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This study investigates the assumption that disabled people want improvements in their functional abilities, or complete cures. Contrary to this assumption, many disabled activists are found to have attitudes in which they refuse treatment that promises a cure. In order to explain this attitude, different sources of disability identity are isolated as potential predictor variables. A multivariate model reveals that self-identity related to a personal affirmation of disability is a significant predictor of refusal of treatment, as is the age of onset of disability. Implications for interactions with medical professionals and utility-based modeling of medical treatment seeking are discussed.
In recent years, the growing influence of the disability rights movement has prompted several new and significant questions about health-related conditions and attitudes toward medical care. What proportion of disabled participants in the movement want to be cured? Why do some individuals seek to ameliorate or eliminate their impairments while others do not?
Prior surveys of small groups of disabled people by Weinberg (1978, 1988) found that a majority did not want to be cured. This, as Stefan (2001) has noted, may be due to the fact that "some [disabled] people made it clear that they do not want to be 'cured' and fade into the mainstream. Instead, they want to be accepted and appreciated, to have society make room for them as they are" (p. 48). In fact, many disabled citizens now regard living with their disability as a valuable experience that can yield a positive source of personal and political identity instead of viewing their disability as a negative defect or deficiency that results in a loss or decline of bodily functions.
Rejection of the possibility of a cure can be illustrated by the refusal of cochlear implants by deaf persons who fear that striving to rid themselves of their disabilities might result in the loss of valuable assets including sign language and deaf culture (Jankowski 1997; Lane 1992; Niparko 2000). Similarly, many disabled individuals may consider the desire for a cure less important than cultural and political motivations. The purpose of this study is to examine potential correlates of disabled activists' attitudes toward cure.
Data for this analysis were obtained from disabled activists in an organization called ADAPT, which once stood...