A stereotype is a simplified and/or standardised conception or image, often held in common by people about another group.  Stereotypes may be positive or negative in tone and are typically generalisations based on minimal or limited knowledge about a group of people.  Such oversimplified conceptions, opinions, or images, are based on the assumption that there are attributes that members of the other group hold in common.  Stereotypes are not only harmful in their own right; they do damage by fostering prejudice and discrimination.  Prejudice is not merely a statement of opinion or belief, but an attitude that includes feelings such as contempt, dislike or loathing.  Discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably than someone else; the treatment cannot be justified and is a direct result of their prejudice.

Historically, people with disabilities have been stereotyped in many different ways.  Some of the stereotypes used to label people with disabilities persist in the mind of the public today.  Incomplete information, mistaken perceptions, isolation and segregation have perpetuated many of these stereotypes. Viewing a person with a disability or groups of persons with disabilities according to stereotypes limits what we expect of them and how we respond to them.

Some stereotypes of disabled people portray them as being:

• pitiable and pathetic
• sinister or evil
• tragic but brave
• laughable/the butt of jokes
• aggressive/have a chip on their shoulder
• burdens/outcasts
• non-sexual
• incapable of fully participating in everyday life

Disabled people are often still portrayed in the media in ways that tend to reinforce negative stereotypes.  For example, the evil Dr No with 2 prosthetic hands in the James Bond film; the pitiful and tragic ‘cripple’ Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol; Dustin Hoffman’s character with autism in Rainman who was a burden on his brother; the ‘freakish’ Quasimodo who was cast out from society in the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Such stereotypes are disempowering and demeaning and consider the disability to be the defining characteristic rather than recognising the individual themselves.

Overcoming Prejudice

Educational communities provide an important opportunity to challenge these negative assumptions at an institutional level and to develop a culture that is inclusive while recognising and valuing diversity.

Disabled people are as diverse as non-disabled people.  Attaching a label such as 'blind' or 'agoraphobic' to a group of people does not mean that they are all the same, any more than suggesting that all brown-eyed people are alike.

Assumptions should not be made about the impact of a student's condition on their learning, but they should be asked if assistance is needed to learn, and whether or not they want their fellow students to be made aware of their needs from the outset, allowing everyone to adjust their behaviour at the start.

Terminology and language are also very important. They have changed over the years and disabled people themselves sometimes disagree on which terminology is acceptable. In Section 5 there is a guide on currently acceptable terminology.

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