Jarring campaign tackles disability stigma with offensive statements

In early April, thought bubble-shaped signs started popping up around Pennsylvania with offensive statements directed toward people with disabilities.

One unabashedly proclaimed, “Handicapped people make me nervous." Another said, "They call it 'ADHD.' I call it bad parenting."

But what seems like yet another example of disability-related bias actually has a surprising twist: The bold, provocative signs were posted by volunteers from disability rights organizations. Their goal? Confront the public directly with offensive statements said to people with disabilities in this jarring, controversial way to start a conversation about stigma.

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Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (PADDC) launched the "Let’s Think Again" campaign after much debate over putting offensive statements at the forefront of the disability rights movement. But, ultimately, the group decided the shock factor was a necessary evil in combating stigma surrounding those living with emotional, intellectual and physical disabilities

“As a body dedicated to the interests of people with disabilities, this strategy was thoroughly vetted and carefully considered,” Graham Mulholland, executive director of PADDC, said in a release. “However, the council agreed that we have a responsibility to take the most effective approach to confronting stigma and encouraging real change. Unfortunately, many people with disabilities hear much worse statements than these every day.”

“[W]e’ve stopped shying away from what people are really thinking and we’re doing something about it."

Stigma has historically been a hard topic for the council to confront, mainly because most people are unwilling to admit their own biases, even if they recognize the harm of disability-related stigma.

According to a 2012 survey conducted by Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers’ Association, 79% of people in the state said they believe society thinks of individuals with physical, mental or intellectual disabilities “with discomfort and awkwardness.” Yet, the majority of those surveyed also stated they don’t buy in to that type of social opinion.

It’s a disconnect that PADDC wanted to tackle head on by getting individuals to confront their own stigmatizing thoughts through one central question: “What are you thinking?” 

It’s an inquiry that can be read as accusatory, but also a conversation starter -- even if just internally. And it’s that brash approach that advocates argue will have a tangible impact on how people with disabilities in the state are treated.

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“With this project, we’ve stopped shying away from what people are really thinking and we’re doing something about it,” Jeff Parker, a volunteer with the campaign who has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair, said in the release.

Though spearheaded by organizations with disability sensitivity in mind, Mulholland admitted in an interview with ABC News that many members of the disability rights community in the state were a little hesitant at the tone of the campaign at first. But after explaining the council’s intentions, many shifted their opinions, seeing the importance in tackling stigma head on -- even if controversial.

“This campaign strategy, even in the planning stages, has generated much divisiveness, discomfort and hesitation,” Mulholland said in the release. “It’s an issue we don’t like to talk about, but we must in order to initiate real change.”

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The Let’s Think Again campaign is part of a larger effort called the Stigma Project, which includes website where visitors can hear first-person narratives of people with disabilities, take a stigma quiz to uncover their own bias, and participate in other activities designed to educate. The campaign is also airing awareness-based PSAs on radio and TV stations in the state.

Though the sign-based phase of the campaign has ended, supporters can keep up with the newest Stigma Project efforts on Facebook and Twitter. 

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