Disabled communities’ sexualities have been historically oppressed. Currently in the Unites States, public school curricula do not include inclusive sexual education and students with disabilities are often left out of classrooms that discuss any amount of personal health and sexual education. Research on the disabled population is filled with samples of non-disabled individuals imposing their opinions for a population that they do not belong to. The purpose of this study was to understand how emerging adults with disabilities learned about personal health and sexuality. Individuals with varied disabilities were intentionally included to add breadth the research field. Narrative interviews captured individuals’ lived experiences. The final sample consisted of eight individuals (75% female, 87% white, mean age of 21.5). After analyzing interviews using thematic narrative analysis, four story types were generated. Findings highlighted the lack of formal supports and access to adequate, relevant information about sexuality for disabled communities, as well as informal sources of information, like families and media. Findings also emphasized people’s agency in seeking out information on their own, as well as variability in people’s readiness and use of information about sexuality. Individuals’ disability symptoms and personal characteristics need to be considered when crafting universally applicable personal health and sexuality education. There are also opportunities for theoretical integration of disabilities and sexuality research. / M.S. / People with disabilities have historically been left out of policy and research related to sexuality. Governments and societies around the world have taken personal health choices and sexual decisions away from disabled communities. Furthermore, people with disabilities are not taught about bodily changes, romantic relationships, and safer sex practices. I gathered stories of lived experiences of personal health and sexual education from people with different disabilities in order to present variation of experience. Participants shared their journeys learning about their own personal health and sexuality during their lifetimes; equally as important, participants reflected on the inadequacy and failure of formal and informal resources, like schools and medical providers. To provide accurate health and sexuality information that disabled communities can use, families, schools, and healthcare providers need to understand the experiences of people with disabilities and ways that disabilities and sexuality intersect.

<p>Sammanfattning</p><p> </p><p>Sedan 1 januari 2009 har vi en ny svensk diskrimineringslag, som förbjuder diskriminering, som har samband med av kön, könsöverskridande identitet eller uttryck, etnisk tillhörighet, funktionshinder, sexuell läggning eller ålder. Denna uppsats är en ansats att med diskrimineringslagen som utgångspunkt ta reda på vilka signaler lagen kan ge. Genom att analysera lagen och dess syften förs med hjälp av crip theory och andra normteorier en teoretisk diskussion om huruvida det kan finnas latenta konsekvenser som följd av dess utformning. Crip theory ifrågasätter normaliteten och hävdar att omgivningarna, och bristen på anpassning i dessa, skapar avvikelser samt menar att vi kan komma att förändra vår uppfattning och flytta gränserna för det som vi anser vara den normala människan genom att bättre anpassa miljön. Jag vill undersöka om crip theory går att applicera på samtliga diskrimineringsgrunder. Samtidigt som lagen skyddar utsatta grupper, så pekar den även ut dessa ut som avvikande. Det gör att lagen har en stigmatiserande effekt. Om avvikelserna utesluts så skapas en bild av något som kan betraktas som normalt. Genom att ge utsatta grupper bättre möjligheter i arbetslivet och utjämna skillnader så finns dock möjligheter att på sikt få ett mer jämlikt samhälle.</p> / <p>Abstract</p><p> </p><p>Since January 12009, Sweden has a new law of discrimination, which forbids discrimination, that relates to sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age. This is an approach, based on the law of discrimination, to find out what signals the law can send out. By analyzing the law and its intentions and by using crip theory and other norm theories, I want to conduct a theoretical discussion, whether there may be any latent consequences as a result of its composition. The crip theory is questioning the normality, arguing that the surroundings, and lack of adjustment of these, creates the non-abled bodies or traits and believe that we may change our view and move the boundaries of what we consider to be a normal human being by adjusting the environment. I want to examine whether this is something that could be used on all grounds of discrimination. By pointing out certain groups as different, the law has a stigmatizing effect and by eliminating the differences, an image of something that can be considered as normal is created. By giving disadvantaged groups greater opportunities at work and even out differences, makes it possible to eventually get a more equal society.</p>

Sammanfattning   Sedan 1 januari 2009 har vi en ny svensk diskrimineringslag, som förbjuder diskriminering, som har samband med av kön, könsöverskridande identitet eller uttryck, etnisk tillhörighet, funktionshinder, sexuell läggning eller ålder. Denna uppsats är en ansats att med diskrimineringslagen som utgångspunkt ta reda på vilka signaler lagen kan ge. Genom att analysera lagen och dess syften förs med hjälp av crip theory och andra normteorier en teoretisk diskussion om huruvida det kan finnas latenta konsekvenser som följd av dess utformning. Crip theory ifrågasätter normaliteten och hävdar att omgivningarna, och bristen på anpassning i dessa, skapar avvikelser samt menar att vi kan komma att förändra vår uppfattning och flytta gränserna för det som vi anser vara den normala människan genom att bättre anpassa miljön. Jag vill undersöka om crip theory går att applicera på samtliga diskrimineringsgrunder. Samtidigt som lagen skyddar utsatta grupper, så pekar den även ut dessa ut som avvikande. Det gör att lagen har en stigmatiserande effekt. Om avvikelserna utesluts så skapas en bild av något som kan betraktas som normalt. Genom att ge utsatta grupper bättre möjligheter i arbetslivet och utjämna skillnader så finns dock möjligheter att på sikt få ett mer jämlikt samhälle. / Abstract   Since January 1 2009, Sweden has a new law of discrimination, which forbids discrimination, that relates to sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age. This is an approach, based on the law of discrimination, to find out what signals the law can send out. By analyzing the law and its intentions and by using crip theory and other norm theories, I want to conduct a theoretical discussion, whether there may be any latent consequences as a result of its composition. The crip theory is questioning the normality, arguing that the surroundings, and lack of adjustment of these, creates the non-abled bodies or traits and believe that we may change our view and move the boundaries of what we consider to be a normal human being by adjusting the environment. I want to examine whether this is something that could be used on all grounds of discrimination. By pointing out certain groups as different, the law has a stigmatizing effect and by eliminating the differences, an image of something that can be considered as normal is created. By giving disadvantaged groups greater opportunities at work and even out differences, makes it possible to eventually get a more equal society.

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Denna studie är gjord för att skapa kunskap om hur karaktärer med funktionsnedsättning skildras i bilderböcker. Förhoppningar med studien är att visa på viktiga aspekter, men även vikten av att läsa denna genre i förskolan. Som metod har en kvalitativ analys av bild och text använts och som teoretiskt ramverk har studien utgått från crip theory. Resultatet visar att böckerna har funktionsnedsättningen som en central roll i böckernas handling, berättelserna hade inte varit desamma utan karaktärernas funktionsnedsättningar. I de flesta av böckerna skildras karaktärerna med funktionsnedsättning som annorlunda och normbrytande. I vissa fall begränsar funktionsnedsättningen de olika karaktärerna att klara av vissa saker i sin vardag. Flera av böckerna visade inte på någon social gemenskap för karaktärerna med funktionsnedsättning mer än kontakt med familjemedlemmar, då handlingen i de fallen utspelade sig i deras hem. I hemmen var karaktärerna däremot accepterade på ett helt annat sätt än när handlingen utspelar sig utanför hemmet. Studien bidrar med kunskap om hur normkritiska ämnen framställs i barnlitteratur och vad man som läsare kan möta i denna genre. Slutsatsen man kan dra av studien är vikten av att granska de böcker man väljer att läsa i förskolan, där man vill skapa inkludering och inte förstärka eventuellt utanförskap. / This study is done to create knowledge about how characters with disabilities are portrayed in picture books. The hope of the study is to show important  aspects of this genre, but also a importance of reading it in preschool. A qualitative analysis of pictures and texts have been used as a method, and the study has been based on crip theory as a theoretical framework.   The result shows that the story of the books has disability as a central role, and it would not have been the same without the characters’ disabilities. In most of the books, the characters with disabilities are portrayed as different and normbreaking. In some cases, the disability limits the characters ability to cope with certain things in their everyday life. Several books do not show any social community for the disabled characters other than with family as the action in those cases take place in their homes. The characters are accepted in a completely different way in their homes, unlike when the action takes place outside the home.   The study contributes knowledge about how norm-critical topics are presented in children’s literature and what readers can encounter in this genre. One conclusion to be drawn from the study is the importance of reviewing books chosen to be read in preschool, wanting to create inclusion and not reinforcing possible exclusion.

In this essay, I examine whether the journal Drama Forum constitutes presupposed perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities. The aim is to examine the discourse of intellectual disability in the Swedish drama teacher’s industry magazine DramaForum. The method I use is discourse analysis and the approach is poststructuralist. The results are analyzed on the basis of Crip Theory, and three themes based on stereotypical assumptions. My conclusion is that Drama Forum visualize intellectual disabilities mostly from one of these themes. I analyze the parent discourse relation to underlying discourses and discuss its relationship to the social practice that is its origin. / I denna uppsats undersöker jag om tidskriften DramaForum konstituerar förgivet tagna uppfattningar av personer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Syftet är att granska diskursen kring intellektuell funktionsnedsättning i de svenska dramapedagogernas branschtidskrift DramaForum. Den metod jag använder mig av är diskursanalys och ansatsen är poststrukturalistisk. Resultatet är analyserat med utgångspunkt i Crip Theory, och tre teman som bygger på stereotypa antaganden. Min slutsats är att DramaForum framställer intellektuell funktionsnedsättning till största del utifrån ett av dessa teman. Jag analyserarar den överordnade diskursens förhållande till underliggande diskurser samt diskuterar dess relation till den sociala praktik som är dess ursprung.

This thesis looks at the contemporary superhero comic Hawkeye and its depiction of able-bodiedness and non-able-bodiedness, in general and more specifically the portrayal of deafness that takes place in the last story arc. Issues and depictions of various levels of functionality in comics, as a visual media, and superhero comics in particular, have been and are frequently present. They, however, rely heavily on old stereotypes, both in the visual and the textual elements. The small intersection of disability studies, crip theory and the study of superhero comics have mostly focused on the comics published between 1960 and 1980. The superhero genre is a genre known for idealized depictions of healthy and strong bodies, which is why it is such an interesting and complex theme to analyse. Matt Fraction and  David Aja’s Hawkeye comic utilizes the tools and elements inherent in the comic book style to portray disability and deafness in new enriching ways both in narrative terms and in the reader’s response to the text. Looking at both the visual and textual elements of the comic this thesis finds that the comic medium and the Hawkeye comic in particular manages to depict disability in an engaging and thought provoking way. / Inspirerad av min personliga reaktion av att läsa Matt Fraction och David Ajas superhjälteserie Hawkeye, och speciellt tidningen där protagonisten i serien plötsligt blir döv, har jag undersökt hur serien arbetar med föreställningar och normer om funktionalitet. Tidigare forskning inom just den smala intersektionen av cripteori och/eller handikappforskning samt forskningen av superhjälteserier har främst fokuserat på superhjälteseriernas så kallade Silverålder, vilket är åren mellan 1960 och 1980. Efter en kort introduktion till Hawkeyes fiktionella historia i förlaget Marvels serieuniversum och hanteringen av handikapp i tidigare tecknade serier diskuterar jag i analysen hur tematiken av funktionsduglighet och funktionsnedsatthet porträtteras. Jag undersöker såväl den visuella som den textuella skildringen samt hur denna tematik problematiseras, i själva berättelsen men även för läsaren, i seriens utformning. Jag använder mig av Mitchell och Snyders teorier om narrativa proteser och handikapp-narrativ för att undersöka hur Hawkeye förhåller sig till dessa. I början av Fraction och Ajas berättelse om Clint Barton följer handikapp-tematiken deras teori om narrativa proteser och det nedtystande och/eller ignorerande av handikappet som litterära skildringar av funktionsnedsättningar vanligtvis följer. När dövheten sedan tar plats i berättelsen förändras den attityden och Hawkeye #19 och senare serier bryter starkt mot dessa konventioner. Resultatet av denna analys är att tecknade serier, i egenskap av sin speciella medieform, är synnerhet är väldigt bra lämpad för att skildra alternativ funktionalitet och serieskaparna till Hawkeye använder detta till sin fördel för att avbilda Clints upplevelse av tillfälliga skador och dövhet.

The magical fictional setting of the Harry Potter novels is not one separated from our own. It features the same nations and the same history as the real world. Its society is parallel to ours due to similar traditions and hierarchies, such as heteronormativity, ageism, racism, and fascism. Some of these are clearly problematised in the novels, others are not. While issues of racism and blood status are clearly at the forefront of the story of Harry Potter, there are layers to the conflict which reveal that there is more to the discriminatory dilemma than the issue of blood purity. This essay aims to investigate how teachers can use J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series to lead a discussion about othering and discrimination, focusing on the issue of ableism in particular. The goal when studying processes of othering in Harry Potter is not necessarily for the reader to identify with the protagonists. Instead, textual silences will be interpreted to investigate whether the othering of people like the readers themselves, an othering the reader partakes in when empathising with the protagonists, can be compared to ableism in the real world, and how teachers can use Harry Potter as means to introduce the idea of able-bodiedness as a social construct. By applying crip theory to the text, it can be stated that the division between the protagonist and his non-magical Other is based on ableist ideologies, which result in a positioning of the non-magical as disabled in the magical society. This position is maintained by naturalising the link between impairment and character flaws.

This essay aims to examine how the disabled figure is represented in motion pictures and if these representations differ when the actors are disabled. It aims to shed some light on the social construction of normality and disability. The theoretical framework is that of stigma, social interaction and Crip Theory and the method we use is discourse analysis. The movies in which we examine this are as follow: Hur många lingon finns det i världen?, Hur många kramar finns det i världen?, Café de Flore and Le huitième jour. Our conclusion is that known stereotypes did not occur as much as limited course of action and the tendency to treat the disabled character as a group and not as individuals. Our result also indicates that the story of the disabled figure is not the one that is being told and how their humanity is something that has to be confirmed instead of being self-evident.

Deaf lesbians are a population that is underrepresented in the academic literature. Through the use of narrative inquiry, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with a woman who self-identified as Deaf and lesbian. She shared her experiences growing up as a woman who is Deaf and later in her life, realized she is lesbian. The researcher juxtaposed her experiences as a hearing, lesbian woman and an ally to the Deaf community to better illuminate the Deaf lesbian experiences. The research delved into how these dual minority identities have affected the Deaf lesbian participant as she makes her way in the world of the dual majority cultures of hearing and heteronormative.