The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 1 77 process; (b) screening for and helping clients with disabilities name, develop, or refine coping, fortitude, and resilience can prove beneficial; and (c) it is worthwhile to continue to work to reduce microaggressive behaviors in every way possible. Although we had an independent theme in which participants indicated the differences between apparent and hidden disabilities, the participant quotes within every theme illustrate these differences as well. For instance, within the Minimization theme, P137 highlighted that those with hidden disabilities may be told that “personal responsibility” is the cause of their disability, while P105 and P109 spoke to having to “prove” their apparent disability to others, including family. Having to prove one’s disability or not being believed tracks with several other researchers’ findings including Olkin et al. (2019), who found that medical professionals did not believe PWD’s symptoms and experiences. The Helplessness theme revealed differences such as P129 receiving unsolicited advice once people learn of their hidden disability; however, this theme revealed similarities, too. Participants with both apparent and hidden disabilities experienced others acting on their behalf without their consent. The Microaggression Experiences Are Different Depending on Visibility of Disability theme may explain why a higher percentage of participants with hidden disabilities or those who have both hidden and apparent disabilities participated in the qualitative portion of the study than those with apparent disabilities, which was the higher percentage in the quantitative part of the study. By definition, microaggressions can leave those who experience them questioning whether what they experienced was real, and this could be compounded when PWD have hidden disabilities; these participants may have needed to express their experiences more than those with apparent disabilities. While our data demonstrate that having a hidden disability may be a protective factor from experiencing ableist microaggressions, their disability experience often can be overlooked or ignored, resulting in a form of minimization that is both congruent with and distinct from the Minimization subscale definition. Participants made a case for how Contextual Factors, defined as relational, situational, and/or environmental components, impact microaggression experiences. Implicitly, several authors spoke to what we have named as Contextual Factors (e.g., Coalson et al., 2022; Eisenman et al., 2020; Miller & Smith, 2021), yet the specificity and nuance participants provided in this study warranted a distinct theme. Relationally, participants noted that whether the perpetrator knew them and if there was a relational power differential between them and the perpetrator (e.g., doctors or counselors vs. family member or neighbor) makes a difference. Damningly, P152 stated that “the worst comments” they have received “have come from mental health therapists.” Participants noted, too, that work environments, life stage, the type of assistive technology they are using at the time, and being part of the disability community can all be impactful in both affirming and deleterious ways. It is imperative that counselors assess and understand thoroughly each client’s specific contextual factors so they can identify ways in which clients have internal and external resources and support, as well as areas in which they may want strategies, support, resources, and, potentially, advocacy intervention. A small number of participants (n = 4) spoke to Internalized Ableism. Although this was a less robust theme, it was important to report because it adds to professional knowledge about what some clients with disabilities might believe and express during counseling sessions. We defined Internalized Ableism as participants expressing stereotypes, myths, and misconceptions about PWD that can manifest as beliefs about their own disability or the disabilities of others. One participant expressed disdain for hidden disabilities and expressed disbelief about others’ needs to use parking for disabled persons, while another participant questioned whether most PWD experience ableist
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