Potentially disabled?
- Ten years ago, I was diagnosed with a rare illness called Myasthenia Gravis. Myasthenia Gravis is a long-term neuromuscular autoimmune disease where antibodies block or destroy specific receptors at the junction between nerve and muscle; hence, nerve impulses fail to trigger muscle contractions. The disease leads to varying degrees of muscle weakness. Currently, I have only minor symptoms, I am not seriously impaired, and I do not suffer from any social disadvantage because of my illness. Yet, my life and my body since my diagnosis feel different than before. In this paper I aim to make this feeling intelligible and propose that it is a state of what I call ‘latent impairment’. Latent impairment is a state of being ‘in between’, different from being actually impaired and also different from being abled-bodied. The theory takes its cues both from social constructionist theories of disability as well as theories of (chronic) illness and their focus on the importance of subjectivity. Furthermore, I suggest that a phenomenologicalTen years ago, I was diagnosed with a rare illness called Myasthenia Gravis. Myasthenia Gravis is a long-term neuromuscular autoimmune disease where antibodies block or destroy specific receptors at the junction between nerve and muscle; hence, nerve impulses fail to trigger muscle contractions. The disease leads to varying degrees of muscle weakness. Currently, I have only minor symptoms, I am not seriously impaired, and I do not suffer from any social disadvantage because of my illness. Yet, my life and my body since my diagnosis feel different than before. In this paper I aim to make this feeling intelligible and propose that it is a state of what I call ‘latent impairment’. Latent impairment is a state of being ‘in between’, different from being actually impaired and also different from being abled-bodied. The theory takes its cues both from social constructionist theories of disability as well as theories of (chronic) illness and their focus on the importance of subjectivity. Furthermore, I suggest that a phenomenological understanding of latent impairment can show possible ways of becoming an ally to the DRM.…
Verfasserangaben: | Hilkje C. HänelORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2022.2136753 |
ISSN: | 0020-174X |
ISSN: | 1502-3923 |
Titel des übergeordneten Werks (Englisch): | Inquiry |
Verlag: | Routledge, Taylor & Francis |
Verlagsort: | London |
Publikationstyp: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Datum der Erstveröffentlichung: | 31.10.2022 |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2022 |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 17.05.2024 |
Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | chronic illness; disability; latent impairment; social construction |
Seitenanzahl: | 26 |
Erste Seite: | 1 |
Letzte Seite: | 26 |
Organisationseinheiten: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Sozialwissenschaften / Fachgruppe Politik- & Verwaltungswissenschaft |
DDC-Klassifikation: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 10 Philosophie / 100 Philosophie und Psychologie |
3 Sozialwissenschaften / 30 Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie / 300 Sozialwissenschaften | |
Peer Review: | Referiert |
Publikationsweg: | Open Access / Hybrid Open-Access |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | CC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International |