A picture is worth 1000 words: examining students’ understanding of disability in definitions and drawings

Abstract

Disability is a complex phenomenon that children often find challenging to fully grasp. Understanding how children perceive disability, however, could have important implications for the social inclusion of students with disabilities. Once we understand how children conceptualize disability, efforts can be made to help students critically analyze misconceptions and stereotypes. Negative stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination toward people with disability can contribute toward ableism in schools. Ableism cannot be addressed with the cognitive dimension alone but developing an accurate understanding of disability seems to be a necessary first step, especially for children. In this study, students in a Grade 4 class in Southwestern Ontario were asked to define the word disability in their own words, draw a character with a disability, and provide a description of their drawing. The majority of drawings were of characters with physical disability and most of the definitions of disability were based upon deficit thinking.

Points of interest

• Children’s understanding of disability in definition and drawings were examined.

• As part of a larger intervention study, students were asked to define the word disability and draw a character with a disability, as well as provide a description of their drawing.

• Students’ definitions of disability fell into 5 categories: (1) Disadvantaged, (2) Special, (3) Assistive Devices, (4) Attention and Support, and (5) Types of Disability.

• Students’ drawings of disability were categorized by the type of disability that was drawn/described. These included: (1) Physical Disabilities, (2) Autism, (3) Sensory Disabilities, and (4) Learning Disabilities.

• Drawings were mostly of characters with physical disabilities and most definitions focused on the perceived disadvantages of having a disability.

Keywords:

• Disability
• drawings
• definitions
• students

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Correction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.