Vol. 18 Issue 4 & Vol. 19 Issue 1 (2024): Special Issue: China and Disability (and additional International Research in Disability Studies)
Luanjiao Hu, Fengming Cui
This editorial provides an overview of the Special Issue: China and Disability and briefly outlines its purpose and the content of the issue.
Research Articles and Essays
Yi Huang
Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) says that people with disabilities have the right to live in the community, make their own choices, and be independent, like everyone else. This paper looks at what makes a good community for people with disabilities, and how well people with disabilities in China are living in their communities.
The Formation of the Deaf Community in China, 1887 - 1945
Shu Wan
This article describes how the deaf community in China formed and grew before and during the War of Resistance. Deaf leaders played an important role in this process, and the deaf community evolved as a result of the challenges and opportunities of the war.
Media Representation of Women with Disabilities Affected by COVID-19: Evidence from China
Ying Xiong, Xiuli Wang
This study explores women with disabilities affected by COVID-19 in news stories published by typical Chinese media outlets, such as their roles, problems, and supports during the pandemic. We mainly found that these media outlets only reported on a small number of women with disabilities in news articles. Scant attention was paid to their specific problems as women (like problems during the menstrual period or domestic violence) and their activities as support providers. These media outlets also tended to present negative stereotypes and subtle discrimination against this group.
Yue Xu, Luanjiao Hu, Chengqing Shen, Jiani Guo
People with disabilities are often more affected by natural disasters and public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. A study was done in over 100 countries to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the rights of people with disabilities. The study found that people with disabilities often had trouble getting the medicine and healthcare they needed. It also found that there were not enough measures in place to protect vulnerable groups of people with disabilities, such as children. This study did not collect data in China. Our study fills this gap by looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic affected people with disabilities in China to get healthcare, work, and live in their communities.
Discrimination Based on Disability in Chinese Legal System and Practice
Xi Jin
Persons with disabilities in China continue to experience discrimination in areas such as education, employment, banking, transportation, and everyday life. This paper aims to analyze this discrimination within the Chinese legal system and suggest changes to improve the lives of persons with disabilities. By addressing these issues, we can protect their dignity and ensure equal opportunities for their development and inclusion. Our goal is to create a society where everyone, regardless of their abilities, can thrive and participate fully.
Cunqiang Shi, Debbie Foster
The Chinese government has changed its economic policies to allow more freedom for businesses and individuals. One problem is the hukou system that ties people to their hometowns, making it hard for them to move to other parts of the country to find better jobs. This is especially unfair to disabled people, who are more likely to be unemployed and have fewer opportunities to get ahead.
Inclusive Education in China: From Policy to Implementation to On the Ground Experiences
Helen McCabe, Tian Jiang
Policies have helped more and more people with disabilities have the chance to go to school in China today, but sometimes they are still unable to find opportunities. Accepting more students to inclusive classrooms is important. This article talks about a research study where we interviewed parents to understand their children’s school experiences. Even though the children have more chances to be educated in inclusive classrooms, more assistance for students and teachers is needed.
Disabling Crisis: Mental Health Experiences of Visually and Hearing-Impaired People in Shanghai
Juan Miguel Ortega-Quesada
This paper is about mental health crises for people with disabilities. It was written after the author spent more than a year working with people with visual and hearing disabilities in Shanghai. The author asks who decides what a mental health crisis is and argues that paying attention to the experiences of people with disabilities could help us to rethink what a mental health crisis is and how we deal with it.
Hui Zhang, Diana Arya
Some parents of children with autism have to fight to get their children the education they need. This is because schools and parents often have different ideas about what is best for the child. In China, parents often have to use their social connections (guanxi) to get their children into schools and to get them the services they need. This means that children from wealthy families or families with powerful connections are more likely to get a good education.
Understanding Parents’ Voices in Mainland China – A Sequential Mixed Methods Study
Yue Wu, Peggy M. Martin
A survey was done to collect information about people from two rehabilitation centers in two different parts of China. These two parts of China are very different in terms of culture and money. The survey found that families in the west part of China are more traditional than in the east region, and have less access to rehabilitation medicine. It also found that people in the west and east parts of China have different views of rehabilitation medicine.
Cong Cai, Fengming Cui, Xiaoming Chang
This study looked at how students with visual impairments in China experience inclusive higher education with the help of technology. It also looked at how higher education for people with disabilities has changed from segregation to inclusion, the challenges that people with disabilities face when trying to participate equally in education, and how local organizations of people with disabilities can help promote equal rights in inclusive education through their professional support and advocacy work.
Why Can’t Deaf-Mute People Be Cadres?: Disability Advocacy and Bureaucracies in 1980s China
Di Wu
This article argues that the Chinese government's actions in the 1980s may have ended up hurting the people they were trying to help. The government created organizations for people with disabilities, but these may have made it harder for people to get help. The author says this was because the organizations were too bureaucratic and people with disabilities found it hard to get their voices heard.
Additional Global Research
The United Kingdom Government's Creation of the Personal Tragedy Model of Disability
Jason Olsen
This article talks about how the leaders in the UK spread messages to make people think that life should be tougher for disabled individuals. They believed that by doing this, they could push more disabled people to get jobs. Unfortunately, this strategy didn't help disabled people find work; instead, it just led to them being treated worse by others and made their daily lives more challenging. There's a name for this way of depicting disabled people as if they are taking away resources from others; it's called the "personal tragedy model of disability." The article points out that the UK government has used this harmful approach in the past and seems to be using it again.
Sona Kazemi
This paper is about how people with disabilities are treated in Iran, especially injured veterans from the war with Iraq. The author argues that the Iranian government has been using people with disabilities to promote its own ideology. For example, the government calls them "living martyrs," which makes them sound like heroes, but they are really just people who need help.
Aravinda Bhat
This essay says that the lockdowns imposed by governments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic made people with disabilities more visible. People without disabilities got a taste of what it is like to be unable to go outside freely. This may help people without disabilities become more understanding of the challenges that people with disabilities face every day, such as inaccessible roads, buildings, offices, and recreational facilities. It may also help people without disabilities become allies of people with disabilities.
“The Only Disability in Life Is a Bad Attitude”: So-Called “Inspirational” Media in The Age of Trump
Eve Bohakel Lee, Amy Lein, Kyle S. Barnett, Moira O’Keeffe
This study looked at how people on social media react to pictures of people with disabilities that are meant to make people feel happy or sorry for them. The researchers found that people's reactions to these pictures were different depending on their political beliefs, religion, education level, and whether or not they have a disability.
Spirit and Sport Explores the Intersections of Sport, Religion, and Disability
Kara Ayers, Breanna Coleman
A book review of “Spirit and Sport” by Sean O’Neil looked at disability, sport, and religion. O’Neil uses storytelling to describe how getting a disability makes one think about faith and sport as a show of humanity.
Time is Running Out for People with Disabilities
Sujal Manohar
The two drawings included were informed by experiences teaching drawing to artists with disabilities. Through their stories, the artists described problems many people with disabilities encounter daily.
Notes from the Field
RDS Editorial Team
This is an announcement about the 39th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability & Diversity.
Dissertations & Abstracts
Raphael Raphael
These are dissertations and theses related to disability studies.