The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 1 65 Literature Review Although the term microaggressions was coined by Pierce in the 1970s, it was not until 2007 that it took hold within the allied helping professions (Sue et al., 2007). Initially, the term was used to describe experiences based on race, yet the term has been applied more broadly to the dismissive experiences people with other nondominant identities (e.g., gender, affectual/sexual orientation) encounter (Sue & Spanierman, 2020). In 2010, Keller and Galgay initiated foundational research about the microaggressions that PWD experience. Through their qualitative study, they identified eight microaggression domains experienced by PWD and described their harmful effects on the psychological and emotional well-being of PWD. Those eight domains are: (a) denial of identity, (b) denial of privacy, (c) helplessness, (d) secondary gain, (e) spread effect, (f) patronization, (g) second-class citizenship, and (h) desexualization (i.e., ignoring or avoiding the sexual needs, wants, or desires of PWD). This study marked the beginning of ableist microaggressions research that led scholars not only to naming (e.g., Dávila, 2015) and measuring (e.g., Conover et al., 2017a) specific microaggressions toward PWD, but also describing experiences with ableist microaggressions within specific disability groups (e.g., Coalson et al., 2022; Eisenman et al., 2020) and exploring the impact for specific cultural groups of PWD (e.g., Miller & Smith, 2021). Before continuing further, it is important for us to explain our use of the term ableist microaggressions, rather than the term disability microaggressions, because it deviates from the typical convention used to name microaggressions (e.g., racial microaggressions, gender microaggressions). While some authors have used the term disability microaggressions (e.g., Dávila, 2015), we believe that this term undercuts and minimizes PWD’s microaggression experiences, as it fails to explicitly communicate that these microaggressions are forms of ableism. Therefore, to validate PWD’s experiences and to align with the disability movement’s philosophy of diversity and social justice, we use the term ableist microaggressions (Perrin, 2019). The qualitative ableist microaggression studies we reviewed all utilized and endorsed the themes Keller and Galgay (2010) found in their qualitative study, while adding nuance and new information about ableist microaggressions. For instance, Olkin et al.’s (2019) focus group research with women who had both hidden and apparent disabilities (N = 30) supported Keller and Galgay’s eight themes while identifying two others: medical professionals not believing PWD’s symptoms and experiences of having their disability discounted based on appearing young and/or healthy. Similarly, Coalson et al. (2022), who utilized focus groups with adults who stutter (N = 7), endorsed six of Keller and Galgay’s themes and identified participants’ perceptions of microaggressive behaviors (i.e., Exonerated the Listener, Benefit of the Doubt, Focusing on Benefits, and Aggression Viewed as Microaggression) while noting that some participants had minimal or no microaggression experiences. Although Eisenman et al. (2020) endorsed five of Keller and Galgay’s (2010) themes, they took a different approach to how they analyzed and organized their findings by using Sue et al.’s (2007) microaggression taxonomy. Of note, these researchers were the first to identify and establish microaffirmations within disability microaggressions research. According to Rolón-Dow and Davison (2018) microaffirmations are: behaviors, verbal remarks or environmental cues experienced by individuals from minoritized racial groups in the course of their everyday lives that affirm their racial identities, acknowledge their racialized realities, resist racism or advance cultural and ideological norms of racial justice. (p. 1)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU5MTM1