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

At the stage of submitting a developed proposal I had identified my research as involving a
critical exploration of impairment, identity, media and everyday experience in a disabling
society. I had identified as my research aim the exploration of tensions for disabled people
in the construction of positive identities in contexts in which self-understanding is shaped
both by social structural relations of inequality and unique individual experience.
In order to address this aim I identified five substantive questions:
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Is the social model of disability adequate as an explanatory tool for the description
and analysis of the everyday experience of living with impairment in a disabling
society?
In what ways do media representations of disability impact on the identities of
disabled people?
How useful a concept is „disability identity‟ as a tool to people with impairments in
making sense of their own experience?
Is the affirmative model an adequate explanatory tool for analysis of the cultural
construction of disability?
Is the affirmative model an adequate explanatory tool to account for both recognition
and redistribution issues in relation to the experiences of disabled people?
What is my thesis?
Richard Hamer, Director of External Affairs for Scotland‟s largest disability charity,
Capability Scotland, posted a statement on The Scotsman newspaper‟s Opinion webpage in
2009, saying that:
Disabled people's access to the world around them has improved markedly since the
Disability Discrimination Act was introduced in 1995. You only need to walk along
Princes Street to see the difference. Following the removal of steps, the automation
of doors and introduction of lifts, amongst other improvements, you'll see far more
disabled people shopping alongside the rest of the general public. However, there is
still a long way to go – not only in removing physical barriers but also in changing
attitudes (Hamer, 20.02.2009).