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Page 1: Teaching About Psychosocial Aspects of Disabilityjfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/dunnarticle.pdf · Teaching About Psychosocial Aspects of ... talking, reading, ... Teaching About

The Generalist’s Corner

Teaching About Psychosocial Aspects ofDisability: Emphasizing Person–EnvironmentRelations

Dana S. Dunn1

AbstractThis article presents some psychosocial aspects of disability linked to the person–environment relation that teachers should sharein the psychology classroom. Disability is an often-overlooked form of diversity, one that teachers should discuss alongside race,gender, sexual orientation, social class/socioeconomic status (SES), religiosity, and aging. The experience of disability and disabilityculture are important topics that should be shared with and understood by secondary and postsecondary students, particularlybecause people with disabilities are no longer at the social margins of everyday life in the United States. To that end, I reviewdefinitions for disability as well as a nascent model for understanding the experience of disability, some select but fundamentalpsychosocial constructs regarding disability, and a representative negative (stigma and stereotyping) and positive (disabilityidentity) context example from the social psychological literature on disability. I then close with suggestions for teaching aboutdisability.

Keywordsdisability, disability identity, fundamental negative bias, insider–outsider distinction, person–environment relation, rehabilitationpsychology, stigma, WHO ICF model

What should teachers of psychology and their students know

about disability? In psychology, the study of disability is cen-

tered on the subfield known as rehabilitation psychology (in the

humanities and other social sciences, the topic is housed under

disability studies; e.g., Davis, 2013; Goodley, 2011). Rehabi-

litation psychologists are concerned with the psychological and

social consequences of disability (e.g., Frank, Caplan, &

Rosenthal, 2010), and they work to identify approaches to pre-

vent and resolve challenges associated with the experience of

disability. As I will illustrate in this article, a fundamental

psychosocial aspect of disability is that it results from the rela-

tion between people and the environments they inhabit. In

essence, the world was designed for nondisabled people, which

means that when someone with a disability has difficulty navi-

gating within it (physically, socially, cognitively, emotionally),

such difficulty emerges from the environment—a missing curb

cut, no entrance ramp, a poorly placed elevator, no Braille

signage, social ‘‘norms,’’ and so on—and not the person with

the disability.

Social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1890–1947) recognized that

environmental factors like these routinely override the beha-

vioral impact of personal factors, including personality or other

dispositional variables (see, e.g., Nisbett, 1980; Ross & Nisbett,

1991). Lewin discerned that the ways people perceive social and

physical environments (also known as the situation) has a pro-

found influence on both their actions and subjective experiences.

Although both personal and situational factors are important,

Lewin (1935) argued that the interaction between the two—

the person–environment relation—is actually what produces

behavior, leading to his oft-cited maxim that behavior is a

function of the person and his or her perceived environment,

or B ¼ f (P, E; see Dunn, 2011; Marrow, 1977).

The purpose of this article is to present some psychosocial

aspects of disability linked to the person–environment relation

that teachers should share in the classroom, particularly

because people with disabilities (PWDs) are often treated as

an invisible minority (Asch & McCarthy, 2003). Disability is a

form of diversity, albeit one that is too often absent from psy-

chology courses and the typical discipline-based textbooks,

notably those in introductory psychology. In fact, teachers

should discuss disability alongside race, gender, sexual orien-

tation, social class/socioeconomic status (SES), religiosity, and

age (Dunn & Hammer, 2014). I maintain that the experience of

disability and disability culture are important topics that should

be shared with and understood by secondary and postsecondary

1 Department of Psychology, Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Dana S. Dunn, Department of Psychology, Moravian College, 1200 Main Street,

Bethlehem, PA 18018, USA.

Email: [email protected]

Teaching of Psychology1-8ª The Author(s) 2016Reprints and permission:sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navDOI: 10.1177/0098628316649492top.sagepub.com

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students, particularly because PWDs are no longer at the social

margins of everyday life in the United States. Rather, due to

political and social changes, notably the Americans with Dis-

abilities Act (ADA, 1991), increasing numbers of PWDs now

pursue higher education and employment, while also demand-

ing their civil rights and appropriate acknowledgment from the

wider culture. I review definitions for disability as well as a

model for understanding the experience of disability, some

select but fundamental psychosocial constructs regarding dis-

ability, and a representative negative and positive example

from the social psychological literature on disability. I then

close with suggestions for teaching about disability.

Defining Disability

When psychologists use the term disability, what do they

mean? Generally speaking, the psychological literature defines

disability as a condition or characteristic connected to a partic-

ular person. The presence of a disability usually means that

activities routinely executed by an individual (e.g., walking,

talking, reading, writing) are in some way restricted or must

be accomplished in some unaccustomed manner. Thus, a per-

son who lost her left leg in a car accident has a disability, as

does an individual with congenital deafness. However, disabil-

ities are not just physical—they can be psychological, as when

a person experiences chronic depression that is physiological in

origin. Disabilities can also occur together, as when a man who

had a mild stroke develops a slower gait when walking and also

experiences aphasia, which slows his speech.

Professionals also use the term impairment to refer to dis-

ability; however, this term has a different meaning in profes-

sional contexts than in everyday language. The International

Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF)

model (to be discussed shortly) uses impairment when identi-

fying a disruption at the system level of a bodily organ (e.g.,

leg, arm, brain) that leads to some loss of function or an obser-

vable abnormality (World Health Organization [WHO], 2001).

In addition, within the context of the ICF model, the term

abnormality denotes a deviation from some agreed upon

norm—it most emphatically does not indicate the presence of

any ‘‘defect’’ (WHO, 2001). Impairments are long-lasting chal-

lenges, if not necessarily permanent ones, as they most often

are due to injury, disease, or some other chronic health condi-

tion. Impairments are consequential for people’s lives, as they

create disruptions in emotional, cognitive, and physiological

processes (e.g., Livneh, 1987).

A third term, handicap, is often used in daily language when

discussing disability, but it, too, has a specific, psychosocial

meaning. Like impairment, ‘‘handicap’’ does not refer to some-

thing about a person; rather, a handicap—or, more likely, a

handicapping quality—is something found in or linked to the

environment. In this context, the word environment entails

some constraint found in a given situation (e.g., a structural

feature of a building, such as steps or a steeply inclined ramp)

or some challenging terrain that makes mobility difficult (e.g.,

uneven sidewalks). Someone who relies on a wheelchair is thus

handicapped or disadvantaged by aspects of the environment;

however, she is not handicapped herself.

Disability and Biased Perceptions

Distinctions among the terms disability, impairment, handicap,

and environment are important because students, like most

nondisabled observers, often view the presence of a disability

as a personally defining quality. When a person is perceived by

others to be disabled, such categorization ‘‘essentializes’’ the

disability—in the minds of others, the disability represents the

essence of the person, superseding all of his or her other qua-

lities, good or bad (Dunn, Fisher, & Beard, 2013). Because

disability looms large in others’ perceptions, it triggers not only

curiosity (observers are drawn to differences) but also what is

known as the fundamental negative bias (Wright, 1988), a

conceptual relative of the fundamental attribution error (Ross,

1977). Whereas the latter bias leads perceivers to attribute the

source of behavior to people’s presumed personalities rather

than to situational influences (e.g., the student who is routinely

late to class is lazy, not the victim of car trouble or a challen-

ging commute), the fundamental negative bias causes them to

focus on some presumed negative quality linked to PWDs.

Consider a typical example. In a public venue, an attractive

young woman using a wheelchair is approached by a stranger

who is entirely comfortable saying ‘‘Why, you’re much too

pretty to be in a wheelchair.’’ What sounds like an innocent,

even flattering, comment actually contains a value judgment—

that attractive people do not use wheelchairs and, by implica-

tion, do not have disabilities. Salient characteristics that stand

out (i.e., the wheelchair, some unknown disability) prompt the

stranger, who then codes these characteristics as negative (per-

haps the perceiver believes attractive people must be physically

perfect). As Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Finkenauer, and Vohs

(2001) persuasively argued, ‘‘Bad is stronger than good,’’ so

much so that any perceived negative quality squelches the

impact of any positive information. In fact, the sizable litera-

ture concerning nondisabled people’s attitudes toward PWD

can be summed up rather concisely: At best, their attitudes are

ambivalent, while in the main, they tend to be negative (Chan,

Livneh, Pruett, Wang, & Zheng, 2009; Dunn, 2015; Vil-

chinsky, Findler, & Werner, 2010).

Understanding the Experience of Disability:The WHO ICF Model

How should students understand the experience of disability?

The ICF model is a good start (WHO, 2001). As shown in

Figure 1, each PWD reacts and functions in a unique way due

to the influence of personal (e.g., gender, lifestyle, education,

age, coping style) and environmental (e.g., physical, cultural,

attitudinal, social, familial, technological) factors identified by

Lewin (1935). These contextual factors are important because

they can change or otherwise influence other components in the

model, including performing a given activity (some behavior),

participation (involvement in some life situation, such as

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attending class, making a meal, or shopping), body functions

(physiological and psychological systems), structure (organs,

limbs, and components therein), and health conditions (disease,

injury, disorder). Simply put, a person’s health condition or

impairment, coupled with contextual factors (personal, envi-

ronmental), will affect body functions and structure, activity,

and participation. Thus, behavior results from an array of fac-

tors that influence one another, not merely a disability per se.

The dynamic complexity of the model means that one PWD

can enjoy a high quality of life and relatively unrestricted

activities—in other words, living a good life (Dunn & Brody,

2008)—whereas another PWD might be continually chal-

lenged by personal and situational factors that, coupled with

health conditions, body functions, and structure, limit partici-

pation in a variety of desired activities (for more detailed dis-

cussion of the model, see Chan, da Silva Cordoso, &

Chronister, 2009).

As a brief aside, well-intentioned, but inherently flawed,

‘‘consciousness-raising’’ exercises, such as having a nondis-

abled person use a wheelchair for an hour or two or covering

the eyes of a sighted person to mimic blindness, are not appro-

priate ways to help students understand or experience disability

(Dunn, 2005; Dunn et al., 2013). Such ‘‘snapshot’’ exercises

lack integrity, giving participants a quick and false sense of

what a disability is like. Living with a disability is not the same

as acting disabled for a short time. Instead of engaging in such

role-playing, for example, nondisabled persons would learn

more by shadowing a disabled individual for a meaningful

amount of time in order to learn how the person navigates

social, psychological, and physical environments. A more fruit-

ful approach is to help students appreciate the challenges posed

by trying to adopt the perspectives of others whose experiences

(like disability) vary from their own (for one activity that

explores the possibility that everyone has some type of disabil-

ity, consider the mine-thine exercise; Dunn, Fisher, & Beard,

2012; Wright, 1975; Wright & Lopez, 2002).

Some Fundamental Psychosocial Constructs

There are a variety of important psychosocial constructs con-

cerning disability (Dunn, 2015; Wright, 1983). Helping stu-

dents to recognize some of these constructs in action will not

only help them to understand disability but may also lead them

to temper their biases when interacting with PWDs in the

future. These constructs include the insider–outsider distinc-

tion, adjusting to disability, assets, self-perception of bodily

states, and human dignity.

Insider–Outsider Distinction

As demonstrated by the fundamental attribution error, we know

that others’ behavior engulfs our field of perception, so that as

observers, we routinely attribute the cause of behavior to the

person rather than the situation (Ross, 1977). Tamara Dembo

(1902–1993), a student of Lewin’s, added a further attribu-

tional concept related to the person–environment relation, one

related to social psychology’s actor–observer effect (Jones &

Nisbett, 1971). Dembo (1964, 1970, 1982) distinguished

between individuals who have a disability (insiders), and know

what it is like, and nondisabled observers (outsiders), who can

only imagine what the experience of disability must be like.

The insider–outsider distinction is an important concept for

students to appreciate because, as outsiders, they, too, often

assume what a disability, whether congenital or acquired, must

be like—and they frequently conclude that it is not only neg-

ative and disruptive to daily living but also defining for the

individual. Outsiders rarely recognize disability as one quality

among many in a person’s life; instead, outsiders presume the

disability is an ongoing focus, a troubling preoccupation, for

the PWD.

In contrast, insiders actually know what the experience of

being disabled is like, that its presence does not necessarily

predict or preclude quality of life or influence well-being.

Figure 1. The World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health Model.

Dunn 3

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Instead, disability is one life quality among many others (e.g.,

mental and physical health, career, stress, hobbies and interests,

role as spouse or parent, community volunteer; Duggan &

Dijkers, 2001) that becomes a PWD’s focus only when others

(i.e., outsiders) or situational constraints make it salient. To be

sure, disability can be an important part of a disabled person’s

identity, but that often renders it a positive rather than a neg-

ative quality (Dunn, 2015; Dunn & Burcaw, 2013).

Adjusting to Disability

Adjusting to disability—understanding and coping with phys-

ical, psychological, or other chronic health changes—applies to

individuals who become disabled at some point in their lives,

often through illness, disease, or accident. Conceptually, how-

ever, adjustment does not apply to people who have congenital

disabilities, as their conditions have always been present and

are, in a very real sense, part of who they are. Thus, when

describing how newly disabled people cope with their condi-

tions, rehabilitation psychologists try to be specific.

Discussing how people adapt following disability onset

entails knowing how affected individuals understand the trig-

gering event and how any psychological and physical changes

are gradually integrated into their identities, body images, and

daily living. Adaptation is an active process, one where the

individual, family and friends, and rehabilitation professionals

continually reflect on the disability’s impact. Across time, indi-

viduals with acute disabilities move toward a more idealized

state known as adjustment (Livneh & Antonak, 1997; Sme-

dana, Bakken-Gillen, & Dalton, 2009).

Adjustment occurs once individuals are satisfied with and

accepting of their own person–environment relations, so that

any physical or psychological losses or changes do not repre-

sent ongoing preoccupations. During adjustment, individuals

adopt constructive, positive outlooks regarding their abilities,

and what they believe they can accomplish moving forward

(Wright, 1983). Favorable adjustment to disability is also

marked by personal mastery or feelings of independence and

having problem-solving skills for daily life, navigating social

situations and physical environments, and developing and

maintaining a positive self-concept (Dunn, 2015).

Naturally, across time, some individuals who acquire a dis-

ability cope better than others (recall the person–environment

relation and Figure 1). Wright (1983) thus introduced a third

process called acceptance into the general discussion of dis-

ability adjustment. An individual with a disability displays

acceptance, when the disability reduces neither his or her

self-worth nor future outlook, thereby representing a realistic

appraisal of the circumstances accompanied by positive efforts

and attention to available assets.

Assets as Important

Regardless of a disability’s severity, PWDs should be seen as

either having or able to develop some psychosocial asset or set

of assets (e.g., Wright, 1983). Assets are the accessible or

potential and distinct resources in each person, which can serve

as a point of pride or solace after disability onset. Assets refer to

tangible (e.g., income) or intangible (e.g., self-concept) factors

and can be personality related (e.g., sense of humor, resilience),

achieved or attainable (e.g., degree, awards), motivational in

nature (e.g., tenacity, self-discipline), or even an interest or hobby

(e.g., watching football, reading). Assets remind PWDs about

their accomplishments or capabilities for the future or about

what skills they can learn or relearn following bodily changes

or trauma (for more on assets, including additional examples,

see Dunn, 2015). Following the onset of disability, for example,

rehabilitation psychologists routinely ask about a person’s assets

or strengths to promote positive outlooks for the future.

Self-Perception of Bodily States

Both social psychology and rehabilitation psychology share the

view that people’s subjective perceptions affect their thoughts,

feelings, and action (e.g., Wegner & Gilbert, 2000). For exam-

ple, the attribution literature in social psychology is replete

with studies demonstrating that people do not see reality from

any sort of veridical perspective; rather, their perceptions of

reality (or the reality of others) are influenced, or even biased,

by their expectations, stereotypes, and past experiences (e.g.,

Fiske & Taylor, 2013). Within rehabilitation psychology, prac-

titioners know that the experience of particular bodily states,

such as pain or fatigue, is based on individuals’ self-

perceptions of the phenomena not only the actual sensations.

Such perceptions are malleable, so that they can be influenced

or altered in positive or negative directions based on attitudes

(their own, their family’s, or even their therapist’s), expecta-

tions (their own, those shared by family, friends, and medical

staff), and environmental reinforcement (physical, social, and

psychological). Rehabilitation professionals encourage dis-

abled people to shift their perceptions in positive directions

that promote adjustment to disability and a beneficial per-

son–environment relation emphasizing their individual worth.

Human Dignity

No matter its severity, any form of disability—physical, intel-

lectual, cognitive, or other—or the presence of some chronic

illness has no bearing on any individual’s right to be respected,

encouraged, and treated as a whole and deserving person. As

Wright (1987) expressed it, ‘‘An essential core-concept of

human dignity is that a person is not an object, not a thing’’

(p. 12). This core psychosocial construct should be kept in

mind as I turn to the social challenges posed by disability as

a stigma that can trigger stereotypic thought.

Negative Context: Stigma, Stereotyping,and Disability

To nondisabled persons, a disability often represents a stigma,

that is, some quality that is construed as being broadly negative

in a given context or cultural setting (Corrigan, 2014; Crocker,

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Major, & Steele, 1998). When a disability is stigmatizing, it

serves as a social marker so that PWDs are seen and often treated

as distinctly different from nondisabled people (see also Goff-

man, 1963). The perceived difference can promote negative

stereotypic judgments in the minds of nondisabled observers,

which in turn can lead to the devaluation of PWDs, beliefs that

they are somehow deviant, and attempts to maintain physical

and psychological distance from them (Major & Crocker, 1993).

Jones and colleagues (1984) identified six stigmatizing dimen-

sions (see Table 1), although PWDs are most likely to be stig-

matized by visible disabilities (e.g., physical differences, such as

a missing limb or the inability to walk) or some indicator of the

presence of a disability (e.g., a wheelchair, a leg brace or cane, a

walker, salient bodily movements, or unusual gait).

Perceived stigmas often trigger emotional reactions, and

Dovidio, Pagano, and Hebl (2011) suggested such reactions

could lead to prejudice and discrimination based on normative

psychological processes. In effect, perceivers categorize stig-

matized others quickly and efficiently into different groups,

essentially categorizing them as ‘‘like us’’ or ‘‘not like us,’’

‘‘friend’’ or ‘‘stranger,’’ and so on (Macrae & Bodenhausen,

2001). Such categorization simplifies social life. But at the

same time, individual identities are lost, differences among

persons are minimized (‘‘Those people are all alike’’), and

perceived between-group differences are amplified (‘‘We are

distinct, different, perhaps even unique’’). Unfortunately, the

perceived similarities among the out-group members and the

presumed differences within the in-group are seen as character-

based traits. As a result, observers are subsequently likely to

apply stereotypes—associations (good or bad) or beliefs (pos-

itive or negative)—to individuals in both groups (e.g., Nelson,

2009). Such oversimplified portrayals of others nonetheless

organize observers’ thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and fre-

quently behaviors toward groups, including PWDs. Fortu-

nately, both the experience of and research concerning

disability are not all negative.

Positive Context: Disability Identity

Identities enable people to display their individuality while also

making sense of themselves and creating connections to other

people and groups (Oyserman, Elmore, & Smith, 2012). Dis-

ability identity refers to the beneficial self-beliefs that PWDs

hold regarding their disabilities, as well as any ties they possess

to members of the disability community (e.g., Dunn & Burcaw,

2013; Gill, 1997). Given that the process of adjustment to dis-

ability is on a continuum, PWDs can vary in terms of how well

developed their disability identities turn out to be (Dunn,

2015). Those who feel very much a part of the disability com-

munity are likely to have a moderate to high level of identifi-

cation, while those who are activists, seeking social, political,

and economic gains for PWDs, will also tend to have a high

level of identity. In contrast, individuals who can ‘‘pass’’ as

nondisabled or who choose not to connect with the disability

community are presumed to have a low or even no level of

identity. A PWD who has a few friends who are also disabled

but is not active in the disability community might be found

more toward the middle of the continuum.

Table 2 contains a list of six themes relating to disability

identity that Dunn and Burcaw (2013) examined. The first two

themes—communal attachment and affirmation of disability—

are linked to the notion that part of disability identity begins

with connection to disability culture and affiliation with other

PWDs. As aspects of disability identity, self-worth, pride, and

discrimination emerged from research concerning disability

politics and a desire for more civil rights and the accompanying

struggle to obtain them. In addition, these three themes support

PWDs by helping them to combat daily hassles, stereotypes,

and the general negative attitudes held by nondisabled people

regarding disability. The final entry in Table 2, personal mean-

ing, refers to constructively thinking about and coping with the

onset and aftermath of disability, just as it can also refer to an

individual’s acceptance of his or her disability.

One way to learn about disability identity and the role of

these themes is to read narratives (e.g., books, essays, blog

entries) written by PWDs regarding their own disability expe-

rience (for a list of relevant works, see Dunn & Burcaw, 2013).

Critically reading such self-narratives is one way for students

and nondisabled people more generally to reflect on the insi-

der–outsider distinction, that is, seeing such disability stories as

being reliable accounts of PWDs’ experiences as opposed to

rationalizations or defensive self-attributions. Social

Table 1. Stigmatizing Dimensions.

Source/responsibility for condition—Is a stigma congenital, accidental, orself-inflicted?

Aesthetic—Does the stigma distress or otherwise upset other people?Apparent or concealable—Is a stigma obvious (e.g., amputation) or

invisible (e.g., psychological or mood disorder)?Disruptiveness—Does the stigma’s presence hinder or otherwise

prevent social interaction or communication?Perilous—Can the stigma be seen as contagious or even dangerous to

others?Course of the mark—Will the stigma change over time, getting worse

or even better?

Note. Adapted from Jones et al. (1984).

Table 2. Disability Identity: Six Key Themes.

Communal attachment—wishes to affiliate with other PWDsAffirmation of disability—holds thoughts and feelings of being part of

society and of enjoying the same rights and responsibilities of othercitizens

Self-worth—values the self with disability and feels equal to nondisabledpeople

Pride—feels proud of identity despite recognizing that disabled is oftenviewed by nondisabled people to be a devalued quality

Discrimination—aware that being a people with disability means being arecipient of prejudicial behavior in daily life

Personal meaning—finds significance in, identifies benefits with, andmakes sense of disability

Note. Adapted from Dunn and Burcaw (2013).

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psychological research, for example, demonstrates that such

self-narratives are constructive, allowing individuals to cope

with negative life events and stressors (e.g., Pennebaker,

2004). For more on disability identity, see Bogart (2014,

2015) and Darling (2013).

Teaching About Disability: Closing Thoughts

Given that disability is largely ignored in the mainstream psy-

chological curriculum, teachers of psychology will be doing a

good service by introducing students to some fundamental psy-

chosocial constructs regarding disability as well as the impor-

tance of the person–environment relation. Beyond discussing

these topics, teachers should consider the fact that students’

unfamiliarity with disability is itself a social–psychological

challenge. Many well-intentioned nondisabled people are

uncertain of how to behave when interacting with a PWD.

Attitudinal research demonstrates that meaningful, equal status

exchanges between nondisabled persons and PWDs can reduce

prejudicial or ambivalent feelings (e.g., Amsel & Fichten,

1988; Mason, Pratt, Patel, Greydanus, & Yahya, 2004).

Table 3 lists some useful suggestions and guidelines for

helping nondisabled individuals navigate their encounters with

PWDs (Dunn, 2015; Wright, 1983). The overarching goal, of

course, is to treat PWDs as people, thereby respecting their

privacy, integrity, and dignity. As the entries in Table 3 indi-

cate, the PWD should guide any interaction, deciding when and

whether any disclosure regarding his or her disability will take

place. For their part, nondisabled people should respect the

choice of PWDs in this regard, allowing them to lead.

Reducing uncertainty and promoting understanding of dis-

ability are important goals. The psychology classroom is a

good place to begin, but in the end, students must learn to

recognize disability as a form of diversity that will likely touch

their lives at some point, when in a social interaction; when a

chronic disease affects a friend or family member; or through

some change to their own physical, psychological, or health

condition. If we live long enough, after all, most of us may

expect to experience disability at some point. Viewing disabil-

ity as another important aspect of being human, then, is a way

to promote the humanity of PWDs. As Michel de Montaigne

(1850/1991) put it centuries ago, ‘‘I do not suffer from that

common failing of judging another man by me; I can easily

believe that others have qualities quite distinct from my own

. . . I more readily acknowledge our differences than our simi-

larities’’ (p. 257).

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to

the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship,

and/or publication of this article.

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Table 3. Some General Suggestions for Interacting With People WithDisabilities (PWDs).

Although curiosity is normal, avoid asking about a disability unless thePWD alludes to it during a conversation.

Avoid talking about a disability unless the PWD wants to do so.Never ask questions about a person’s disability immediately.During social interaction, consider the mood of the PWD.Instead of dwelling on disability, put your focus on the person.Don’t steer a discussion away from disability if a PWD clearly has a

need to discuss it with you.Avoid being solicitous to PWDs: offer assistance only when asked or if

the circumstance truly demands it.Trying to ‘‘move things along’’ or ‘‘speed them up’’ by assisting or

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Note. Adapted from Wright (1983, p. 306).

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Author Biographies

Dana S. Dunn is professor of psy-

chology at Moravian College in Beth-

lehem, PA. He earned his PhD in

experimental social psychology from

the University of Virginia and his BA

in psychology from Carnegie Mellon

University. A fellow of the American

Psychological Association (Divisions

1, 2, and 22) and the Association for

Psychological Science. Dunn is active

in the Society for the Teaching of Psy-

chology (Division 2 of APA) where

he served as President in 2010. In

2013, Dunn received the Charles

L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award from the

American Psychological Foundation, and in 2015, he was APA’s

Harry Kirke Wolfe lecturer. He is a member of the editorial boards

of several journals and is a frequent speaker at national and regional

psychology conferences. Dunn is past board member of the Eastern

Psychological Association and formerly served on the program com-

mittee for the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology. He is

a member of the Board of the Foundation for Rehabilitation Psychol-

ogy and a former member of APA’s Committee on Disability Issues in

Psychology. The author of over 150 articles, chapters, and book

reviews, Dunn writes about the teaching of psychology, the social

psychology of disability, and liberal arts education. He is the author

or editor of 30 books and writes a blog on the teaching psychology

called ‘‘Head of the Class’’ for Psychology Today. He is currently

Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Bibliographies (OB): Psychology. His

recent books include The Social Psychology of Disability (Oxford,

2015), The Oxford Handbook of Undergraduate Psychology Educa-

tion (Oxford, 2015), and Pursuing Human Strengths: A Positive Psy-

chology Guide (Worth/Macmillan, 2016).

8 Teaching of Psychology

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