This study co-investigated with students with hidden disabilities the phenomenon of disability identity. This qualitative study utilized phenomenology and strategies proposed by Paulo Freire in an effort to understand identity development specific to individuals with hidden disabilities. There were seven students from a medium-sized, public university who participated in the study. The participants shared their experiences with having a hidden disability in three one-hour individual conversations and three two-hour group conversations. The conversations were tape recorded and transcribed. The concepts and themes that appeared to emerge from the initial conversation guided subsequent conversations. Findings revealed that the use of traditional identity development literature was not useful to understanding students with hidden disabilities. Relying on social constructivist concepts findings revealed the following themes: 1) Identity Confusion they tended to be neither able-bodied nor disabled; 2) Identity Refinement they depended on perceptions of the other to varying degrees; and 3) Identity Reconciliation they were using accommodations to varying degrees. A potential area for action and further study revolves around students with hidden disabilities, disability services practitioners, faculty and college student services administrators understanding the issues of normalcy and American individualism and their influence on both individuals with and without disabilities. Furthermore, fostering the development of a support system where students with hidden disabilities can interact with each other and discuss disability-related issues may help them cope with a fundamentally hostile collegiate environment. The institution may need to educate students, staff and faculty about the social construction of disability and the need to create a learning environment inclusive of diverse learners. / Graduation date: 2003

Seventy students (38 with physical disabilities and 32 without physical disabilities) were matched on age (a criterion of ± 4 years was used) and sex. Members of both groups, Persons With Physical Disabilities (PWPD) and those Persons Not Physically Disabled (PNPD), were asked to complete the University Services Inventory, Academic Goals Questionnaire, Academic Attributional Style Questionnaire (AASQ), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to determine how these variables were related to explanatory style (ES, as determined by AASQ scores). ES has its origins in the reformulated learned helplessness model (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978). According to this model, individuals who made attributions that were internal-stable-global (pessimistic ES) were more likely to experience mood and behavior deficits in the wake of bad events. The present study examined college achievement (GPA), utilization of university services, goal specificity, goal efficacy, and responses to academic setbacks, as these variables were related to ES. Additionally, ES scores were examined with regards to differences in gender and disability status (both between different disability groups and between individuals with and without physical disabilities).

University of Macau / Faculty of Education