduce a different understanding of the means whereby order and coherence exist and thus open the possibility for a revised ideal of personhood: a decentralized, nonequilibrium ideal, whose being hinges on its continuous becoming. Implications of the revised conception for social problem solving are noted. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Applies 3 recent criticisms of personality and social psychology—the historical, the dialectical, and the interdependence theses—to a critical examination of existing trends in theory and practice, in particular to concepts of androgyny, mental health, and moral development. The position is developed that existing conceptions in these and other areas emphasize a cultural and historical thesis of self-contained individualism; syntheses of opposing or desirable characteristics are located within the person rather than within an interdependent collectivity. By viewing these and other psychological concepts against this background, it can be better understood that (a) these (e.g., androgyny) are not fundamental psychological principles; (b) alternative conceptualizations are both possible and perhaps even more desirable; and (c) in an era in which collective problem solving is necessary, the perpetuation of self-contained, individualistic conceptions can stifle psychology's effort to contribute to resolving contemporary social issues. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Beneficial effects of the online medium have been reported for disabled people in terms of providing a 'levelling ground' where they can be treated on their merits as a person, rather than as a disabled person. If this occurs because impairment is invisible online, how then are disabled people managing disability disclosure within this social context? This paper addresses this issue discursively. Participants were recruited from various disability organisations in New Zealand and were invited to take part in an online interview. A 'choice to disclose' repertoire was identified and was organised around three key resources: relevance, anonymity and normality. Embedded within each resource is the idea that the presence or absence of impairment is constructed as a feature controlled by the individual. Positioning identity within a subjectivity removed from impairment was made possible through these resources and was valued by participants. Political implications associated with the absence of impairment are discussed.
Racism in Australia has recently received prominence as an important topic of contemporary debate. In contrast to mainstream social-psychological research, which has focused on attempts to measure and quantify racism, the present study utilises Potter and Wetherell's (1987) discourse analytic methodology to identify the patterns of talk and the rhetorical arguments used by nonindigenous Australians in discussions on race and racism in Australia. Aims of the research were to demonstrate how talk about racism is put together and to examine the ways in which participants construct indigenous Australians during their discussions. Participants drew on four common linguistic resources during discussions. These were a historical narrative of Australia's colonial past, the contemporary Aboriginal plight, the discounting of racism in Australia, and the necessity of identifying collectively as "Australian". These interpretative resources are illustrated and discussed in terms of their rhetorical organisation and social consequences.
This paper argues that a critical study of disability needs to examine how disability is subjectivity experienced, both at a conscious and an unconscious level, as well as having an appreciation of disabling social policies and structures. I begin by identifying the reasons why many social model theorists have not, in the past, seen the analysis of 'experience' as being relevant to our understanding of disability. I adopt an interdisciplinary approach (that is, one that recognises the importance of biological, social, relational and unconscious levels of analysis) in the study of two specific groups of people; those with learning difficulties and those with sickle cell anaemia. I focus particularly on the role of modern medicine within a disablist society in this attempt to demonstrate that bodily, emotional and social differences are mutually constitutive.
We examine critically the two traditions of work that have informed discursive approaches to identity: social constructionism and conversation analysis. Within both strands, identity is theorized as a flexible phenomenon that is situated in conversations. But although constructionists locate identity within the social, such work remains at a theoretical and rather abstract level and often fails to interrogate the discursive practices through which identity is constituted. Conversely, this attention to the occasioning of identity in everyday talk is precisely the focus of the second, conversation analytic strand of work. Whereas constructionists attend to the wider cultural positioning of identities, conversation analysts resist commenting upon the social significance of what is constructed in interaction. Conversation analysis is therefore limited by its restricted notion of culture in the study of the situated social self. Despite the apparent conflict between these approaches, we suggest that a synthesis of the two provides a comprehensive framework for analysing identity. Drawing upon the BBC Panorama interview between Martin Bashir and Princess Diana, we explore how culturally situated identities are located in this conversational context. We conclude that analysts must not only attend to the micro-level organization of identities but also engage in a wider understanding of the cultural framework within which they are located.
Literature from cross-cultural psychology and anthropology on cultural differences in the concept of the self or person is reviewed. The radically different “indexical” understanding of the self that is common among many American ethnic-cultural minorities is described and contrasted with the Western “referential” understanding of the self that dominates clinical psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy. Diagnostic and therapeutic implications of these cultural differences are discussed in detail, and questions and suggestions for increasing cultural sensitivity and awareness in clinical work are offered.