According to American Association on Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities, the term intellectual disability (ID) covers
the same population of individuals who were diagnosed previously with mental
retardation. Being such a broad population, this means a lot of people either
know someone with, or has ID themselves. The reason I feel that more people need
to know about the stigma effecting this population is because they are
vulnerable and need our help. Those with ID might not know when they are being
treated unfairly or are facing prejudice. That’s why it is our job as a society
to make sure they have the equal rights everyone else deserves. There are
stereotypes associated with those with ID such as being more aggressive, less
intelligent, or that they should be feared due to their differences. This
should be important to everyone because this population can not fight the
stigma alone. They tend to be discredited due to their delays. If this was your
family member, you wouldn’t want someone bullying them or telling them they can’t
do something that everyone else can.
We have seen in popular media sources different ways the
ID have been mistreated or misunderstood. For example, in the video from NBC
News, we see a scene play out that ended with a man being shot by the police.
The therapist of a man with ID was shot, even though he was complying with the
police, when he was trying to have his patient return to a safe place. The
reasoning behind this incident was claimed to be that the officer believed the man
with ID was holding a weapon and was going to hurt someone. They were both a
part of an oppressed group so the rationality of the officer was dismissed. The
underlying issues with this situation were that the person who called the police
originally assumed the ID man to be dangerous. There was no threat but when
someone is out walking around “being different”, the woman was scared and
called police, also assuming he had a gun. This is the way we can see the
stereotype of people with ID being dangerous.
Another source we have looked at were cultural products
such as memes, videos, and cartoons. The cartoon I found that is showing a
family looking at a house near a psychiatric hospital is interesting for a
couple of reasons. Since we can’t tell what the illustrator was thinking when
creating this cartoon, I question whether he was supporting the stereotype of
ID being a communicable disease or if he was mocking those that did. As a
sociologist, I think he should have made his point clear that the mother asking
“what if my kids catch schizophrenia”, is a ridiculous and uneducated question.
Unfortunately, to a public audience, this might instill fear in them and make
them think they actually could “catch” schizophrenia. This is why a
sociological standpoint is important to have when looking at cultural products
or popular media. It can prevent us from falling victim to propaganda and false
claims. Just because something is seen as normal in a society, doesn’t mean it
is right or justified. We can see the way people try to keep power over
individuals with ID by the way they are underrepresented and the oppression
they are put under.
The research I looked at supported the continuing
oppression and stigma that this population face. Most data that I looked at was
qualitative, mostly in the form of interviews. This information was helpful
because it was giving different experiences people have had associated with
stigma. Not only do the individuals with ID face constant stigma, their caregivers
do too. Unfortunately, when interviews were conducted, they were mostly given
to caregivers or peers of those with ID so no firsthand accounts were given.
That is why I wanted my research to expand upon the existing data and interview
those with ID specifically. I think a lot of people fear the fact that we aren’t
sure if people with ID always know that they have a disability. Being the one
to point it out to them could come with consequences such as possible anger from
the individual, you could upset them, or cause them to view themselves as being
different. This is where my research needs expanding because it would be difficult
coming up with interview questions that did not trigger anger or sadness but
still got to the information I need. I enjoyed the way Georgiadi et al.
conducted their research because it gave students no boundaries on what they
were thinking. While this was a good way to be unbiased, the analyzation of the
data could be interpreted differently from person to person since they are
drawings. This form of data could help support existing data but alone would
look fairly opinion based.
As I have said before, everyone should care about this
topic because it can affect everyone in some way or another. Educating others
on the stigma that is present and taking action to diminish it is critical.
This population needs our help and it isn’t that hard for us to come to their
aid. An easy way for you to help is by seeing the oppression or prejudicial
acts others are committing. Don’t just stop the act from happening, further
educate the offender on why what they did was wrong. Telling a person to look t
things from the ID individual’s shoes could help show that the ID individual
might not understand why there was a problem in the first place. I also think
that patience with those with intellectual disabilities is important because
the faster you try to resolve a situation, the worse it could get. Just like with
the police shooting the therapist, the officer rushed the situation and caused
an even bigger issue and fear to arise. The final and main thing that I think
everyone can do is to just treat this population like everyone else. They are
human too. There are only slight differences between those with
non-intellectual disabilities and those with them. It’s a population that will
always be a part of our society so make sure they know they belong.
