The Reality Of Disability In Literature

The rise of memoirs and autobiographies written by those with disabilities reflect the need to accurately represent disability identity. False narratives and identities are forced onto people the moment they become disabled, and memoirs provide a chance to educate and inform about the reality of disability.

Torrell (2011) explained that the autobiography is a powerful medium for disabled people to write in because they have the power to portray themselves and their life as they wish to. They are freely able to write their truth — but not always because they want to do so. A lot of memoirs are not written as “spontaneous self-expression,” but as “a response to the traditional misrepresentation of disability in Western culture”. False narratives about disability not only spread false information, they actively impact people’s perception of themselves. Disabled people begin to internalize these lies, resulting in negative self-esteem.

Jonathan Mooney, the author of the memoir The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal, explores his experience with the stigma surrounding disability. He was diagnosed as learning disabled as a child, and spent the rest of his childhood and adolescence trying to be “normal. ” He internalized the ableism of society and began to hate and bully the other kids in his special education class, even though he was disabled as well. His memoir tells the tale of him buying a short bus — a bus used to transport kids who were in special education to school — and traveling the United States to hear similar stories from other disabled people. Through this, he learns to combat the ableism that still resides in the back of his mind and fight for those who would not typically have a voice. His memoir features interviews with over ten people with disabilities, showcasing the cultural identity that is shared by disabled people. As stated by Torell (2011), “the seemingly solitary voice of the disability autobiographer is, in fact, part of a chorus of many voices that accompany them in the reconstruction of disability. Autobiographies celebrate both the community and individuality of the disabled experience”.

Disability is an umbrella term that applies to many different conditions, so it’s impossible that every disabled person will have the same experience. This memoir allows for introspection by the author, but reveals that there are certain things that will always link disabled people together to form a cultural identity. Ableism and inaccessibility act as barriers that affect everybody under the umbrella term of disabled. Mooney (2007) said that he regrets trying to be normal as a kid after hearing the experiences of those that he interviewed, stating “The myth of who we are, who we should be, is actually created by categorizing people with disabilities”. Society places labels on those with disabilities that further dehumanize them; they become the epileptic, the schizophrenic, the person with down syndrome, and countless others. These labels alone prove the fact that society forces a false narrative onto people, as just hearing one of these labels already puts images and ideas into people’s heads. This affects how people view a disabled person’s character, and how disabled people eventually begin to view themselves. In regards to normalcy, Mooney says “Normal does not exist in the real world of people. Normalcy is a horizon that keeps receding as you approach it”. His anxiety about his label lingered into adulthood, as shown by him worrying throughout the text that people will find out that he’s disabled. He tried to hide that part of his identity from the world, but deep down he knew that hiding was only hurting him further. Even as an adult, he said that when he stepped into the special education classroom to give a speech that he “believed, somewhere deep inside myself, that I was still that broken kid who wasn’t right and never fit… so much of what we are taught about ourselves never seems to completely go away. Even though I knew these feelings were old, and didn’t define me, they persist”.

Societal ableism is so rampant that people have feelings of worthlessness their whole lives, and yet almost nobody is trying to combat this issue in literature. There are no disabled characters in children’s media either to be a role model to children who are beginning to learn that they’re not like the other kids their age. This self-hatred will always be a part of their identity, even after they relearn to love and accept themselves. His experience with disability is similar to the main character in Millie, evidenced when he says 'My experience is a textbook case of a medical model being used to understand the experience of disability. My parents and I were told I was broken, and that my deficits should be diagnosed and treated”. There was no chance for Mooney to prove himself as capable of learning, and there was no extra help and guidance from his school because labeling him as learning disabled forced him into a distinct narrative. He was seen as unable to succeed in life because of his diagnosis.

Kent, a college friend of his who was diagnosed with ADHD, was never “disabled by his ADHD during his [comedy] performances” according to Mooney, but “sitting at a desk, he was”. This is where the medical model is flawed. Kent excelled at comedy and performing, but was labeled as inadequate because he couldn’t focus in school. Kent didn’t fit the mold of the typical student and was punished for it. Mooney stresses the same sentiment as Kathryn Allan when talking about Kent, saying “not only [is this] a window into the social experience of ADHD, but also the question of what kind of selves are acceptable in our society”. People don’t care if Kent is talented in certain aspects of his life because they believe he is already lacking in others. When asked about disability, Mooney talked about the impact of ableism on his identity, saying “surgeries are things that hurt, but only for a short while… the pain of rejection, the pain of being thought of as somehow a broken or inferior person, the pain of ridicule or derision doesn’t go away”.

Able-bodied people will never feel this lasting pain, and cannot understand it while writing characters and novels about disability. This pain affects almost every disabled person because those concepts are consistently reinforced by societal norms. It’s important for disabled authors to bring this thought into their writing to help spread the message of their real experiences through literature.