This article discusses a documentary film created by students with learning disabilities to share their wisdom. "Speak Out for Understanding" is a new film on learning disabilities created by a group of students at a Vermont high school. Made on a shoestring, the award-winning 32-minute documentary overturns a number of popular…

Through examining the case of people with epilepsy (which, as we demonstrate, has an ambiguous status in relation to both popular and academic conceptions of disability) we explore the fluid, negotiable and contingent nature of identity and, in particular, the identification as "disabled". Disability, we argue, cannot be reduced to either biology…

In this article, the author, who has a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), shares her concerns about the stereotypes that too often surround the disorder. She suggests that because most biases and stereotypes are born of ignorance and misinformation, it is important that parents and educators do their part to…

This paper presents the results of a content, frame and discourse analysis of Internet sites concerned with Asperger's syndrome (AS). It investigated blogs written by people who have been diagnosed with AS, as well as organizations devoted to the support of people with AS and their families. The findings document the different and even…

On various campuses, including the author's, "safe space" stickers are used to designate offices supposedly free of homophobia. The author critiques this practice, pointing out that it still privileges the white heterosexual subject while also obscuring connections between sexuality, gender, and race. (Contains 10 notes.)

Discussion of the label "gifted" notes negative connotations in society in general and among educators, recent definitions of "gifted," and the contrast of these attitudes with the admiration given star athletes or performing artists. It concludes that the field of gifted education needs to provide convincing, research-based information and…

Undergraduate students evaluated "a typical person,""a typical person seeking counseling,""a client seeking counseling," or "a patient seeking counseling." Students evaluated a typical person more positively than the other target groups. Counselors may need to educate the public to offset the negative stereotypes surrounding counseling. (Author)

This article reports concerns among disability community members that the implications of genetic research will be driven by mistaken beliefs about genetics and negative attitudes toward disability as identified in a qualitative study funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute. In addition to reporting the nature and the context of…

Results show that someone can be behaviorally cast into a deviant role through the use of subtle communication techniques. (Author/DEP)

This commentary offers a rationale for reprinting an 1866 essay by J. L. H. Down (EC 610 641) in which Down's syndrome is delineated and a clinical description of "mongoloid idiocy" is provided. The article deplores the dehumanizing ideology that has changed its terms over the decades but has persisted in practices of marginalization and control.…

Using General Social Survey and National Election Study, shows that from 1974 to 1986 percentage of young people willing to apply a conservative label to themselves increased, holding constant attitudes typically indicative of conservatism. Suggests that perceived increases in conservatism reflect not only a shift in attitudes but also a change in…

Comments on "Psychotherapy, classism, and the poor: Conspicuous by their absence" by Laura Smith (see record 2005-11834-002). Smith is to be commended for identifying a critical missing area in applied psychology: the inclusion of people who are poor into training, education, research, and practice. But in advocating for psychology to be…

This paper reports that United States physicians' judgments of child abuse are moderately affected by ethnic status and socioeconomic status of the family in addition to level of injury to the child, whereas 41 Northern Ireland physicians' judgments were slightly but not significantly affected by socioeconomic status and religion. (Author/JDD)

The paper discusses H. Goddard's identification of the "moron" and advances the thesis that mild mental subnormality developed as a "scientific" explanation for the socially unacceptable behavior of economically marginal persons, with Goddard's classification being grafted onto a traditional identification based upon judgments…

Stereotyping effects are typically considered to be assimilative in nature: A member of a group stereotyped as having some attribute is judged to have more of that attribute than a member of some comparison group. This article highlights the fact that stereotyping effects can also occur in the direction of contrast--or even null effects--depending…