Stigma Consciousness Among Adolescents With Learning Disabilities: Considering Individual Experiences of Being Stereotyped

Abstract

Being identified with a learning disability makes students vulnerable to experiences of stigmatization, which can be associated with negative academic and emotional effects. Yet, research with other vulnerable populations demonstrates that individual perceptions of stigmatization, or stigma consciousness, are not uniform and that variability in stigma consciousness is more predictive of outcomes than assuming all members of the group are similarly affected. We present here a measure that enables consideration of such individual experiences of stigma consciousness specifically designed and tested with adolescents with learning disabilities (N = 42). We demonstrate that the Stigma Consciousness Questionnaire-Learning Disabilities (SCQ-LD) is reliable, valid, and usable with this population. Furthermore, we demonstrate that variability in stigma consciousness is present. Results support the use of this construct and measure to contribute to our understanding of the individual experiences of students in this population.

Relation between Learning Disabilities and Socioemotional Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

“…Apart from having lower social skills, they also have lower academic achievement and greater feelings of loneliness [7]. They are perceived as less independent and have difficulties in waiting in turns, in learning in groups, and in making decisions during class activities [10]. However, one study determined that children with LD do not have significant effects on social or antisocial behaviors [6], and another that their sample with LD has better SEC than the rest of the boys and girls with different Special Education Needs (SEN) [8].…”

“…Likewise, it was found that most of the studies [2,5,6,7,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18,20] approach their research from a population with a general interpretation of LD. It means that it is specifically undetailed in which area or fields of learning children/adolescents have difficulties, except for six studies that do [3,4,8,12,19,21] and a pair combining populations with both general and specific diagnoses [1,9].…”

“…However, even having this theoretical diversity, the visualization of the problems that are triggered by this difficulty is evident at all levels. Students with LD can be vulnerable to experiences of stigmatization, which in turn are associated with negative academic and emotional effects [10]. It has also been found that one of the characteristics of children with LD is impulsive behavior, their main problem being lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and urgency [1].…”

Considering the boundaries of intellectual disability: Using philosophy of science to make sense of borderline cases

“…As Schalock and Luckasson (2013) indicated, there may be much at stake for persons who get a diagnosis of intellectual disability, and it may therefore be useful to go through possible advantages and disadvantages of receiving such a diagnosis with them. Research has suggested that young people with intellectual disability often are aware of stigma related to their diagnosis, and they may experience being stereotyped due to membership in this group (Daley & Rappolt-Schlichtmann, 2018). Hence, psychologists should strive to communicate clearly about what it means to be diagnosed with intellectual disability, and they should help the person in question to identify both positive and negative consequences of a diagnosis, so that these can be weighed against each other.…”

Arab-Israeli Mothers’ Attribution, Affective, and Behavioral Responses Toward Their Child With a Learning Disability: Examining an Attribution Model of Reactions to Stigma

“…Fletcher et al (2018) argued that LDs are commonly perceived as “mild” disabilities, and that people with LD are often considered “lazy,” “unmotivated,” or perceived to be at “the bottom of the achievement distribution.” It is important to note that individuals with LD were also shown to suffer from self-stigma (cf. Chan et al, 2017; Daley & Rappolt-Schlichtmann, 2018).…”