Ep 43: Disabled “Fakers”

Today’s episode is about disabled “fakers,” that is, the misconceptions and stereotypes of disabled people exaggerating or faking their disabilities. I talk with Doron Dorfman, incoming Associate Professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law, who conducted two case studies on this subject during his time at Stanford Law School. We talk about his research and disability studies at Stanford including the campus initiative that made it happen.

Transcript

[Google doc]     [PDF]

Related Links

Doron Dorfman bio, Stanford Law School.

Kolluru, Srinvindhya. (November 25, 2018). U of T student calls for Disability Studies program. The Varsity.

Leary, Alaina. (November 9, 2017). We need to stop shaming “fakers” for using accessible parking spots — and start understanding what disability really looks like. Hello Giggles.

Picciuto, Elizabeth. (April 6, 2016). Disneyland Cracks Down on Fake Disabilities, Forgets Real Ones. The Daily Beast.

Samrai, Yasmin. (May 11, 2018). Disability studies class renewed for next academic year. The Stanford Daily.

Tuttle, Brad. (October 12, 2013). National Epidemic of Horrible People Pretending to Be Disabled. Time.

I’ve been called a faker for using my phone & white cane. Disability shaming & policing means disabled people are afraid to ask for support or use their mobility aids.

Stop judging disabled people by your misinformed prejudiced views. https://t.co/pUyNAzYVrJ

— Dr Amy Kavanagh (@BlondeHistorian) January 27, 2019

About

Doron Dorfman is an incoming Associate Professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law and recent Liberman fellow and a JSD (Ph.D. in Law) candidate at Stanford Law School. His research focuses on Disability Law and Health Law using a social science perceptive and a wide variety of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Doron also teaches Stanford’s first ever disability studies class. You can download his scholarship for free here.

Twitter: @DorfmanDoron

 

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Credits

Cheryl Green, Audio Producer and Text Transcriber

Alice Wong, Writer, Producer, Interviewer

Lateef McLeod, Introduction

Mike Mort, Artwork

Theme Music (used with permission of artist)

Songs: “Dance Off” and “Hard Out Here for A Gimp”

Album: NO BIG DEAL

Artist: Wheelchair Sports Camp

Music

“Even Dreams of Beaches,” “Jog to the Water,” “Our Digital Compass,” and “Titter Snowbird” by Blue Dot Sessions. (Source: freemusicarchive.org.  licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.)

Sounds

“VOCODER countdown” by Jack_Master. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.

“8 Bit Beeping Computer Sounds” by sheepfilms. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.