I am in agreement with some of the more recent points. My identity is
shaped by multiple factors, each of which "competes" in shaping what
finally becomes me. Even then, different situations bring one aspect of
the identity to the forefront and others to the background. I don't
think of my disability until situational cues remind me and make it more
salient. For me, that is not as often and, because it is not apparent,
is more apt to happen at home than in public. So mine is more evident to
me when I try to do things I want to do than when I am stigmatized socially.
My wife and I adopted two Asian infants with disabilities and are
raising them in the U.S. Midwest--where almost everyone is white. For
our kids, ethnicity is a more salient force in shaping their identies.
Another aspect of this, I think, is how different elements of the
disability community treat identity. I was in a meeting when a U.S.
federal official complained about not seeing anyone with a disability in
the room and how that was the problem with a specific public agency. I
sat there and wondered how to take that, just because my disability
wasn't like hers. If we want to consider the impact of identity, we
should be careful not to push our own version of how it should be formed.
Robert Stensrud
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