Are You Disabled?

Rebecca Dutton

About the Author: Rebecca Dutton is a former occupational therapist and stroke survivor. Her blog Home After a Stroke was rated as the world’s top 10 stroke related blogs by the Medical News Today. You can find the original post and other blog posts by Rebecca at http://homeafterstroke.blogspot.com/ Find the original post at: {{original_post_url}}

As a site affiliated with Strokefocus, we are authorized to repost blog articles from Home After a Stroke.


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A physical deficit may be permanent but whether we are disabled changes depending on the expectations and resources in a specific environment (1).  Let me give you an example.  I heard people in the hospital say they cannot wait to eat a home-cooked meal.  But there is a catch.  At home, people may be dismayed if “pop-pop” shows up for a meal when he needs a shower and a shave, is dressed in his pajamas, and has bed head.  I do not think dietary staff who deliver our meals care how we look because they do not have eat sitting across from someone who looks like a train wreck.  Resources can also change in different situations.  In the hospital, aides help people with A.M. care and the dietary department cooks.

At home, the person who cooks and assists someone with an impairment may be the same person.  You may not be disabled in the hospital but be disabled at home because your family has different expectations and resources.

Whether you are disabled also depends an whether you think independence should always be the goal.  Phalen says no one is truly independent (1).  Many people do not cut their hair, change the oil in their car, or prepare their tax returns.  However, able-bodied people help each other by dividing up a list of tasks.  Stroke survivors who have only one good hand may not be able to finish what they started unless they get help for specific steps during a task.  Repeatedly waiting for help during a task can get on your nerves.  My thumb leans on the independence side of the scale.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

1. Phalen SK. Constructions of disability: A call for critical reflexivity in occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2011;78, 164-172. doi:10.2182/cjot.2011.1.78.3.4.