The Professional Counselor | Volume 13, Issue 4 413 found (M = 1.70). These differences may be due, in part, to an increased recognition and awareness of ableist microaggressions. The high average scores reported in each subscale are consistent with the Helplessness, Minimization, Denial of Personhood, and Otherization scores reported by other researchers (Gonzales et al., 2015; Keller & Galgay, 2010; Olkin et al., 2019). In our study, visibility of disability differentially impacted the overall occurrence and types of ableist microaggressions PWD experienced. Like in previous studies (Andreou et al., 2021; Conover et al., 2017a; Kattari, 2020), participants in our study with visible disabilities reported higher occurrences of ableist microaggressions than people with hidden disabilities or those with both visible and hidden disabilities, and they reported more Helplessness and Otherization types of microaggressions. It is plausible that people with visible disabilities experience Helplessness and Otherization ableist microaggressions more frequently because of the dominant culture’s perception that disability is catastrophic and results in functional limitations beyond their disability, presuming that PWD need unsolicited help from able-bodied individuals and that PWD are burdensome (Keller & Galgay, 2010; Olkin et al., 2019). Like Andreou et al. (2021) found, participants with hidden disabilities indicated fewer overall ableist microaggression experiences, but they reported higher Minimization microaggressions than their counterparts. Because people with hidden disabilities generally do not fit the stereotypical representation of a person with a disability, they may pass as nondisabled and must prove their disability status. This is consistent with findings that individuals living with concealable chronic and mental illnesses encounter experiences in which the existence or severity of their symptoms are denied by others (Gonzales et al., 2015; Olkin et al., 2019). Unique to our study is the result that participants who identified as having both visible and hidden disabilities experienced more Denial of Personhood microaggressions, indicating PWD being reduced to their disability status (Conover et al., 2017a) and/or PWD’s other sociocultural identities being ignored or denied (Keller & Galgay, 2010). PWD with different types of disabilities did not differ in the overall occurrence of and types of ableist microaggressions they experienced. Partly, our results concur with Conover et al. (2017a), who noted no differences in the occurrence of ableist microaggressions among people with different types of physical disabilities. In contrast, Andreou et al. (2021) reported that people with medical conditions/chronic illnesses indicated fewer ableist microaggressions than their counterparts and that disability type was related to Helplessness, Minimization, and Otherization. The variability across these studies may be due to real differences or the ways in which scholars classified disability types. The sociocultural identities we examined did not predict the lifetime experiences of ableist microaggressions, aligning with prior researchers’ results (Conover et al., 2017a). However, unique to our study is that we found that race/ethnicity, education level, and employment status are predictive of Minimization ableist microaggressions for people of color (POC), those with graduate degrees, and PWD who are employed full time. We proffer these results may be understood from the standpoint that microaggressions toward PWD are pervasive and may intersect with other nondominant identities (Sue & Spanierman, 2022). It is not surprising that participants with nondominant racial identities had higher Minimization scores given that POC frequently report being dismissed and ignored within U.S. culture (Nadal et al., 2014); based on our study results, this holds true for POC with disabilities. Additionally, because society typically views people with graduate degrees and those who work full time as more capable, PWD who fit these categories may be more likely to experience microaggressions that minimize the existence or severity of their disabilities because they are perceived as more capable based on education and employment.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU5MTM1