A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

Chapter 5: Disability as Role
Introduction
In this chapter I continue discussing themes raised by participants during the first series of
interviews. This leads me to explore ways in which disabled people participate within
mainstream disability discourses or, alternatively, within what Foucault has termed reverse
discourses through which impairment is beginning to speak on its own behalf to demand
acknowledgement of its own „naturality‟ (Foucault, 1998). I do this in order to consider the
validity of my suggestion that disability can be regarded as an invalidating role in the context
of a continuing discussion about the affirmative model.
Intrusion
For some participants initial identification as disabled was experienced in relation to
eligibility to receive benefits. Recognising the self as disabled, then, can be associated with a
practical orientation to being in the world. It is something one does to get by. Helen recalls
an awakening association in her mind:
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a friend of mine said to me... you can apply for benefits now… and I said
don‟t be ridiculous, and she said no, seriously, you can probably apply for DLA and
all sorts of things on the grounds of your mental health problems… and only then,
once I‟d applied for those, was I oh, right, yeah, that does mean I kind of… and then
I began to realise that I‟m classed as disabled, if that makes sense… (l.325ff.)
Helen‟s following comment reveals a perception that identifying as disabled involves
coming to recognise oneself as fitting in to a pre-defined role within a system.
...but now that I have these specific labels it means that I can fit in to a lot of different
categories and… I guess the difference to me is that… erm… and it feels like you‟re
kind of playing the system in a way… even though you‟re not… and if this is written
officially on a medical book or paper, then you can apply for certain benefits and things,
and when you‟re applying for a job you can tick the yeah, I‟m disabled box, and get
the… you know… (l.1:376ff.).
The disabled role is established. Helen‟s words indicate that all that is required is the characters
to play this role. While she speaks of feeling as if she is playing the system, the system draws her
in.