The culture of disability is understood to be a set of patterns of behavior, beliefs, and objects of culture that are characteristic of people with disabilities. There are four main dimensions to this culture, including historical, political, personal, and aesthetic (Peters, 2022). When people talk about the historical aspect of disability culture, they refer to the masterpieces of poetry and art created by disabled people and their language. The social and political dimensions include political solidarity as well as a community of people with shared values. The personal and aesthetic aspects focus on the pride and identity of people with disabilities and their positive attitude toward their way of life (Peters, 2022). At the origins of the formation of this culture through collective association, disabled individuals began to pay attention to the strengths of their identity. Due to this, a sense of pride in their identity emerged, and there came an awareness of the need to stop the internalization of discrimination.
A fundamental similarity of disability culture with other ones is the attempt to separate “self” from “others.” Accordingly, there is a division of people into those who belong to the group and those who are outside of it. In addition, the resemblance is manifested in the presence of a system of specific values, the existence of numerous communities, and a sense of pride in belonging to a particular culture. The critical difference is that belonging to a culture of disability is often determined by people’s innate health features rather than by their personal choice. Unfortunately, many humans are born with physiological characteristics that limit their abilities. The benefits of disability culture are that it gives people a sense of belonging and helps them find strengths in their situation (Pratt, 2018). One can recognize this culture at school or in the workplace if there is a community of people who have shared values and beliefs.
References
Peters, S. J. (2022). Disability culture. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Pratt, L. (2018). The benefits of disability diversity in the workplace. HRD Connect.