go through their lives without being labeled as such or experiencing discrimination based on their impairment. These people experience as the social model defines it: as “disability” significant social and discrimination. They experience the effects of disability “othering” regardless of whether or not they identify as disabled or are conscious of the impairment that makes others label them as such. Dav Pilkey, for example, does not identify as disabled. He believes that ADHD is not a or but rather a normal mode of being that “disorder” “disability,” comes with unique He even rebrands it as gifts (“Captain”). “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Delightfulness” (“Captain”). However, this outright rejection of a disabled identity has not stopped people from discriminating against him. books are a product and reflection of Captain Underpants Pilkey’s the experiences he had navigating a school system created for nondisabled people. In elementary school, Pilkey was considered so disruptive that one of his teachers forced him to sit in a special desk outside of the classroom. It was at this desk, the physical site of his that he “othering,” created the character of Captain Underpants. Additionally, Pilkey was constantly berated by his teachers for his hyperactivity and distractibility; he received the message that the would “never amount to and could not anything Pilkey recalls that he would anything” “do right” (Pilkey). often because of the way he was treated by teachers at school “come home crying” (McClintock). The experiences Pilkey discusses are common to many individuals with ADHD. It is entirely possible that the prevalence of disability aesthetics in the work of disabled artists is caused by the conscious or unconscious desire of many people with disabilities to challenge this social It seems, in many works by disabled people that incorporate “othering.”
go through their lives without being labeled as such or experiencing discrimination based on their impairment. These people experience “disability” as the social model defines it: as significant social “othering” and discrimination. They experience the effects of disability regardless of whether or not they identify as disabled or are conscious of the impairment that makes others label them as such. Dav Pilkey, for example, does not identify as disabled. He believes that ADHD is not a “disorder” or “disability,” but rather a normal mode of being that comes with unique gifts (“Captain”). He even rebrands it as “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Delightfulness” (“Captain”). However, this outright rejection of a disabled identity has not stopped people from discriminating against him. Pilkey’s Captain Underpants books are a product and reflection of the experiences he had navigating a school system created for nondisabled people. In elementary school, Pilkey was considered so disruptive that one of his teachers forced him to sit in a special desk outside of the classroom. It was at this desk, the physical site of his “othering,” that he created the character of Captain Underpants. Additionally, Pilkey was constantly berated by his teachers for his hyperactivity and distractibility; he received the message that the would “never amount to anything” and could not “do anything right” (Pilkey). Pilkey recalls that he would often “come home crying” because of the way he was treated by teachers at school (McClintock). The experiences Pilkey discusses are common to many individuals with ADHD. It is entirely possible that the prevalence of disability aesthetics in the work of disabled artists is caused by the conscious or unconscious desire of many people with disabilities to challenge this social “othering.” It seems, in many works by disabled people that incorporate