Disability and Communication

Curricular Issues/Perspectives
on Disability Communication
Dr Mira K. Desai
Reader in Communication Technology
Coordinator- PGD Communication & Media
S.N.D.T. Women‟s University
Juhu Campus, Mumbai

6th March 2009 Disability Communication 2
Course in disability
communication: Some ??s
 Why do we need a course like this?
No existing course deals with it
No existing media knows how to handle it
We recognize the need for such course
 What will this course do?
Sensitize, Train, Educate all of
US…..about how to handle disability
issues for/in/with media and society

What must have been discussed…
 „Disability‟ and issues related to condition
 Media and matters related to media
 Media content about/by disabled and disability
 Ability to critically view existing „handling‟ of
disability issues by local/global media
 Skills to write/report/see/listen to
disability issues ‘in’ media and ‘for’ media
 Ability to see one’s own bias/prejudice
towards disabled and environment to
handle that bias/prejudice

What I am going to discuss…
 Construction of “disability”
 Scope of the term
 Disability in India/Indian media
 Mass media and disability
 Curriculum of disability communication
 Curricular challenges

NORMAL
(Standard/Norm)
Not So-NORMAL
(Away from the
standard/Norm)
What are our definitions??

Not-so-normal..in what sense?
 Differently abled people
 People with Special needs
• Mobility
• Labour
• Resources
• Fertility
• Sexuality
Able-Bodied VERSUS Dis-abled

Disability Versus Ability
 Disability and ability are temporary state of
mind within the individual/collective space
 Disability is a condition not a disease
 Ability is advantage not privilege
 Disability demands understanding not
sympathy
 Ability needs to be handled not taken for
granted

Why is „disability‟ an issue?
 Disability is a lack of ability relative to a personal/
group standard or norm.
 In reality there is often simply a spectrum of ability.
 It may involve physical impairment such as sensory
impairment, cognitive or intellectual
impairment, mental disorder (also known as
psychiatric or psychosocial disability), or various
types of chronic disease.
 A disability may occur during a person's lifetime or
may be present from birth.

Disability encompasses….
 Body functions and structure
 Activities (related to tasks and actions by
an individual) and participation
(involvement in a life situation)
 Contextuality of condition: Information
on severity and environmental factors
(Education, Employment, the benefit
system, support services, the built
environment, the leisure industry, and
politics)

We are referring to all…..as „1‟

Austism

Deaf Blindness

Developmental
Delay

Hearing Impaired

Learning Disabilities

Mental Retardation

Multiple Disabilities

Traumatic Brain
Injury

Orthopedic
Impairments

Other Health
Impairments

Speech and
Language Impaired

Visual Impairment
may be more……

Communication Challenges
 “Disabled” as diverse group
 Communication „reach‟ would vary for each
 The means of communication can‟t be
standardized
 Perception of receivers about disabled is a
challenging area
 Media deal with disabled as „one‟ group


Disability in India
 2.19 crore persons with disabilities in India
 They are 2.13 % of the total population.
 This includes persons with
visual, hearing, speech,locomotor and
mental disabilities.
 75 % of them live in rural areas
 49 % of them are literate
 34 % of them are employedSource: Census 2001, GOI, New Delhi

“Disability”…in Indian Media??
 Hindi Films: Dosti (1964), Koshish
(1972), Sparsh(1980), Sadma(1983), Khamoshi - The
Musical (1996), Lagaan (2001), Aankhen (2002), Koi Mil
Gaya(2004), 15 Park Avenue(2005), Black(2005), Iqbal
(2005), Tare Zameen Par(2007)…..
 Advertising:……
 Print: Books, magazines probably newspaper
columns but low visibility
 Television: DD news bulletins, Ba Bahu Baby…
 Theatre: Lot of work (not documented though)
 Internet………..

Google*…gives the picture!!
Search Term Pages on the
World Wide Web
Pages from
India
Disability 53,9,00,000
52,3,00,000
3,93,000
3,90,000
Disability
Communication
20,8,00,000
20,3,00,000
92,000
86,900
Disability
Curriculum
4,6,80,000
4,3,50,000
16,100
15,100
* As per the search carried out on Feb 19 and March 5, 2009

Mass Media and Disabled-1
 Commonly recurring disabling stereotypes:
 the disabled person as pitiable and pathetic
 object of curiosity or violence
 sinister or evil
 the super cripple
 laughable
 her/his own worst enemy
 a burden
 non-sexual
 being unable to participate in daily life

Mass Media and Disabled-2
 Disabled are not so visible group in media
 By Hiding them we deny of disabled people's
role as consumers/members of society
 Some social advertisements present
distorted view of ‘disability and disabled
people’ to raise money
 Some glorify them to simplify the reality of
their life

Disability Communication
 Unit No.1: Sociology of Disabilities : Understanding
Disabilities. Causes of Disability. Disability issues in the
ancient world. Media and Disabilities.
 Unit No.2 : Social ethics and Disability : Principles of
Social ethics, Human Rights and Social Justice in the
context -of disabilities.
 Unit No.3 : Communication for the disabled : Formulation
of messages for the disabled, Messages for the blind,
Communication through sign language for the hearing
impaired persons, Counselling.
 Unit No.4 : Role Playing: Art of Communication for the
retarded children and spastic children through drama and
song. (Source: www.rehabcouncil.nic.in)

‘rehabcouncil.nic.in’ module
 Assumption that „disabled‟ are silent and the
communication has to be „for‟ them and not „by‟
them
 Assumption that „we‟ „normal‟ people want to
communicate with them and not the other way
round
 Assumption that children with disability and adult
with disability can be handled in the same manner
 What about diverse needs of „different‟ disabled
people?

Curricular Challenge- Essential
Interdisciplinarity
Special
Education
Media &
Communication
Studies
Medicine &
Engineering
Social Work
Many be more…
Sociology
Psychology

Disability communication Course
 Scope and scale of course
 Curriculum
 Learners-
profile, Needs/expectations, Abilities/sk
ills, Motivations….
 Expected outcome/opportunities

Basic curricular components
 Learning objectives
 Learning content- Scope, Rationale
 Learning organisation- Duration, Sequencing
 Teaching/Learning methods
 Place of learning- Internship, exposure visits
 Teaching media and materials
 Assessment (exams)
 Certification

Possibilities….by each of us
 Understanding about terms like Impairment,
Handicapped, Disability
 Basic knowledge about medical, legal and social
aspects of disability
 Recognition of interplay of individual factors
(impairment, motivation and self-esteem) with
external factors (the barriers, oppression and
expectations and attitudes of other people)
 Understanding & empathy with experiences of
disabled and Expansion of that to others
 Sensitization of others through media content

Lets hope…..to see
 Change in perspective rather than either becoming
protective, defensive or sympathetic
 Visibility/mainstreaming of disability issues
 „Disabled‟ people as „message creators‟ rather than
passive recipients of media
 Recognition of care takers/givers of „disabled‟ and
communication about/support for them
 Recognition of disabled as diverse group
 Assistive technology for disabled media users

Take a look…..
 Kamlesh Patel‟s 6th February 2009
Ahmedabad audition of Dance India Dance
 Patel has polio since age of five
 http://danceindiadance.in/videos/contestants
/2009/kamlesh-patel-ahmedabad-auditions-
6th-feb/
….To See how we treat disabled in our society
And how disabled want to be treated…….

“For the able-bodied, normal world we are
representatives of many of the things they
most fear-tragedy, loss, dark and the
unknown.…If everyone were disabled as we
are, there would be no special situation to
consider”
Paul Hunt, Disabled Britain writer and activist
Hunt, P. (ed.) 1966: Stigma: The Experience of
Disability, London: Geoffrey Chapman

Few Pointers…..>>>
 http://www.disabilityhistory.org
 http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in
 http://socialjustice.nic.in/disabled
 www.rehabcouncil.nic.in
 http://specialed.about.com/od/disabilities
 http://www.dnis.org/
 http://www.wid.org/
 www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies

Thank you very much for
your time and patience
I can be reached @
mirakdesai@rediffmail.com

Disability and Communication

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