Ambivalence about disability: Why people with mild learning difficulties who are looking for employment may not identify as disabled

Tarlo, Ruth; Fyson, Rachel; Roberts, Simon

Abstract

UK government policies over several decades have sought to actively encourage disabled people to take up paid employment, most recently by focusing on the ‘gap’ between employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people. These policies implicitly assume a clear distinction between people who are and are not disabled, linked to medically-oriented, hierarchical notions of deservingness. They also assume that people who need support will self-identify. This article explores factors that undermine those assumptions or expose their contradictory effects. It presents findings from qualitative research with people with mild learning difficulties, discussing their perceptions of disability and how they negotiated an ever-shifting balance of consequences of identifying as disabled or disclosing needs, linked to risks and experiences of prejudice, discrimination and exclusion.

Citation

Tarlo, R., Fyson, R., & Roberts, S. (2024). Ambivalence about disability: Why people with mild learning difficulties who are looking for employment may not identify as disabled. Disability and Society, 39(3), 548-570. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2073199

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 28, 2022
• Online Publication Date: May 25, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 15, 2024
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: May 26, 2022
• Journal: Disability and Society
• Print ISSN: 0968-7599
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0508
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 548-570
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2073199
• Keywords: General Social Sciences; General Health Professions; Health (social science)
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/8223167
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2022.2073199
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=cdso20; Received: 2021-06-26; Revised: 2022-04-15; Accepted: 2022-04-28; Published: 2022-05-25