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In the United States today, the population of persons with disabilities (as defined and counted by the 2000 Census) is approximately 50 million, and their combined purchasing power is over $700 billion (Bauman, 2003). The lucrative potential of this "minority" group has not sufficiently awakened the advertising community to attend to it. It is a well-acknowledged fact that advertising's images shape social attitudes for the majority of the population which receives its myriad inputs from the media. Panol and McBride (2001) have therefore discussed a trend toward featuring people with disabilities in mainstream media, which would help dispel stereotypes and make disability a part of the social landscape. The important question this research addresses is whether this is the case or is merely an impression advertisers are creating regarding advertisings portrayal of disability. This study presents an overview of existing research on people with disabilities and their presence in print advertisements, and provides recommendations for rehabilitation counselors to be advisors, advocates, and consultants towards facilitating the integration of people with disabilities within advertising media.

Print publications are still the primary medium of choice for advertisers, garnering around 27% of all advertising revenues (compared to the 23% share of broadcast and cable television combined), according to the Universal McCann media agency (2003; http://www.universal mccann.com.). Thus, the impact of this medium cannot be overlooked. Ganahl and Arbuckle (2001) stated, "[I]f commercials (or ads in general,) practice inclusion of persons with disability [sic] so will the American culture" (p. 37). The significance of advertising in shaping attitudes toward disability, then, should not be underestimated.

Disability in the Media

The mantra for people with disabilities who often advocate integration into the community is inclusiveness. The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) brought hope to people with disabilities that they would no longer be subjected to unfavorable attitudes leading to negative bias, stereotyping, and ignorance. However, these attitudes are still evidenced by the use of media stereotypes, prejudicial beliefs, stigma, and discrimination against people with disabilities (Smart, 2001).

People with disabilities are stigmatized because their bodies do not adhere to the "norm" (Shapiro, 1993). In nearly every decade since 1930, physical appearance has increased in importance, corresponding to the rise in television, fashion, magazines, advertising, and other media depictions of attractive models (Buss, 1999).

A Brief Analysis of the History of Disability in Advertising

Farnall (2000, p. 308) asked the question: "[N]umerous content analyses address the under-representation of minorities in the media. Why should the minority group defined by disability be any different...?" Farnall explored ads dating back to the 1920s. He described the ads as depicting people with impairments as objects of ridicule, curiosity, and pity, having abnormalities, being burdensome and incapable of full participation in community life, and dependent on the largesse of people without disabilities.

More recent times have seen the advent of "ability-integrated" advertisements. Prominent advertisers have attempted to portray persons with disabilities as competent individuals in all facets of life rather than focusing solely on their disability to generate sentimental images for charity purposes. Examples include Target Stores' print ads and store circulars, Nike, Coca-Cola, Kellogg, Levi's jeans, McDonald's, and Kodak in various media (Haller & Ralph, 2002). Such exemplars, however, are few, and highlight the overt lack of adoption of such a path by the majority of advertisers, especially in the print media. This is surprising given the size of this identifiable marketing target group and their annual buying power. Arguably, one would expect these businesses to take advantage of such a lucrative market for their own profit, regardless of any lack of concern for social issues.

In 1991, a Louis Harris and Associates survey for the National Organization on Disability indicated that people without disabilities held more favorable attitudes towards people with disabilities than in previous years, which has been corroborated by several past studies on the potential for attitude changes towards people with disabilities through use of media images (Farnall, 1996; Farnall & Smith, 1999; Panol & McBride, 1999). From the above discussion, it can be inferred that what precludes further progress of such positive attitudinal change is not resistance from the general population. Rather, it is advertisers who are hesitant to present an integrated picture of the culture, partly in order to sustain the hegemony of the capitalistic culture and its ideals of the "body perfect" (Hahn, 1987).

Recognizable differences exist in the types of studies that scholars have undertaken in the examination of advertising's role in the perception and perpetuation of (physical and metaphorical) disability images in society, from the mere "bean counting" content analysis studies that Farnall (2000) cautioned against, to recommendations for more in-depth qualitative, semiotic undertakings (e.g., Haller & Ralph, 2002; Thomas, 2001), and a few attitudinal analyses (e.g., Hardin, 2003; Panol & McBride, 2001). Some studies have critiqued the lack of progress on the part of advertisers to influence such an important social issue (e.g., Hardin, 2003), and some have lauded the progressive movement toward "ability-integration" in mass-media advertising (Haller & Ralph, 2002). Still others cautiously recognize the advances in the field and the steps that still need to be taken (Farnall, 2000).

Three apparent opportunities clearly exist today for facilitating research on integration of people with disabilities in various forms of media, such as print and TV ads. First, as Haller and Ralph (2002) pointed to in their assessment of disability images in ads from the United States and the United Kingdom, a combination of qualitative and quantitative content analyses can provide insights generalizable to the broader universe of ads. Second, consumer and societal points of view on the impact of disability images on attitudes toward disability have not been adequately measured. Finally, few studies of this nature have been from the perspective of the rehabilitation expert (professional or academic), and the utility that such studies can provide in advancing the issues of advocacy and integration has not been sufficiently explored.

Theoretical Frameworks in Past Research

To understand the media habits and attitudes of consumers with mobility impairments, Burnett and Paul (1996) studied theories that have been applied to the elderly, namely, socialization/resocialization theory and alienation theory. The authors argued that societal institutions establish parameters that govern the social role of people with disabilities, leading to the alienation of such individuals. Educational, religious, and other institutions transmit the cultural meanings of a disabling conditon, with the likely consequence of disenfranchisement of the individual with an impairment. Such alienated people find that society has predetermined who they are (e.g., black, woman, retired, divorced, "disabled") and what they are (e.g., lacking enterprise or intelligence, lacking rationality). Over time, alienated people take on and accept the socially assigned roles of being powerless, meaningless, and socially isolated (Burnett & Paul, 1996). The mass media then serve to verify and reinforce their position in society (LaForge, 1989; Middleton, 1963; Schmitt and Moody, 1994) through negative stereotypic portrayals.

Recently O'Donovan (2004) suggested that advertising plays various positive and negative roles for its participants in both a marketing and non marketing sense. That is, all sections of the population (including those with and without disability) can and do use ability-integrated as well as general advertising as a tool for making purchase decisions and for socialization/resocialization. Given the increasing numbers of persons with disability in the general population, specific categories of advertising warrant closer scrutiny in terms of their influence on people without disabilities and their attitudes.

Perpetuators (or Perpetrators?) of the Body Beautiful

Past research (e.g., Panol & McBride, 2001; Roessler & Bolton, 1978; Safilios-Rothschild, 1970; Shaw & Wright, 1967; Wright, 1983) has shown unequivocally that advertising contributes to society's emphasis on physical integrity, the "body beautiful," personal appearance, health, athletic prowess, personal achievement, competitiveness and gainful employment. Such emphasis on the "positive qualities" of "non-disabled" persons is what led Nelson (1996) to examine and identify seven major stereotypical depictions of persons with impairment that are almost diametrically opposite in nature to the above qualities. These seven major stereotypes of disabilities portrayed the person with disability as being an object of pity, superhero, sinister, better off dead, maladjusted, a burden, or unable to succeed. But, as Bauman (2003) pointed out, it is the images that the media do not portray that present the greatest adverse effect on people's perceptions. The "pretty people" and least "disabled-looking" are the ones usually depicted in advertising, reflecting advertisers' desire to associate their products with images of power, credibility and appeal. Therefore, in the interest of inclusion, special attention needs to be paid to advertising that appears in media vehicles focusing on health, sports and fitness, as well as those specializing in the field of fashion.

Advertising in sports/fitness magazines cannot ignore or be insensitive to the types of portrayals of individuals with disability. The underrepresentation of disability in recreation/fitness can perpetuate perceptions of this community as not being health-conscious, and worse, contributes to such individuals' internalization of this socially assigned characteristic (Bauman, 2003). Such perceptions on the part of policy makers could influence the formulation of health policies and might result in making health and fitness facilities less accessible to persons with disability.

In the case of fashion magazines, DePauw (1997) has argued that social attitudes toward fashion and the physical body can be important reflectors of overall social values, norms and standards in the culture, and of social inequality. Advertisers may not consider the bodies of people with disabilities to be models, because they may not be socially acceptable to the mainstream population. Given this context, research questions explored ad and disability characteristics, and the presence of noteworthy relations between them. The questions related to: (a) the extent of portrayal of disabilities in ads from the selected magazines; (b) the types of products people with disabilities model for; (c) the defining characteristics of ads; (d) characteristics of individuals with disabilities featured; (e) the relationship between ethnicity of the person with disability and type of ad appeal; and (f) the relationship between gender of the person with disability and the type of ad appeal.

Method

Procedures

Based upon the preceding, a content analysis of print magazines in the realms of fashion and sports was conducted, with general interest/news magazines serving as a broader comparison point for the two categories. A coding protocol for the content analysis was developed in accordance with previous studies (e.g., Cuneen & Sidwell, 1998; Hardin, Hardin, Lynn & Walsdorf, 2001). The main variables that guided the review of ads included (a) presence of disability; (b) type of product and brand name; (c) characteristics of ads, such as mode of depiction (i.e., visual or textual), photo angle (straight, down, or up), and motion in photo (passive or active); (d) characteristics of individuals in the ads and prominence of character with disability; (e) gender and ethnicity of the subject; and (f) type of ad appeal. Two points listed above that warrant further elaboration are photo angle and type of ad appeal. In photos with multiple individuals, superior/inferior social status can be implied by whether one individual is presented more or less prominently to another. For example, a photo could be shot from a top angle that represents the perspective of a person without disability who is seen as "looking down" upon a person with disability. In terms of ad appeal, identifying and interpreting different emotions that are portrayed in an ad are common means of classifying an ad's appeal (Batra & Ray, 1986). While it is arguable that emotions emanate subjectively from the viewer rather than the viewed, Batra and Ray presented typologies of emotions that have been arrived at by numerous researchers (e.g., Nowlis, 1965; Osgood, 1966; Plutchik, 1980), including fear, shame, guilt, joy, pity, surprise, anger, etc. For example, guilt was defined "as an intense, gnawing feeling of not 'being right' with a person wronged, of being in the wrong, of causing a person to hold his/her head lower and avert his/her gaze (Batra & Ray, 1986, p. 238).

Results are discussed in light of current perceptions as to the absence/minimal presence of disability portrayals in these advertising media and point to future directions both for advertisers and rehabilitation counselors.

Data Collection

The present study was a content analysis of ads in the top two circulating magazines in each of the categories of sports, fashion, and general interest/news: Sports Illustrated and ESPN, Vogue and Cosmopolitan, Time and Newsweek respectively. Circulation figures for the publications were obtained from SRDS Media Solutions (http://www.srds.com). Sports Illustrated (circulation of 3,210,040) and £S/W (circulation of 1,790,078) reached a large section of sports-minded individuals in the population. Vogue (circulation of 1,275,359) and Cosmopolitan (circulation of 2,996,093) likewise were the main sources of information for individuals seeking out fashion from the print media. In terms of general interest/news information sources in print, Time (circulation of 4,034,491) and Newsweek (circulation of 3,145,362) are the leaders.

Characteristics of Ads

A total of 96 issues of these magazines published from May to October 2003 were analyzed for the presence of advertisements which were a full-page size or larger, and included any mention (textual or visual) of disability. Multi page ads were treated as single ads. Twenty-four issues of Sports Illustrated, 11 of ESPN, 6 each of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, 23 of Time, and 26 issues of Newsweek were included in the study. A 6-month period, from May to October 2003, was chosen for the study so that the ads were representative of the total number of ads produced in a year. Furthermore, the rationale for including the 6 months in the middle of the year was to avoid inconsistencies in the number of ads that might have been generated due to the holiday season at the beginning and end of the year.

While each magazine issue was the unit of observation, the actual units of analysis were the individual ads. Of a total of 3,947 advertisements in these magazines, only 29 (0.73%) contained any textual and/or visual depiction of disability.

Content Analysis

A context-based analysis of advertising content in magazines was undertaken in the present study. The aim was to help reveal the themes that the ads used to help characterize people with disabilities. The advantages of content analysis are that it allows for both qualitative and quantitative operations, provides insights over time through the analysis of texts and graphics, and allows for statistical analysis of the coded form of the material (Haller & Ralph, 2002). One of the compelling features of content analysis is its ability to aid in the understanding of complex thoughts and emotions, and how these translate into textual and visual data.

The coding sheet developed to analyze the ads allowed for quantification of the characteristics of the ads and specifically addressed the following characteristics: (a) disability-related, which included the presence and type of disability (physical, developmental, cognitive, psychiatric illness, and other); (b) product-related, which included the type of product, brand name, and product usage; and (c) characteristics of ads including the size and position of ad, mode of depiction (visual or textual), photo angle (straight, down, or up), and motion in the photo (passive or active); (d) characteristics of individuals in the ads including number of people in the ads; number of people with disabilities including their age, prominence of the disability and whether it was in the background, supporting the ad, or was in the forefront; (e) gender and ethnicity; and (f) type of ad appeal reflecting the emotions in the ad.

The authors, both of whom have received training in content analysis through previous research experience, were the coders for the present study. They have worked on numerous research projects that have coded and analyzed ads and films in the past. To verify intercoder reliability, 14 ads from the two coders were selected for analysis. Because the questions on the coding sheet were objective, the coders' responses were matched in 12 ads on pertinent ad characteristics, especially on presence and mode of disability, type of disability, and emotion displayed in the ads. For the remaining two ads, the coders had minor discrepancies (regarding the emotion portrayed in the ad), which were resolved through discussions to avoid subjective errors.

Results

The Extent of Portrayal of Disabilities in Ads

As mentioned earlier, of a total of 3,947 ads in the magazines, only 29 (0.73%) contained textual and/or visual depiction of disability. The incidence of ads with disabilities was less than one per issue of magazines in fashion, sports, and general interest. The results of the analysis are presented in Table 1. The highest incidence of ads with disabilities was in Newsweek (n = 19, 2.4%) followed by Time (n = 4; 0.60%), Vogue (n = 3; 0.42%), Sports Illustrated (n = 2; 0.28%), ESPN (n = 1 ; 0.20%), with no portrayal of disability in 559 ads in Cosmopolitan (n = O; 0.0%).

Table 1Number of Ads with Disabilities in Sports, Fashion, and General Interest Magazines

Types of Products People with Disabilities Model For

The most common product category among ads depicting disability was health and medicine. Eighteen ads

promoted prescription drugs (Vioxx, n = 7; Zoloft, n = 3; Aricept, n = 3; Celebrex, n = 2; and 1 each for Adderall, Concerta, and Wellbutrin); 3 ads were for a hearing aid (Crystal Ear). Other categories included public service announcements (i.e., charity ads) for causes such as AIDS (n = 1 ) with an ad titled "Until There's a Cure," and Tourette's syndrome (n = 2). Other nonprofit agencies that had featured ads included Huntington's Disease Society of America (n = 1), and Smile Train (n = 3). One ad for pet food (Eukanuba) depicted an individual with a physical disability. Physical disabilities were the most commonly portrayed in these magazine ads, representing arthritis (n = 9), cleft palate (n = 3), hearing impairment (n = 4), and AIDS (n = 1). Ads involving a psychiatric disability portrayed depression (n = 4), dementia (n = 3), Tourette's syndrome (n = 2), ADHD (n = 2), and Huntington's disease (n = 1).

Defining Characteristics of Ads

Of all the ads featuring disability, 22 ads were in color and 7 were in black and white. Twenty-one ads had both textual and visual references to disability, and 8 ads only used text to describe the disability, as can be seen in Table 2.

Typically, premium positions in magazines are accorded to ads in the front and back sections of an issue, with ads in the middle section drawing less attention. The analysis here revealed that 13 ads were placed in the middle section of the magazine, compared to 8 in the back, and 8 ads placed in the front. Given that many of these ads were probably placed on apro bono basis on behalf of nonprofit organizations, they did not receive premium positions, and hence were less likely to be seen.

Table 2Defining Characteristics of Ads Featuring Disability

Characteristics of Individuals with Disabilities Featured

Individuals with physical disabilities such as arthritis and hearing impairments and the three people with Alzheimer's disease were mostly portrayed as older (61 years or older; n = 15) with no clear categorization of age in the psychiatric disabilities. Four ads had middle-aged individuals, and 5 had young children. None showed young adults.

Thirteen males and 11 females with disabilities were depicted in the ads. Five ads had no male or female models in them, and were also the ads that were textual only. In addition, there were three other text-only ads that had references to males. All 11 ads featuring females had both text and visual elements in them as did 10 of the ads featuring males alone.

Relationship Between Ethnicity of the Person with Disability and Type of Ad Appeal

While insufficient to generate external validity, results suggested that ads featuring Caucasian people with disabilities were more likely to use a positive appeal (e.g., joy; n=15) followed by fear (n = 1), and anxiety (n = 1). Ads featuring Asians employed more negative appeals such as guilt (n = 2), and anger (n = 1) as can be seen in Table 3. Emotions such as guilt appeared both in the pictorial representation of the ad and the text that accompanied it. For example, an ad for a medication for arthritis showed an elderly Caucasian man with a smile on his face engaged in a physical activity. The text complemented the visual image and indicated that by taking the medication one would not experience functional limitations or pain and could lead a satisfying life. On the other hand, ads seeking donations generally featured Asian models resonating negative appeals, such as guilt, appearing both textually and visually.

Table 3Relationship Between Ethnicity and Gender of Person with Disability and Ad Appeal

Relationship Between Gender of the Person with Disability and Type of Ad Appeal

In a similar vein, ads featuring males with disabilities were more likely to use a positive appeal while those featuring females with disabilities used more negative appeals. Males were portrayed as experiencing more joy (n = 11), followed by sadness (n = 1), and fear (n = 1) as compared to females who were shown as experiencing fear (n = 4), guilt (n = 2), and anger (H = 1 ). In addition, there were five ads that featured text-only depiction of disability, with no people with disabilities pictured; of these, two ads used sadness, and one ad each featured pity, anxiety, and empathy. There were also four ads featuring Caucasian females with disabilities with no discernible emotional appeal.

Discussion

As early as 1993 (e.g., Shapiro), and as recently as 2002 (e.g., Haller & Ralph), researchers have identified people with disabilities as functioning independently in the community, as being sexually functional, and as successfully interacting with people without disabilities in various forms of advertising media, primarily ads shown on TV. Shapiro (1993) also stated that using models with disabilities can improve the possibilities of eliciting positive overall consumer responses. The results obtained here challenge the positive trend that has been highlighted in advertising's portrayal of disability. It appears that the positive depictions of people with disabilities are insufficient and inconsistent, and not a characteristic of all advertising or advertising in all forms of media (i.e., print, broadcast, etc).

The percentage (0.73%) of ads portraying disability is miniscule when compared to the proportion of the total number of ads in leading fashion, sports and general interest magazines. Especially in sports and fashion magazines, the evidence suggests that advertisers' images are still primarily focused on individuals without disabilities, with little or no attempt at integration. Not surprisingly, prescription drugs for arthritic impairments were prominent among the few ads that did feature persons with disability in sports magazines. Disability portrayal, whether textual or visual, was conspicuously absent in Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Such results suggest that it might be a little premature to herald the end to the "invisibility" of people with disabilities in advertising media (Famall, 2000).

Recent research (e.g., Farnall, 2001) has also suggested that there has been a distinct move away from charity ads, and a recognition by advertisers of the fact that people with disabilities use many of the same products as individuals without disabilities. This research points to the contrary, with results showing that the small number of ads that do portray disability, in fact, either depict charity appeals or are centered around prescription drugs for specific conditions (e.g., arthritis and ADHD). These ads either present the impairment as a debilitating condition or aim to invoke a negative emotion, such as pity or guilt, on the part of the reader. The authors do not assume and are not aware of the charity ads being pro bono, meaning that both content and media space have been donated free of charge by an ad creator as well as the media vehicle that the ad is featured in. However, if the ads arepro bono they are often relegated to a position that does not command as much attention as a paid ad would. In some ways, one could argue that a negative stereotype receiving little attention is not necessarily detrimental. However, the fact remains that even if the portrayal were positive, the probability of such an ad being seen is less than that of other paid ads.

The characteristics of individuals with disability, as portrayed in the magazine ads reported here, also do little to alleviate negative stereotypes. Few of them are shown engaged in daily or routine activities, with most photographs depicting the models in a stationary position. One ad for a prescription drug to treat depression even avoids the depiction of any people at all, instead resorting to textual and cartoon-like images to convey its message. More often than not, individuals with disabilities are also portrayed as older (61+ years of age), thus associating disability with deteriorating bodily functions. Such negative indications contradict earlier findings that advertisers are, in fact, progressively integrating "normal" depictions of people with disabilities into everyday contexts, as they do with models without disabilities.

Inferences can also be drawn, albeit a little cautiously, with regard to the gender and ethnicity of the people with disabilities portrayed in the ads analyzed here. For example, what does it say of the advertising when ads featuring female models with disability are more likely to portray negative appeals such as guilt, sadness and pity, while those featuring male models depict more positive appeals? Similarly, the data indicate that Caucasian models with disabilities are more likely to be associated with positive appeals, such as joy and happiness, whereas those featuring Asian models are associated with negative appeals, such as pity and guilt. The results also indicated that ads for prescription drugs (to treat a specific condition) were more likely to feature Caucasian models while charity ads included Asian models with prominent physically "unattractive" disabilities (such as a cleft lip and palate). Evidence is also present of textual references that perpetuate misinformed and misunderstood notions of disability. For example, one charity ad (The Smile Train) soliciting donations to treat cleft lip and palate conditions in children all over the world read (in part) as follows: "Give a child with a cleft a second chance at life...Today, millions of children in developing countries are suffering with cleft Hp and palate...Condemned to a lifetime of malnutrition, shame and isolation . The good news is that virtually all of these children can be helped and their clefts repaired. That is the mission of [sponsor's name]...It gives desperate [italics added] children not just a new smile-but a new life." The ad emphasizes that it is for children all over the world: ".. .from Asia to Africa, from South America to Russia, the [sponsor's name] helps children who have no place else to turn." This clearly indicates the global nature of the ad and not just addressing a particular developing country which might have justified the use of an Asian model. Thus the "hopes" of the person with disability still appear to depend on the charity, pity and assistance of persons without disability. While this one ad cannot be generalized to the universe, it can be seen as indicative of the challenges that both advertisers and the disability community face in society.

There are a few limitations inherent in this study that need to be mentioned. First, the study used a limited sample of magazines spanning a 6-month period of the year. The time period, however, generated a large number of ads, these being the unit of analysis and not the number of magazines. second, the results do not draw any generalized conclusions about the portrayal of disabilities in ads in other media or magazines not included in the study. The authors recommend caution in making inferences about gender or ethnicity of people with disabilities presented in the ads since only a limited number of ads with disabilities were obtained. Third, using only two coders to conduct the analysis may raise questions about the reliability of the results. However, the coders are experts in their respective fields in rehabilitation and advertising. Further, intercoder reliability was verified and minor discrepancies were resolved to avoid subjective errors. Fourth, the coded ads featured visually and textually apparent disabilities, and thus it was difficult to ascertain if the models in the ads had any disabilities that were not so apparent.

In conclusion, this study highlights evidence of two things: the lack of progress in advertisers' positive portrayal of disability, and the perpetuation of negative stereotypes by the miniscule percentage of magazine ads that do portray disability.

Implications for Rehabilitation Counselors

There is an urgent need to address multiple facets of the issue at hand, and rehabilitation counselors can be advisors towards accomplishing the integration of clients with disabilities with advertisers' perceptions. Collaborations can be built through advocacy and research efforts with forces like the Media Access Office and the National Easter Seals Society (NESS), which have been strong advocates with a mission of ensuring realistic and non stereotypical portrayals of people with disabilities. Rehabilitation counselors could also work with professionals in journalism and mass communication educational programs to highlight the need for ability-integrated advertising. With industry (i.e., advertising agencies like the one for which the coauthor works, advertisers, and professional associations such as the American Association of Advertising Agencies), the rehabilitation profession can communicate significant research findings to advertisers on the potential economic and social impact of including people with disabilities. A wide array of suggestions are thus presented for collaborative efforts between rehabilitation counselors and the advertising community.

1. Increasing visibility: The fact that people with disabilities are not a regular feature in ads the way people without disabilities are, perpetuates the negative perceptions that people with disabilities are not a part of "mainstream life." It is well known that advertising has contributed to raising the visibility of members of ethnic minorities. Likewise, rehabilitation counselors can engage advertisers to incorporate a wider range of people with disabilities in ads.

2. Integration: Rehabilitation counselors can advise advertisers about the feelings of isolation and alienation people with disabilities may experience when they see ads featuring mostly people without disabilities. Ads depicting interaction between people with and without disabilities can educate nondisabled people that they can have the same social interactions (relationships, conversations, arguments, or jokes) with people with disabilities just as they would with anyone else.

3. Challenging expectations of limitations: Rehabilitation counselors can make further suggestions about depicting people with disabilities in responsible jobs, earning a living, and contributing to a work or academic environment. This may help to reframe people's assumptions and expectations about people with disabilities. Advertising in this way could present a more realistic picture of the abilities and talents of people with disabilities instead of just focusing on limitations as seen in ads for health products and public service announcements.

4. People with disabilities as advocates: Rehabilitation counselors can encourage advertisers to consult with people with disabilities to provide more authentic and credible portraits of disabilities. Similarly, they could also advise clients with disabilities to pursue careers in media as professionals familiar with and proficient in disability issues.

5. Images of people with disabilities in the media: Rehabilitation counselors can make recommendations to advertisers that people with disabilities need not be portrayed as objects of pity or as "supercrips." Showing people with disabilities in such support roles as family members, friends, competent workers, or colleagues could indicate real inclusion. People with disabilities could also be represented in everyday situations rather than those especially associated with the disability.

Advertisers today are increasingly looking for avenues to speak to their consumers in an "integrated" voice, with integrated marketing communications being the buzzwords of the industry today. Given the size and potential of the disability community, it is imperative for advertisers to integrate them into their strategies.

Because of its scope and methods, this study cannot offer firm conclusions, but can provide ideas for further exploration and a beginning for other researchers to pursue avenues for using persuasive, collaborative, and integrative methods with advertisers.

Future Research

Researchers have identified key reasons that advertising has been slow to address disability: profit motive over social responsibility, achieving equilibrium and sensitivity, and also addressing the fears of individuals without disabilities (Haller & Ralph, 2001; Hardin 2003). A future direction for research would be to assess, both from viewpoints of advertisers themselves and from the people without disabilities, if these indeed are the drivers of such social behavior on their part. Studies should examine the attitudes of ad creators and people without disabilities toward such ads, any changes that have occurred over time in their perceptions of such ads, and the reason(s) for the effected changes. Finally, research is needed to explore the impact of ignorance about the consequences of disabilities and how this could be hindering progress in this realm. Rehabilitation experts have an active role to play in helping the community achieve progress towards understanding the concept of disability and its myriad definitions. This may well translate into an opportunity to provide a platform for greater interaction for all the actors in this environment-the disability community, individuals with disability, advertisers, and rehabilitation professionals.