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Thread: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
Number of posts in this thread: 11 (In chronological order)
From: Jim Allan
Date: Tue, May 24 2016 8:32AM
Subject: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Hello,
I have used, written, and repeated what I thought was a truism, but I don't
recall when I first heard this ...
Some/many elderly (aged) folks do not self identify as having a disability,
they respond that they are just old and things don't work as well as they
used to.
Based on conversations with elderly relatives and others (aged and people
in the disability field)...I found this to be true. Perhaps it was the way
the question was asked.
Be that as it may, I was trying to verify/research this truism. When I
searched on "self identification" and other terms -- of course I found
forms to self-identify, demographics, services, etc. all about folks who
have self-identified.
What I could not find is anything that verifies that elderly do not self
identify because in their view they are not disabled, they are just old.
There may other subsets of folks who would/could be considered disabled but
for whatever reason choose not to self-identify.
Do you have any insight/ideas...anything?
--
Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315 fax: 512.206.9264 http://www.tsbvi.edu/
"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964
From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Tue, May 24 2016 9:00AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Hi Jim-
I'm not sure this is relevant but it is my hope that people in my company self-identify as having a disability so that they can reach out for the help they need to do their job to their optimum capacity. I think that I may be planting some seeds, but for the most part those with invisible disabilities, such as depression and other mental illnesses still have a stigma. Perhaps that is what is going on with the elderly. They came from a time when no one talks about those subjects, or maybe they are in denial about getting old and the disabilities that come with it.
Lori Gillen
Specialist Technical Writer
McKesson Corporation
Newton, MA
From: David Sloan
Date: Tue, May 24 2016 3:07PM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Hi Jim, all
I agree with the general perception that older adults may not self-identify as having a disability. This may be for a variety of reasons:
* age related capability change is slow and gradual. So people may not be aware of the extent of the decline in visual acuity, dexterity or specific cognitive capabilities. Capability may also change over short term, which means someone's accessibility needs may vary from one day to another
* There's perceived stigmatisation of acknowledging that someone's capability have declined with age, and a resulting resistance to identify as having a disability or access need.
Having said that, stigmatisation is related to normalisation of accessibility solutions. So, for example, something that lots of people seem to do, like turn on captions, or use pinch-to-zoom on a tablet, may be accessibility features that older adults are also more likely to use. They're seen as popular features that make something easier to use (as opposed to "making it accessible").
But AT that are visually distinct, like ergonomic mice, or introduce a complex new mode of interaction, like a screen reader, might be less popular and well accepted.
The WAI-AGE project researched the overlap between web accessibility for people with disabilities and web accessibility for older adults, and the literature review has some very useful links (a few years old now).
http://www.w3.org/WAI/WAI-AGE/
http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-wai-age-literature-20080514/
My former colleague Sergio Sayago has also done a lot of interesting ethnographic research with older technology users, with some interesting findings on attitude to technology:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sergio_Sayago2
Hope this helps
Dave
David Sloan
UX Research Lead
The Paciello Group
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> On 24 May 2016, at 16:00, Gillen, Lori < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Hi Jim-
>
> I'm not sure this is relevant but it is my hope that people in my company self-identify as having a disability so that they can reach out for the help they need to do their job to their optimum capacity. I think that I may be planting some seeds, but for the most part those with invisible disabilities, such as depression and other mental illnesses still have a stigma. Perhaps that is what is going on with the elderly. They came from a time when no one talks about those subjects, or maybe they are in denial about getting old and the disabilities that come with it.
>
> Lori Gillen
> Specialist Technical Writer
> McKesson Corporation
> Newton, MA
>
>
From: Thad C
Date: Tue, May 24 2016 6:39PM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Hi Lori,
It is interesting that you bring up self identification today. I just had
the follow piece published. It was one of the most satisfying projects I
have worked on.
https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/designing-better-experiences-for-people-facing-anxiety
On May 24, 2016 8:01 AM, "Gillen, Lori" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hi Jim-
>
> I'm not sure this is relevant but it is my hope that people in my company
> self-identify as having a disability so that they can reach out for the
> help they need to do their job to their optimum capacity. I think that I
> may be planting some seeds, but for the most part those with invisible
> disabilities, such as depression and other mental illnesses still have a
> stigma. Perhaps that is what is going on with the elderly. They came from a
> time when no one talks about those subjects, or maybe they are in denial
> about getting old and the disabilities that come with it.
>
> Lori Gillen
> Specialist Technical Writer
> McKesson Corporation
> Newton, MA
>
>
From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Wed, May 25 2016 6:08AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Thank you, I will take a look at this!
From: Jonathan Avila
Date: Wed, May 25 2016 7:55AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Great article Thad. This gets at many aspects of true accessibility that we typically don't discuss.
Jon
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 24, 2016, at 9:37 PM, Thad C < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Hi Lori,
>
> It is interesting that you bring up self identification today. I just had
> the follow piece published. It was one of the most satisfying projects I
> have worked on.
>
> https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/designing-better-experiences-for-people-facing-anxiety
>> On May 24, 2016 8:01 AM, "Gillen, Lori" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>
>> Hi Jim-
>>
>> I'm not sure this is relevant but it is my hope that people in my company
>> self-identify as having a disability so that they can reach out for the
>> help they need to do their job to their optimum capacity. I think that I
>> may be planting some seeds, but for the most part those with invisible
>> disabilities, such as depression and other mental illnesses still have a
>> stigma. Perhaps that is what is going on with the elderly. They came from a
>> time when no one talks about those subjects, or maybe they are in denial
>> about getting old and the disabilities that come with it.
>>
>> Lori Gillen
>> Specialist Technical Writer
>> McKesson Corporation
>> Newton, MA
>>
>>
From: Thad C
Date: Wed, May 25 2016 7:57AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Thank you very much Jon. Really admire all the work you have done in this
space.
On May 25, 2016 6:55 AM, "Jonathan Avila" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> Great article Thad. This gets at many aspects of true accessibility that
> we typically don't discuss.
>
> Jon
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On May 24, 2016, at 9:37 PM, Thad C < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> >
> > Hi Lori,
> >
> > It is interesting that you bring up self identification today. I just had
> > the follow piece published. It was one of the most satisfying projects I
> > have worked on.
> >
> >
> https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/designing-better-experiences-for-people-facing-anxiety
> >> On May 24, 2016 8:01 AM, "Gillen, Lori" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Jim-
> >>
> >> I'm not sure this is relevant but it is my hope that people in my
> company
> >> self-identify as having a disability so that they can reach out for the
> >> help they need to do their job to their optimum capacity. I think that I
> >> may be planting some seeds, but for the most part those with invisible
> >> disabilities, such as depression and other mental illnesses still have a
> >> stigma. Perhaps that is what is going on with the elderly. They came
> from a
> >> time when no one talks about those subjects, or maybe they are in denial
> >> about getting old and the disabilities that come with it.
> >>
> >> Lori Gillen
> >> Specialist Technical Writer
> >> McKesson Corporation
> >> Newton, MA
> >>
> >>
From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Wed, May 25 2016 8:55AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Thank you for writing this article, Thad, and sharing it with us. I always find it brave when people who suffers from some type of mental affliction has the courage to stand up and tell their story. As for me, I have been very open about self-identifying as someone with hearing loss, but not so much about self-identifying as someone with anxiety and depression. It's a real shame, because these illnesses are still stigmatized and people are afraid that self-identifying is going to be used against them.
I applaud your ability to work in an area where you are so passionate. For me, I would love to become an accessibility professional (yes, I am taking that webinar tomorrow), as I am very passionate about it, but when I read posts from people currently working in this area, in this forum (for example), I feel that sense of confusion, uncertainty, and lack of control that you talk about in your article for new users. I wonder if we can apply some of Thad's suggestions here as a start.
Lori Gillen
McKesson Corporation
From: L Snider
Date: Wed, May 25 2016 10:27AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Hi Thad,
Thanks, really great piece!
Cheers
Lisa
On Tue, May 24, 2016 at 7:39 PM, Thad C < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hi Lori,
>
> It is interesting that you bring up self identification today. I just had
> the follow piece published. It was one of the most satisfying projects I
> have worked on.
>
>
> https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/designing-better-experiences-for-people-facing-anxiety
>
>
From: Tyllick,Cliff S (DADS)
Date: Thu, May 26 2016 9:58AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Thad, that is wonderfully written.
Even when reading such a compelling piece, sometimes folks never let go of the "us" and "them" mentality--as in "making this easy to use is just another thing I'm having to do for them." (I won't repeat the way one developer phrased that. Let's just say I couldn't believe it didn't get him ordered to repeat civil rights training.)
When I encounter that attitude, I make the point that these issues affect everyone at least some of the time. An article that makes that clear is Angela Colter's The Audience You Didn't Know You Had: http://contentsmagazine.com/articles/the-audience-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-you-had/
It usually works.
As for when it doesn't work, I'll loosely paraphrase that developer's comment: some people just refuse to be helped.
Cliff Tyllick
EIR Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS)
512-438-2494
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
From: L Snider
Date: Fri, May 27 2016 7:01AM
Subject: Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability
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Hi Cliff,
Thanks for sharing that article. Good to see low literacy talked about,
nice article.
Cheers
Lisa
On Thu, May 26, 2016 at 10:58 AM, Tyllick,Cliff S (DADS) <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Thad, that is wonderfully written.
>
>
> Even when reading such a compelling piece, sometimes folks never let go of
> the "us" and "them" mentality--as in "making this easy to use is just
> another thing I'm having to do for them." (I won't repeat the way one
> developer phrased that. Let's just say I couldn't believe it didn't get him
> ordered to repeat civil rights training.)
>
> When I encounter that attitude, I make the point that these issues affect
> everyone at least some of the time. An article that makes that clear is
> Angela Colter's The Audience You Didn't Know You Had:
> http://contentsmagazine.com/articles/the-audience-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-you-had/
>
> It usually works.
>
> As for when it doesn't work, I'll loosely paraphrase that developer's
> comment: some people just refuse to be helped.
>
>
>
> Cliff Tyllick
>
> EIR Accessibility Coordinator
>
> Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS)
>
> 512-438-2494
>
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>
>
>