Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Sociology

Supervisor

Adams, Tracey

Abstract

Understandings and definitions of disability have changed and varied across social and political climates within North America, affecting the ways in which disabled individuals are treated, represented, and responded to, within various facets of society. Learning disabilities, in particular, have been subject to change and language surrounding the label has shifted across different socio-political contexts. The objective of this research project was to explore and document the dominant discourse constructing learning disabilities within Canada, the various individuals involved with constructing the category of learning disability and how such constructions have informed broader, treatment approaches to learning disabilities within Canada. A qualitative content analysis of 200 media articles was employed to address the study’s objectives, along with a Foucauldian framework to theorize major findings. The major findings of this thesis include: Dominant medicalized discourses of learning disabilities circulate throughout media articles to construct learning disabilities as both an individual and social problem; medicalized understandings of learning disabilities influence how learning disabled individuals are governed, treated, as well as who becomes responsibilized to manage the problem of learning disabilities; the dominant discourse of learning disabilities complements broader neoliberal ideologies and social structures concerned with productivity, independence and self-sufficiency, impacting the lives of learning disabled individuals more generally. As a category, then, learning disabilities and approaches to learning disabilities cannot be fully understood without an understanding of the historical, social and cultural context in which the category has come to be produced and realized.

Summary for Lay Audience

Understandings and definitions of disability have changed and varied across social and political climates within North America, affecting the ways in which disabled individuals are treated, represented, and responded to, within society. Learning disabilities, in particular, have been subject to change and language surrounding the label has shifted across different socio-political contexts, affecting the way that learning-disabled individuals are treated. The objective of this research project was to explore the ways in which learning disabilities are talked about within media articles, the various individuals present within the conversation and how those representations of learning disabilities influence treatment approaches for learning disabled individuals. A qualitative content analysis of 200 media articles was employed to address the study’s objectives, along with a framework grounded in the works of Michel Foucault to theorize major findings. The major findings of this thesis include: Learning disabilities are predominantly represented as medical problems; medical framings of learning disabilities influence how learning-disabled individuals are treated and who is expected to respond to the problem of learning disabilities; medical framings of learning disabilities compliment broader trends within the social, economic and cultural context of Canada.

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