- Title
- Communicating positive representations of wheelchair users’ disability identities through illustration and participatory design
- Creator
- du Plessis, Amberleigh
- Subject
- People with disabilities
- Subject
- Group identity
- Subject
- Visual communication
- Date Issued
- 2024-12
- Date
- 2024-12
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70297
- Identifier
- vital:78337
- Description
- The study highlights the misrepresentation of people with disabilities in the media, and how it can lead to social exclusion of people with disabilities and misunderstanding of the disability identity. The research question involves disability representation, wheelchair-disabled identity, illustration and participatory design. The study focuses specifically on wheelchair disability and uses a participatory design approach, which allows for wheelchair users collectively to be part of the research. The three different models of disability, namely the medical model, the social model and the cultural model. The South African definition of disability is explored, and images and photographic examples of past representations of disability are examined to identify stereotypes, such as the freak, the medicalised disabled body and the pitiful victim. Positive illustrations, paintings and posters of people living with disabilities are analysed, focusing on physical disability and representation, which reveals that illustration can instil good staring habits from non-disabled viewers, to create a more inclusive society. A qualitative research approach is employed to gain a better understanding of a specific phenomenon. The specific phenomenon was the representation of wheelchair disability identities, and to untangle this, three research approaches were used, namely autoethnography, case studies and participatory design. A total of 10 wheelchair-disabled persons, from Cheshire Home Summerstrand in Gqeberha participated in the study. It was found that by involving participants in the practical development process, more positive illustrations of disability representation can be produced, allowing for clearer communication of the disability identity. The responses to the interview questions confirmed that people with disabilities believe that non-disabled people have misconceptions about the disability identity. The research thus aims to challenge these misconceptions and motivate more positive interpretations and understanding of the disability identity through visual communication.
- Description
- Thesis (MVA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Visual and Performing Arts, 2024
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (124 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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- Visitors: 8
- Downloads: 2
Collections
NMU School of Music, Art and Design
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | DU PLESSIS, A.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |