Thesis advisor: Maia McAleavey / My thesis is about the intersection of disability and romance in nineteenth-century literature. I explore the gap in scholarly writing that often ignores how characters with disabilities fit into romantic relationships. I explain how, although people typically believe that characters with disabilities in Victorian literature do not participate in the romance plot, in actuality, it is because a character becomes disabled that allows them to flourish in a romantic dynamic. I coin the term "disability-romance plot" to describe the pattern where authors use disability as a mechanism to solve otherwise unsolvable conflicts within romantic pairings. In my essay, I outline the two types of disability-romance plots: the male disability-romance plot and the female disability-romance plot. Together, I look at how the disability-romance plot challenges stereotypes about people with disabilities and reveals gender norms in the nineteenth century. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: English.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Köln, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-126).

Thesis equivalent (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1947.

Thesis equivalent (M.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1947.

Few studies have investigated the differences between poor readers/poor spellers (SRD) and good readers who demonstrate unexpectedly poor spelling skills (SSD). Those that have done so have been mainly concerned with searching for psycholinguistic similarities and differences. This dissertation project is believed to be the first comparison of the two disorders on a task that did not involve the use of alphanumeric stimuli. From a review of neuropsychological and language arts research into reading and spelling failure, it was hypothesized that both SSD and SRD might be differentiated from good reader/superior spellers (GRS) by their responses to a line orientation task which had been proven to be a valid indicator of right hemisphere function. A previous study had found that this task, presented concurrently with right or left hand tapping, discriminated between good and poor Native Indian readers (Stellern, Collins, Cossairt & Gutierrez, 1986). The theoretical underpinning of the current study suggested that these results may have been more closely related to spelling than reading ability. Empirical support for this hypothesis was sought by comparing the performance of SSD, SRD and GRS early adolescents on the concurrent tapping-line orientation judgement task. The data supported this hypothesis in that the SSD and SRD groups differed from the GRS group in demonstrating significantly more tapping interference in the right hand condition. Unexpectedly, however, all three groups performed similarly with respect to rate and accuracy in judging line orientation. As these results were ambiguous as to whether the right hand tapping interference experienced by the poor spellers was the result of differences in hemisphere processing of spatial stimuli, other possible explanations are considered in the discussion. / Graduate

In this dissertation I historicize dominant discourses of disability and place my analysis of five published disability narratives in dialogue with those discourses in order to show how the authors of these narratives craft alternative rhetorics to resist representation that casts them as unsuited to public space. Critical to my dissertation is my belief that personal narratives by rhetoricians with disabilities are invaluable sites of rhetorical inquiry, especially in light of the marginalized subject position of people with disabilities in the larger culture. Because my dissertation connects rhetoric and disability studies, my purpose is two-fold. For rhetorical theorists, I argue that attention to dominant discourses of disability and the alternative rhetorics in disability narratives can expand our present understanding of rhetorics of the body to interrogate: (1) who has the authority to speak and who doesn't; (2) who the dominant culture grants the position of subject and who the dominant culture sees as inherently "Other" or an object; and (3) how differing intersections of identity as configured by the actual appearance of the body can often determine whether or not the body "speaks" or is "spoken of" and, in conjunction, whether or not that body is heard, ignored, or silenced. For disability studies scholars, I rediscover the disability narrative as a genre that provides people with disabilities an opportunity to make meaning of their embodied experiences and their material circumstances while simultaneously addressing the ways in which disability itself is also a social construction similar to race, class, and gender. Ultimately, I argue that disability narrative can be a vehicle for a "rhetoric of resistance" that I posit allows people with disabilities to: (1) move their bodies and their voices from the margins to the center of public space; (2) revalue the embodied experience of disability as a site for knowledge and meaning making; and (3) challenge dominant discourses of disability that cast the disabled body as inferior and thereby serve as justification for the cultural devaluation and social marginalization of people with disabilities.

Using the disablement process as a framework, we examine the impact of the degree of concordance between objective measures of functional capacity, based on performance oriented mobility assessments (POMAs), and self-assessed disability, based on respondents’ reports of the ability to independently perform similar activities of daily living (ADLs), on mortality for elderly Mexican Americans over a seventeen year period. The analyses are based on the longitudinal Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE). We label respondents with serious POMA’s limitations who also report ADL disability “realists”, while we label those with POMA’s limitations who report no ADL disability “optimists”. Logistic models reveal that mortality rates are higher for “realists” than for “optimists”. The association between optimism and mortality is mediated by more complex measures of disability and reveals the complex cognitive and social construction of self-reported measures of physical functioning. We discuss the implications of the discrepancies for understanding predictors of functional decline in the older Mexican-origin population. / text

Using the Integrated Mission System of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the employment discrimination experience of Americans with Learning Disabilities (SLD) is documented for Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The study examines demographic characteristics of the charging parties and the industry of the responding employer against whom complaints are filed. It establishes the nature of the discriminatory act, specifically, pin-points the issue(s) that predicated the allegation, and shows the final outcome or resolution of these complaints. Key dimensions of workplace discrimination as experienced by individuals with LD are detected using two Tests of Proportion. The first test compared individuals with LD to persons who have similar, non-physical disabilities (mental retardation and autism). The second test compares the experience of the LD group to a group representing all other physical, sensory, and neurological disabilities. The Exhaustive CHAID technique is then used to identify and prioritize the most significant variables that contribute to predicting the outcomes of the allegations filed by persons with LD. The comparative findings of both Tests of Proportion in this study indicate that among other industries, Educational Services is more likely to experience allegations of discrimination charged by individuals with LD. Among disability groups, the LD populace was also more likely to make charges of discrimination relative to Assignment, Testing, Harassment, Training, and Discipline. The predictive findings of this study identify eleven specific Issues that drive allegations of discrimination filed by individuals with LD. Derivative implications are discussed as they affect individuals with LD, designated industries, the EEOC, and other stakeholders. Recommendations for future research are made.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. Johannesburg, January 2017 / Background and purpose Disability in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has become a major health problem especially in HIV endemic countries like South Africa. In this study we determined the validity and reliability of the first specific disability assessment instrument for people living with HIV, the HIV Disability Questionnaire (HDQ). Methodology Adults living with HIV were recruited from hospital clinics and AIDS service organizations in South Africa. A demographic questionnaire and HDQ paired with two reference measures were administered. To assess construct validity, factor analysis, convergent and divergent validity and level of disability against known group variables were determined. Cronbach’s alpha was established to determine reliability of the HDQ. Results Of the 498 participants, the majority were females (68.27%) and were taking antiretroviral therapy (100%). Majority of the participants were black (95.18%) and have a median age of 41 years. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated goodness of fit similar to that previously shown for the HDQ, with the hypotheses for convergent and divergent validity and known group variables being accepted. Internal consistency was good with Cronbach’s alpha values above 0.7 for all domains on the HDQ. Conclusions The HDQ demonstrates a variable degree of construct validity and internal consistency when administered to adults living with HIV in South Africa. / MT2017

Thesis advisor: Eve Spangler / Using a three article, mixed methods format, this dissertation will examine the profound pressures placed on women to conform to "good" mothering standards within the context of raising children with neurological disabilities. Furthermore, this work will offer critical insights into political and bureaucratic mechanisms that present barriers to mothers' advocacy on behalf of their children with neurological disabilities. * Article One will explore the cultural context and performance of intensive mothering as well as structural barriers to fulfilling the image of a "good mother" from the standpoint of middle class mothers raising children with neurological disabilities. * Article Two will consider low income mothers' experiences navigating bureaucratic support systems for children with neurological disabilities and situate those experiences within the context of the intensive mothering ideal. * Article Three will examine the bureaucratic systems designed by a patchwork of federal laws to support people with disabilities and their families and how these systems both aid and undermine mothers' achievement of the intensive mothering ideal. Ultimately, this work will be used to shape policy recommendations to facilitate mothers' increased access to needed supportive services for children with neurological disabilities. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.