Disability on Film: An Exploration of Film Codes’ Obstructiveness in City Lights and Children of a Lesser God

Looking at two films that center upon a sensory disability (Chaplin’s City Lights and Randa Haines’ Children of a Lesser God), I propose that despite many gestures of sensitivity, these films reinforce an othering of the non-normative subject through conventional film codes and conventions. For example, in Haines’ film, the protagonist James Leeds (William Hurt) delivers a lecture on facing his deaf students so that they can read his lips. However, this scene is shot with his back turned away from us (the viewer). Rather than presenting an instance of irony, moments like this reinforce notions of normativity. Specifically, it’s the mechanism(s) behind and within film production that reinforce problematic notions of “normality” while trying to trump them.

Sensory Impairments and Social Isolation Among Hispanic Older Adults: Towards Culturally Sensitive Measurement of Social Isolation

Objectives: Sensory disabilities, including vision disability and hearing disability, increase risk for social isolation, which is associated with multiple negative health outcomes. Existing literature suggests that the cultural value of familism may provide a buffer against social isolation. We examined the longitudinal trajectory of social isolation among Hispanic older adults with self-reported vision disability (SRVD) and self-reported hearing disability (SRHD) and tested a modified measure of social isolation incorporating familism. Methods: We compared 8-year trajectories of social isolation among Hispanics (n = 445) and non-Hispanic Whites (n = 4,861) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study. We used structural equation modeling to explore the longitudinal relationships between sensory disability and social isolation while comparing two measures of social isolation. Results: Social isolation increased longitudinally for both groups, with SRVD significantly associated with higher initial levels. Social isolation started and remained higher across time among Hispanics. Using an adjusted measure of social isolation (added familial support), neither initial levels nor trajectories of social isolation differed between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants. Discussion: Initially, Hispanics appeared more socially isolated, reporting less social support from outside the home. Yet, we found that they were more likely to report family social connections. Traditional measures of social isolation focusing on social support outside of the home (neglecting support by family) may lack content validity among Hispanic groups. Culturally sensitive measures of social isolation will be increasingly consequential for future research and health policy to meet the needs of a diverse older population. Keywords: Social Isolation, Sensory Disability, Hispanic, Familism, Culture

Violent Inclusion: Disability and the Nation in Polish 1950s and 1960s Young Adult Literature

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Family, Gender and (dis)Abled Bodies after 1953”, guest-edited by Maike Lehmann and Alexandra Oberländer. My article “Violent Inclusion: Disability and the Nation in Polish 1950s and 1960s Young Adult Literature” analyzes representations of physical and sensory disability in some of the most popular young adult novels published in 1950s and 1960s Poland written by Krystyna Siesicka, Jadwiga Korczakowska, Irena Krzywicka, Jadwiga Ruth-Charlewska, and Hanna Mortkowicz-Olczakowa. It argues that the recurring trope that connects the novels—the overcoming of disability—serves as a synecdoche for the Polish nation overcoming the catastrophe of World War II. Moreover, it shows that compulsory rehabilitation functions as a way of including disabled subjects into a Polish post-war society. At the same time, participation in the “rehabilitative regime” constitutes a patriotic duty for a disabled Polish child or teenager and paves a way to a socialist citizenship. Rehabilitation is always successful and culminates with a child or teenager transforming into an able-bodied socialist citizen reminding of a successful, yet sacrificial, reconstruction process of Poland. My article focuses on the sites of the overcoming of disability showing that Polish nature, whether it is a sea or woods, is crucial to the healing of a disabled subject. This way, the writers accentuate the connection between Polish nature and land and a “healthy” body, thus reconsolidating their fantasy of “Polishness.” What the novels ultimately testify to is the emergence of an embodied socialist subjectivity constructed through the corporeal rehabilitative practices and internalization of socialist values.

Percepción competencial del emprendimiento en personas con discapacidad. Un estudio comparativo

El propósito de este trabajo es identificar a través de la comparativa entre dos colectivos: personas con discapacidad que desarrollan actividades de emprendimiento y el de técnicos de la Administración Regional relacionados con este ámbito qué dimensiones y aspectos competenciales favorecen y / o limitan la actividad emprendedora de las personas con algún tipo de discapacidad física y/o sensorial. Desde una perspectiva metodológica cualitativa y en base a muestras estructurales, el análisis se desarrolló a través de dos herramientas: la Técnica Nominal de Grupo para identificar dimensiones de análisis y el test Emotional Competence Intelligence para ponderar qué competencias psicosociales eran claves en la comprensión del fenómeno. Tras el análisis en cada uno de estos colectivos este trabajo concluye estableciendo las oportunas conclusiones comparativas. The aim of this work is to identify through the comparison between two groups: people with disabilities who develop entrepreneurship activities and technicians of the Regional Administration related to this area which dimensions and competencies favour and / or limit the entrepreneurial activity of people with some kind of physical and / or sensory disability. From a qualitative methodological perspective and based on structural samples, the analysis was developed through two tools: the Nominal Group Technique to identify dimensions of analysis and the Emotional Competence Intelligence test to assess which psychosocial competences were key in understanding the phenomenon. After the analysis in each of these groups this work concludes establishing the appropriate comparative conclusions.