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

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that we go about the daily necessities or pursue an interest because it is a „challenge‟
through which we can „prove‟ ourselves capable
(Morris, J. 1993:19 )
By exploring a range of very different everyday experiences with disabled people I aimed to
question these sorts of assumptions by asking, for example:
do such assumptions really describe disabled people as we are or do disabled people
tend to just get on with life and do the things we have to do or want to do as a matter of
course?
when disabled people are „in the thick of it‟, are they thinking about being disabled or
are they just thinking about what they are doing?
are they conscious of both being and doing at the same time?
how do disabled people feel about themselves as disabled people while they are getting
on with things, or is awareness of disability only recalled when somebody points this out
or makes an unhelpful remark?
I intended also to address the medical and social models of disability (when people with
impairments do encounter problems in their everyday lives are these to do with who they are
as individuals or are they to do with physical barriers and other people‟s attitudes), as well as
to explore the usefulness of a clarified affirmative model.
Following discussion with each participant, agreement was reached on a number of very
different everyday situations to consider:
celebrating a 50 th birthday
visiting an online chat room
going for a meal out with a friend