Sociology 2235 Chapter Notes - Chapter 22: Canadian Human Rights Act, Triple Jeopardy, Ableism
15 Apr 2021
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SOC 2235
Reading Note
Chapter 22 - Lack of Support: Canadian Families and Disability
- Disability affects many Canadians and their families.
- The way that the federal government measures disability has changed three times over the
last 30 years.
- The Canadian Survey on Disability:
o Concerned with what a person can or cannot do at a particular time.
▪ Some people don’t count as having a disability when filling out the census.
o Only includes adults (16+).
▪ No federal data on children with disabilities since 2006.
- 8.1 million Canadians (28%) 15+ provided care to a family member or friend with a long -
term health condition, disability, or aging needs.
- The prevalence of disability increases with age (CAD is an aging society).
- All people without disabilities are considered to be Temporarily Able-Bodied.
- Women in Canada are more likely to experience disability and concurrent chronic health
problems due to the fact that women generally live longer than men.
- Disabled women are more likely than disabled any single or have incomes than men would
please and also have tangible social support.
- Females with disabilities are oppressed by sexism and Ableism.
o Indigenous women with disabilities face triple jeopardy.
- No easy or universally accepted definition of disability as terminology used within the
disability community and activist movements have been debated.
- Visible Disability: one that can be seen by others (i.e. physical).
- Invisible Disability: not so apparent (i.e. mental health, chronic illness).
- Some disabilities are permanent, some are temporary, and some periodically come and go.
- Who is disabled and what counts as a disability is constantly changing.
o The federal government acknowledges the shift in concept.
- Neither the Charter of Rights and Freedoms nor the Canadian Human Rights Act clearly
define disability, although they do prohibit discrimination against persons with physical
and or mental disabilities.
- Whenever a definition is not explicitly given by a piece of legislation, it is up to the courts to
determine scope and limitations.
- Social Model of Disability: the relationship between a person with impairment and the
environment. including attitudes, beliefs, climate, architecture, systems and services.
o Counteracts the biomedical model.
o 2 types:
▪ Materialist/Radical: focuses on capitalism as the root cause of disablement.
▪ Idealist/Rights: rights analysis led to short term policy reforms and sticking
plaster solutions.
o Identifies barriers as being systematically rather than biologically based.
o External obstacles as opposed to individual characteristics are viewed as disabling.
▪ For example, the lack of a ramp is the problem, not that the person uses a
wheelchair.
o Gender differences in this model have been an ongoing source of tension; we call
this Gendered Disablism.
o Critiques:
▪ Denial of bodies in pain.
▪ Not all disabling experiences can be fixed by altering the environment.
▪ The terms “person with disabilities” and ‘disabled persons” are alternated.
- Biomedical Model of Disability: centres disability firmly in bodies.
o Serves to reinforce disability as a personal tragedy and fuelled feelings of pity and
non-disabled people.
- Boys 14 an under are more likely than their female counterparts to have disabilities that
limit activity, but once they move into the next age category (15-24), this prevalence
disappears.
- The incidence of disability increases with age of the child regardless of gender.
- Over half of disabled children in Canada are considered to have mild more disabilities; ON /
QB have the highest incidences of children with severe-very severe disabilities.
- The most common type of disability among preschoolers are chronic health conditions.
- Developmental delays were the next most prevalent type of disability causing activity
limitations for this age group (preschoolers).
- The majority of disabled children are school aged children (5-14).
o Most common types of disabilities for this age group are learning disabilities and
chronic health conditions.
o Boys reported experiencing learning disabilities and chronic disabilities at a higher
rate than girls.
o Learning disabilities are often not diagnosed until children start school; often they
have a difficult time obtaining the proper education for their child.
o Special education in general regardless of the severity of the disability is difficult for
parents to obtain.
o Emotional, behavioral, and psychological conditions such as autism were the most
difficult to accommodate.
- Many parents of children with disabilities experienced considerable frustration as a result
of a lack of support rather than the disability itself.
- Today, children with disabilities are increasingly likely to live at home with their families
rather than in institutions.
- In some cases, however, children are placed in residential or foster care because of
inadequate family supports.
- Children with disabilities are overrepresented in female headed lone parent families
compared with other children.
- Adult Canadian women with disabilities are more likely than similarly aged men with
disabilities and women without disabilities to live alone and to be lone parents.
- The average household income for families with children with disabilities is lower than the
household incomes of their peers without disabilities.
- There's a correlation between the presence of a child with Adele's ability in the household
and the likelihood of a families income falling below the low-income cut-off.
o 1/4 families with children having activity-related disabilities reported falling below
the low-income cut-off in comparison to 1/10 families without children with
disabilities.
- Having a child with a disability can also impact the employment situation of families.
o Positively correlated with the severity of the child's disability.
o Having a child with a disability can thus force families to rethink the way they
organize work and family life.
Document Summary
Chapter 22 - lack of support: canadian families and disability. Disability affects many canadians and their families. The way that the federal government measures disability has changed three times over the last 30 years. 8. 1 million canadians (28%) 15+ provided care to a family member or friend with a long - term health condition, disability, or aging needs. The prevalence of disability increases with age (cad is an aging society). All people without disabilities are considered to be temporarily able-bodied. Women in canada are more likely to experience disability and concurrent chronic health problems due to the fact that women generally live longer than men. Disabled women are more likely than disabled any single or have incomes than men would please and also have tangible social support. Females with disabilities are oppressed by sexism and ableism. No easy or universally accepted definition of disability as terminology used within the disability community and activist movements have been debated.
