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hi I am not very sure whether it is personal experience alone that can determine the concscious awareness of disability. Like you say you have never experienced discrimination. Maybe I also can say that but is it not possible that somehow the inherent knowledge of who I am has kept me away from all those situations that might have had the potentiality of evoking serious questions. Also there would be times when other oppressive constructions such as "you belong to a lower caste, so you cannot do this" that may remind of one's own identity as belonging to a distinct group, whose own potential for oppression might not be perceieved as damaging to oneself. -----Original Message----- From: Laurence Bathurst <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wednesday, August 11, 1999 4:28 AM Subject: Re: Social Model Question What am I? Hi Michael I wonder if your disability is obvious to other people?. If not, do you feel comfortable with disclosing cerebral palsy? Whilst oppression tends to indicate something we 'feel' and are aware of, I wonder how you feel about the invisibility of cerebral palsy in the media and other public discourses on 'the average Jo'? I think you pose an interesting question in regard to identity and identifying. Is disability a transient thing that can enter and leave one's consciousness at the whim of 'how other people see us and how we therefore see ourselves'? In other words, does 'it' only become a disability when it is recognised or constructed as such by 'another'? (for some people). > To all > > Firstly, I am a supporter of the social model but I am experiencing a bit of > confusion that I am trying to clear away and would like some help. > > If, in the disability/impairment dualism, disability is seen as social > oppression and impairment as the physical facticity of *the condition* what > if I have never experienced discrimination? , does that mean I am not > disabled? Is it just an problem for epistemology - a question of knowing? > It is obvious the medically I have a condition - cerebral palsy yet I have > never to my *knowledge* experienced discrimination. In this case the social > model has no safety net with which to restore my ontological security as a > disabled person - so without indulging in "false group consciousness" > similiar to Marx's false class > consciousness in which I put not stock what am I? > > Thank you for your time. > > Michael > > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Best regards Laurence Bathurst School of Occupation and Leisure Sciences Faculty of Health Sciences University of Sydney P.O. Box 170 Lidcombe NSW 2141 Australia Phone: (62 1) 9351 9509 Fax: (62 1) 9351 9166 e-mail: [log in to unmask] Please visit the School's interim web site at http://www.ot.cchs.usyd.edu.au ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%