The phrase ‘drive round the bend’ means to cause someone to go mad with anger. I was once told by an English teacher that in times past this was meant literally. Asylums, sanitariums and homes for the disabled were hidden behind bends to mask the undesirable occupants. While this story might not be true, it speaks to a cultural attitude towards disability: polite society would prefer for it to not be seen or heard.
When you are disabled you are both visible and invisible, this is two-fold if you have intersecting identities.
Ade Adepitan on Blackness and Parasport
For Ade, the Paralympics gave him visibility. The interviewer praises the way sport ’empowers’ disabled people. They become superstars, even superhuman! (‘Meet the Superhumans’, 2012.) Ade also addresses how his Blackness makes him hyper-visible, he describes racism that is compounded with ableist abuse. I resonated with his explanation of the social model of disability, but how we can use that framework to understand racist oppression in society. He says, “Society is what holds us back. That’s that systemic discrimination and oppression.”
Christine Sun Kim on Deaf identity and Communication
For Christine, visibility – her art work – is how she communicates with communities outside of her own (the Deaf community). I was taken by how she uses visual language to partake in a form of community outreach. Sign language is visual, but to someone like myself who cannot understand it, it’s also invisible. The clarity in Christine’s artwork is something I related to, I have a strong desire to be understood and I relate that to my own disability.
Chay Brown on being Trans and Disabled
For Chay Brown, I was interested in how they related the concept of passing to disability. ‘Passing’ is a concept in trans communities whereby you appear to be cis-gender. (‘Transhub, ‘Passing’.) In neuro-diverse communities, we often talk about ‘masking’ (National Autistic Society, ‘Masking’.) which is a way of hiding your disability. Both of these terms have complex connotations. It can feel positive to blend in, as you avoid discrimination, but also unjust – why should you hide important parts of your identity?
I’m also intrigued by how Chay links neuro-divergence and trans-ness. Read any British media publication and you will see transphobic arguments using high rates of autism amongst trans people to discredit experiences of gender dysphoria or gender difference. The goal is to reduce access to gender affirming care, the insinuation is that autistic people cannot be responsible for their own well-being. It’s again showing how oppression intersects.
How does disability factor in my context?
I teach on the BA (Hons) Illustration course at Camberwell College of Arts. Between 10 – 15% of our students have disclosed a disability. There does not appear to be a disability attainment gap, as in 2023 78% of students achieved a 1st or 2:1. This was 80% for our students with disabilities.
We know that inclusive teaching benefits all students, and that by using the social model of disability we can empower students. I have repeatedly returned to the theme of visibility in the examples shared. I think that by increasing disabled representation in our course content we can help our students feel that ‘spark’ Ade referred to. We can show the value in their experiences and perspectives.
Below our some examples of disabled illustrators I would like to use in future course content.
Examples
David Biskup’s graphic novel ‘There’s Only One Place This Road Ever Ends Up’ (2020), was made with his partner who became disabled during their relationship. The work is collaborative, but from the perspective of Biskup who is his partner’s carer.
‘The Land of Uncertainty’ by disabled illustrator Hatiye Garip (2023) is a multi-media accessible comic. It is a tactile book with raised images you can access via touch. It is sold with an audio description too!
Megan Rhiannon’s self-published book ‘Existing Autistic’ (2020) explores the systems and tools Megan uses to navigate the world. It includes chapters on special interests, memories, and journalling.
References
Ade Adepitan Gives Amazing Explanation of Systemic Racism, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU.
Biskup, David. There’s Only One Place This Road Ever Ends Up. David Biskup, 2020.
Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers” – Season 11 | Art21, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI.
Hatiye Garip. The Land of Uncertainty. Edited by Paddy Johnston. Good Comics, 2023.
Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc.
‘Meet the Superhumans’. Meet the Superhumans. Channel 4, 18 July 2012. https://www.channel4.com/press/news/meet-superhumans.
National Autistic Society. ‘Masking’. Accessed 27 April 2024. https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour/masking.
Rhiannon, Megan. Existing Autistic. Megan Rhiannon Illustration, 2020.
Transhub. ‘Passing’. TransHub. Accessed 27 April 2024. https://www.transhub.org.au/passing.
Hi Holly,
Enjoyed reading your blog! Really liked the examples you gave of the work you gave. It made me think about the examples we have up in the workshop at CCW Foundation and how we could diversify them to reflect a wider cohort of students. I try to be conscious of references of artists/designers etc. I give but this could also be reflected in physical samples – I really resonated with something Ade Adepitan said ‘I’m disabled because society has not allowed me to shine. And not because of my disability.’
Hi Holly,
I love that you took such a detailed and thorough approach to these tasks, including reflecting about the readings and your response to the privilege walk.
In the blog on the video interviews, I really like that you have brought your own knowledge to this subject – the anecdote about ‘round the bend’ is fascinating. We both picked up on this idea of being both visible and invisible, and I found your reactions to this in relation to the intersectionality of the interviewees really insightful. Again, your own knowledge helped me learn something new when you talked about ‘passing’ and ‘masking’ among specific intersectional communities.
I also loved that you approached this creatively, with sketches, illustrations and visual examples – I think it’s an example of the differences between all of us as a group and even how our intersectionality can inform how we approach academic tasks, which is also reflected in how our own students take distinct approaches to assignments. As to your teaching context, I’d be interested to hear how you might increase disabled representation and help all students feel empowered – I think the illustrators you refer to is a great starting point.
Hi Holly
Enjoyed reading your blog, on the way you started with the discrimination for people with mental health issues and disabilities and how in the early days, society would like to hide them away and masking term.
The goal is to reduce access to gender-affirming care, the insinuation is that autistic people cannot be responsible for their own well-being. It’s again showing how oppression intersects. This really shows the term masking, when society does not allow individuals to choose or make decisions for themselves and a system of hierarchy is put into place removing the voice of the individual.
You say “why should you hide important parts of your identity?”, which is an excellent point and from my own experience there are times when I’ve done this either to avoid aggression or because I simply didn’t want to enter a discussion with someone who didn’t want to listen.
The three examples you gave of illustrations are a great way of showing diverse learning methods, teaching practises and showing students how to create inclusivity practise in their work. I will be interested to see how the students respond to these three illustrations in your classes in the future and their thought process is which could help us improve teaching practises in the future.