Journal articles on the topic 'Mothers of exceptional children Learning disabled children'

This research is globally aimed to improve the achivement motivation for the mentally disabled students. The specific objectives of this research are to improve: (1) students learning achievement for the mentally disabled students; (2) learning achievement for the mentally disabled students in SLB YPAC Pangkalpinang. This research desaign was desaigned with research and development desaign which produce development model of group dynamics learning for exceptional students which can increase achievement motivation for students. The final objective of this research development is producing development learning model based on group dynamics so that teaching and learning process can be more effective, eficient, and interesting. This research will produce development model of group dynamics learning for mentally disabled students so that can increase achievement motivation in exceptional school. This development learning model of group dynamics has three activities, there are learning through dream trees, learning through filling students’ identity, and learning through artistic creativity development by drawing and coloring. The result of these three activities of development group dynamics learning model can be used as the source to arrange the learning model especially for mentally disabled students. It can be done so that we can develop the mentally disabled students’ potencies and they can reach good achievements in study. Besides that, it can be the source for the teachers to have innovative learning model in teaching mentally disabled students at exceptional school (SLB) YPAC Pangkalpinang.

Self-reports of learning difficulties by parents of reading disabled children may be inflated because of recall bias. A retrospective study of the association between specific reading disabilities and familial reports of learning difficulties indicated the relative odds of being reading disabled for those whose relatives reported learning difficulties compared with children whose relatives did not report learning difficulties was statistically significant if fathers or siblings reported learning difficulties. No significant association was found between mothers' self-reports of learning difficulties and a diagnosis of specific learning disabilities in their children. The results support the association between specific reading disabilities and self-reported histories of academic problems in the father or siblings, but not in mothers of learning disabled children. The results suggest that reports of learning difficulties among mothers of reading disabled children may be inflated because of recall bias.

The performance instability of learning disabled (LD), emotionally handicapped (EH), and nonhandicapped (NH) children was compared. Employing two contrasting strategies of repeated measurement, we administered three third-grade reading passages to 50 LD, 37 EH, and 40 NH children. First, subjects were tested on a different reading passage once a week for 3 consecutive weeks; second, pupils were tested on three passages in one sitting. Analyses of covariance were run on a stability index calculated on the number of words read correctly during each administration. On both sets of measurements, LD and EH pupils demonstrated similar instability. On the first repeated measures, the NH pupils' performance instability was greater than that of the handicapped students; on the second repeated measures, however, no difference was found between NH and handicapped children's variability. Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of LD and other exceptional children are discussed.

Not everyone understands what it means to be twice exceptional. How can you be both ‘learning abled’ and ‘learning disabled’? This doesn't compute. There are two basic misunderstandings here: that the learning disabled aren't smart and that giftedness means high achievement. If someone thinks learning disabled means ‘dumb’ and that the gifted are ‘smart,’ you can't be smart and dumb at the same time However, federal and state definitions of learning disabilities specifically limit the term, ‘learning disabled,’ to children of at least average intelligence. So you have to be smart to be learning disabled! Definitions and district identification procedures that focus on achievement make it nearly impossible to recognize and include twice exceptional (2e) children. Here is another way to look at giftedness. No two gifted people are alike. In fact, gifted people differ from each other to a greater extent than other groups. Imagine a scatter plot with thousands of dots representing the IQ scores of thousands of people. If you drew a line around the dots, it would form a normal curve. Where is the greatest density of the dots? Where are the fewest dots? The further the child is from the norm, the more unique the child. Thus, no two gifted children are alike. And if you add the co-occurrence of different types of disabilities, no two 2e children are alike. Each child who comes to the Gifted Development Center for assessment is a new puzzle. Our testers have to re-invent the wheel for each child. This paper analyses some of the underlying causes of ‘twice exceptionality’.

Straipsnyje analizuojama motinų įsitraukimo į mokymosi negalę turinčių vaikų mokyklinę veiklą problema: laipsnis, pobūdis, veiksniai. Aptariami įvairūs požiūriai, nagrinėjantys įvairių šeimos veiksnių reikšmę motinų įsitraukimui į vaiko mokymąsi.Tyrimas buvo skirtas įvertinti mokymosi negalių turinčių vaikų motinų įsitraukimo į vaiko mokymąsi pobūdį, laipsnį ir sąveiką su šeimos ypatumais - šeimos statusu, motinos išsilavinimu, stresiniais šeimos gyvenimo įvykiais, motinos lūkesčiais ir jausmais vaikui. Eksperimentinę grupę sudarė 92-jų mokymosi negalių turinčių vaikų šeimos, kontrolinę - 90-ies vidutiniškai besimokančių vaikų šeimos.Tyrimo duomenys rodo, jog mokymosi negalių turinčių vaikų motinos, palyginti su vidutiniškai besimokan čių vaikų motinomis, labiau įsitraukia į vaiko mokymąsi, bet skiriasi įsitraukimo pobūdis: jos dažniau negatyviai kontroliuoja namų darbų atlikimą (p < 0,05), suteikia paramą ruošiant namų darbus (p < 0,001) ir paskatina vaiką (p < 0,05), tačiau reikšmingai nesiskyrė motinos pokalbių su vaiku dažnumas mokymosi negalių turinčių ir vidutiniškai besimokančių vaikų grupėse. Motinos teigiami jausmai vaikui ir aukštas vaiko atitikimas jos lūkesčius reikšmingai koreliavo su paskatinimu, pokalbiais su vaiku apie mokymąsi bei bendru įsitraukimo į vaiko mokymąsi indeksu, o neigiami motinos jausmai vaikui, nepasitenkinimas savimi kaip motina ir menkas vaiko atitikimas motinos lūkesčius - su negatyvia namų darbų atlikimo kontrole. Negatyvi namų darbų atlikimo kontrolė reikšmingai koreliavo ir su stresiniais šeimos gyvenimo įvykiais.
 
 MOTHERS' INVOLVEMENT IN THEIR LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN SCHOOLINGRasa Barkauskienė
 SummaryProblem: This study deals with mothers' involvement in their learning disabled children schooling defined as different mothers' activities: support for doing homework, negative control of homework, mother-child discussions about learning and school activities, child reinforcement for learning. Mothers' involvement in child's schooling is discussed in the light of family factors - mother's feelings and attitudes toward the child, child's "goodness of fit" to mother's expectations, mother's education level, family status and stressful life events - possibly related to particular forms of mothers' involvement. Sample: Experimental group consisted of 92 primary school children (8-11 years old) diagnosed as learning disabled and control group - 90 average achievers from the same classes as children from experimental group. Evaluation tools: Mothers' involvement with child?s learning was assessed via Mothers' Involvement in Child's Schooling Scale (constructed by author of article), mothers - feelings and attitudes toward the child - via Mothers - Feelings Scale (constructed by author of article), child's "goodness of fit" to mother's expectations - via technique recommended by Feagans and al. (1991). Data on family status, mother's education level and family stressful life events were gathered through family questionnaire made by author of article. Results: Results revealed that mothers of learning disabled children are more controlling as well as give more positive reinforcement and support for child's learning when compared to mothers of average achievers. Mothers of learning disabled children report higher degree of dissatisfaction with themselves as mothers as well as more negative feelings toward child. Mother's positive feelings toward child and child' high fit within mother's expectations positively correlated with child reinforcement, mother-child discussions about learning and school as well as with general level of mother's involvement in child's schooling. Negative control of homework was higher when child's fit within mother's expectations was low. Negative control had positive statistically significant correlation with mother's negative feelings toward child. Other family features such as stressful live events, family status is to be considered in the examination of mother's involvement with their learning disabled children schooling.
 

This study examined the stress among mothers of children in regular and special education. The sample of 45 mothers had children enrolled in public schools from Kindergarten to Grade 8. To three groups, Group 1 of mothers with children in regular education, Group 2 of mothers with children classified as learning disabled, and Group 3 of mothers with children classified as emotionally impaired, the Parenting Stress Index was given to examine whether differences in stress among groups were significant. An analysis of variance and Tukey's HSD indicated significant differences in the Child Domain and on certain child subscales (Acceptability, Mood, Distractibility, Reinforcement), with Group 3 scoring significantly higher than Group 1. Groups 2 and 3 scored significantly higher on the Total Child Domain than Group 1. Group 3 also scored higher than Group 1 on the Parent Domain and on the sum of both domains.

Pearson coefficients were computed between 1979–80 and 1982–83 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale scores for 310 exceptional students (89 mentally retarded and 221 learning disabled). The correlations were all significant at p = .001.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama veiksnių, susijusių su turinčių mokymosi negalę vaikų elgesio bei emociniais sunkumais, problema. Tyrimas buvo skirtas įvertinti vaikų, turinčių mokymosi negalę, elgesio bei emocinių problemų ypatumus, vaiko atitikimo motinos lūkesčius laipsnį, motinos jausmų, įsitraukimo į vaiko mokymosi veiklą pobūdį ir šių kintamųjų tarpusavio sąryšį. Eksperimentinę grupę sudarė turinčių mokymosi negalę, kontrolinę – vidutiniškai besimokančių vaikų šeimos. Tyrimo duomenys rodo, kad turintys mokymosi negalę vaikai pasižymi didesne nei jų bendraamžiai emocinio pobūdžio sunkumų rizika bei aukštesniu bendru elgesio ir emocinių problemų lygiu. Eksperimentinėje grupėje motinos ir vaiko tarpusavio santykiams būdingas prastesnis vaiko atitikimas motinos lūkesčius, stipresni motinų neigiami jausmai vaikui ir nepasitenkinimas savimi, didesnis įsitraukimo į vaiko mokymosi veiklą laipsnis, tačiau teigiami motinų jausmai vaikui tiriamųjų grupėse nesiskyrė. Didesni turinčių mokymosi negalę vaikų elgesio ir emociniai sunkumai susiję su mažesniu atitikimo motinos lūkesčius laipsniu, stipresniais jos neigiamais jausmais vaikui, didesne negatyvia namų darbų atlikimo kontrole bei retesniais motinos ir vaiko pokalbiais apie mokymąsi ir mokyklą.
 
 LINKING MOTHERS’ EXPECTATIONS, FEELINGS AND SUPPORT TO EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIESRasa Barkauskienė
 SummaryThough psychological studies reveal that children with learning disabilities are at greater risk for behavioral and emotional disturbances than other children are little is known about factors related to behavioral and emotional difficulties in these children. It has been claimed that the psychological difficulties faced by children with learning problems are not necessarily simple linear correlates of their academic deficits, social information processing or organic dysfunctions. Recently a need to explore a role of family on behavioral – emotional problems in learning disabled children has been stressed. Maternal expectations and child’s goodness of fit within these expectations, mother’s involvement with child’s learning as well as mother’s disappointment and other emotional reactions toward a child have been hypothesized as contributing to the level of emotional and behavioral problems in children with learning disabilities.The aim of this study was to explore the interplay between behavioral and emotional problems and mother – child interactions, as measured by child’s goodness of fit level with maternal expectations, mother’s positive feelings, negative feelings toward child and feelings of dissatisfaction, involvement with child’s learning (support for homework, negative control of homework, encouragement of child, mother – child discussions about school and learning activities) in children with learning disabilities. The experimental group consisted of 102 children with learning disabilities. Subjects in the control group were average chieving children selected from the same classes that contained learning disabled children. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 4/18; Achenbach, 1991) was used to collect data on children’s emotional and behavioral problems. Child’s goodness of fit within maternal expectations was assessed via Goodness of Fit Questionnaire (Feagans et al., 1991). Measures on mother’s feelings toward child and involvement with child’s learning were obtained via Scale of Parents’ Feelings toward child and Involvement with Child Learning Questionnaire, respectively.Comparative analysis of behavioral – emotional problems in the groups revealed that children with learning disabilities scored significantly higher on internalizing problems and total problems score but not on externalizing problems. As it was expected groups differed on mother – child interaction aspects: children with learning disabilities had lower goodness of fit level with maternal expectations, their mothers reported higher levels of negative feelings and more intensive dissatisfaction with themselves. In contrary, positive feelings did not differ between groups. Mothers of learning disabled children were more involved with their children learning: they provided more support, encouragement and negative control. Mother – child interactions variables had significant associations with problem behaviors in children with learning disabilities. Child’s level of goodness of fit with maternal expectations was significantly related to all CBCL 4/18 scores indicating that children with poorer fit had more behavioral – emotional problems. Mother’s negative feelings were the second consistent correlate of behavioral – emotional problems in both groups. As it was predicted, measures of mother’s involvement also correlated with problem behaviors in children with learning disabilities. Specifically, negative control was related to total problem scores on CBCL 4/18, and higher scores on mother – child discussions subscale were associated with lower scores on internalizing problems, externalizing problems and total problems.
 

ABSTRACTObjective: to know the feelings and difficulties faced by mothers of children with special needs. Method: it is study descriptive, with a qualitative approach. Data collection was through semi-structured interview, with signature of the terms of consent, carried between august and september 2010, with 11 mothers of children with special needs, as approved by the Ethics in Research Fátima, with opinion 015/10. The analysis followed the phases presented by Bardin. Results: from the analysis of information were chosen thematic categories: feelings of mothers of children with special needs; and difficulties faced by mothers. Conclusion: the study allowed to give visibility to the feelings and difficulties that mothers of children with special needs experience. Facing the reality of losing her son was conceived, the woman should be constantly guided and encouraged to face their fears and problems to allow your child to improve quality of life and social inclusion. Descriptors: disabled children; exceptional child; child health; maternal and child health.RESUMOObjetivo: conhecer os sentimentos e dificuldades enfrentadas por mães de crianças com necessidades especiais. Método: estudo descritivo, com abordagem qualitativa. A coleta das informações ocorreu por meio de entrevista semiestruturada, com assinatura dos termos de consentimentos livre e esclarecido, realizadas entre agosto e setembro de 2010, com 11 mães de crianças portadoras de necessidades especiais, conforme aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Faculdade Nossa Senhora de Fátima, com parecer nº 015/10. A análise obedeceu às fases apresentadas por Bardin. Resultados: a partir da análise das informações foram elencadas as categorias temáticas: sentimentos das mães de crianças com necessidades especiais; e dificuldades enfrentadas pelas mães. Conclusão: o estudo permitiu dar visibilidade aos sentimentos e dificuldades que mães de crianças portadoras de necessidades especiais vivenciam. Diante da realidade da perda do filho idealizado a mulher deve ser orientada e encorajada constantemente a enfrentar seus medos e dificuldades para possibilitar ao seu filho melhoria da qualidade de vida e inclusão social. Descritores: crianças com deficiência; criança excepcional; saúde da criança; saúde materno-infantil.RESUMENObjetivo: conocer los sentimientos y las dificultades que enfrentan las madres de niños con necesidades especiales. Método: estudio descriptivo, con enfoque cualitativo. La recolección de datos fue a través de entrevista semi-estructurada, con la firma de los términos del consentimiento, que se celebró en agosto y septiembre de 2010 con 11 madres de niños con necesidades especiales, aprobado por la Ética en la Investigación Fátima con el dictamen 015/10. El análisis siguió las fases presentada por Bardin. Resultados: a partir del análisis de la información fueron elegidos categorías temáticas: sentimientos de las madres de los niños con necesidades especiales; y dificultades que enfrentan las madres. Conclusión: el estudio permitió dar visibilidad a los sentimientos y las dificultades que las madres de niños con necesidades especiales sufren. Frente a la realidad de perder a su hijo fue concebido, las mujeres deben ser guiadas y alentadas a enfrentar sus miedos y problemas para permitir la calidad a su hijo mejor de la vida y la inclusión social. Descriptores: niños con discapacidad; niño excepcional; salud del niño; salud materno-infantil.

Background: Common childhood psychiatric problems like attention deficit hyperkinetic disorder (ADHD), Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and learning disability (LD) often co-exists with each other and form a constellation of behavioural manifestations that require extra attention from the caregivers. Having a differentially-abled child is challenging and most parents have to learn to restructure their lives around that of the child. There is a difference in the attitudes of both the parents as far as parenting a disabled child is concerned. Mothers often shoulder the primary caregiving role however the psychological costs borne by women go unrecognized. The study aims to assess the care giver burden (BOC) and perceived stress (PS) and quality of life (QOL) in mothers of children with ADHD, PDD and LD.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study with 336 child mother pairs. The mothers were asked to rate their burden and stress symptoms on the perceived stress scale and Burden of care scale. The mothers were also asked to rate their quality of life on the quality of life scale.Results: The mean PS score was highest in the PDD group. The mean BOC was lowest in the LD group. The QOL score was highest in the LD group. There is statistically significant difference in the PS, BOC and QOL scores among the three groups.Conclusions: There is a hidden lacuna of psychological stress in mothers of children with common psychiatric problems. The study also establishes that these mothers have poorer quality of life. It is necessary to address these psychological issues of the mother at every visit and equip them with coping strategies so that they can look after both themselves and their special needs child.

The upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is possibly caused by the home environmental factors, individual factors and attitude factors. URTI is one major health problem occurring in, particularly children under 5 years old. The structured supportive education is an interactive process to encourage learning efforts to add new knowledge, attitudes, and skills through both practical strengthening and exceptional experiences. The purpose of this research is to figure out the effect of structured supportive education on knowledge and attitudes of mothers with children experiencing theupper respiratory tract infection (URTI). This research employed as qualitative method with a quasi-experimental design and pretest-posttest one group design approach. The research result indicated that structured supportive education affected knowledge and attitude with thep-valueof 0.046. It is expected that the result of this research is possibly used as one treatment intervention media to improve the knowledge and attitude of parents with children experiencing theupper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Besed on the results of research on Structured Supportive Education, it is significantly more influential in improving the knowledge and attitudes of parents.

The aim of this study was to understand the meanings and oral health practices of ten mothers of disabled children between the ages of zero and three years. The qualitative method was used. The data was collected by means of a semi-structured interview and were recorded, transcribed and analysed using the Thematic Content Analysis. Regarding to the oral health care of the mothers, three reported difficult and traumatising experiences and three did not have much contact with dentists during their childhood. Regarding to the children, the age of their first visit to the dentist varied from three months to two years and six months, and the reason for this appointment for seven children was referral by their doctor or by the Association of Parents and Friends of the Exceptional. Seven mothers reported that they brushed the teeth of their children at least twice a day and only two cited the importance of regular dental appointments. For two mothers, the meaning of oral health was to have a perfect smile and for four others, maintain oral hygiene. Half of the mothers related oral health to general health. All reported that dental caries is related to diet and lack of care regarding to oral hygiene. It was possible to conclude that for this group of mothers, oral health has an important meaning and that oral health practices are based on a healthy diet and brushing. Although mothers of disabled children have presented positive attitudes, in general, the results indicated limited knowledge about oral health. The results showed the importance of considering the point of view of the mothers as data of analysis bringing greater proximity with the reality studied. More qualitative studies should be conducted in order to collaborate with the improvement of the oral condition of disabled children.

Introduction Feline Hitler look-alikes. Dogs attired in hats and bow-ties. Rabbits wearing lace bonnets. Images of these animals abound on the Internet with a host of websites paying homage to their cuteness. Emphasising the cuteness of non-human animals by anthropomorphising them is a common trend online, but there is also another side to the human relationship with other animals that has created a different category of cuteness. The blogger, Tiffiny Carlson, remarks that there has been an “onslaught of virtual love for disabled animals” who are not dressed to look like humans or imagined as human look-alikes to signify as cute. Rather, an animal’s disability becomes the signifier for cuteness. Carlson defines this as “cute-ifying disability” wherein disability is what makes an animal cute. In this context, a dog with an artificial leg, a gold-fish with a “wheelchair”, and a cat with visible breathing difficulties register as cute precisely because of their disabilities. In this paper, I draw on Carlson’s idea of “cute-ifying” disability to analyse the popularity of the cat, Lil Bub (https://www.facebook.com/iamlilbub). In doing so, I name non-human animals as animals and human-animals as humans. This is not to state that humans are not animals, but rather to use these terms to make visible the hierarchical relationship developed between them. (Re)defining Disability and Cuteness Critical disability studies aims to challenge and unpack the norms through which disability is dominantly represented, understood and politicised in terms of a “lack”. In keeping with this intention, Tanya Titchkosky argues that perceptions about disability need to move away from defining disability as an object of knowledge. Instead, Titchkosky advocates for an experience that conceives of disability as a “space of interpretive encounter” (56) that enables a “way of perceiving and orienting toward the world” (4). Here, Titchkosky discusses disability in terms of the norms through which disability is treated, thus intimating that “disability” and “ability” are socio-cultural constructs that establish the norms through which human capacity and capability (mental, physical and emotional) are understood. In line with this observation, this section intends to analyse the norms through which disability is formed, and in turn, how these norms inform human-animal relations and their impact on “cuteness”. One of the fundamental norms that undergirds understandings of disability is the idea that disability is inferior to “ability”, so much so that the philosopher, Paul W. Taylor suggests that human illness and disablement equates to an animal’s existence, regardless if they are disabled or not. He specifies, “We [humans] have a sense of gratitude at the good fortune that we were not born one of them [animals], a sense that comes sharply into focus when, through some abnormality of birth or by some accident or disease a human being is reduced to leading an animal’s simple kind of life…In comparison with the severely restricted kind of existence that is the lot of plants and animals, our own human modes of life are naturally appreciated for being so much richer, fuller, more interesting and desirable in every way” (158). Taylor asserts that disability becomes equated to animality through defining both as simpler examples of existence. Animals are therefore recognised in a similar way to disabled humans, wherein both are rendered as reduced facsimiles of “interesting” and “desirable” human existence. Other scholars of critical human-animal studies, such as Kari Weil and Cary Wolfe also make a connection between animality and disability, but do so in such a way that challenges normative assumptions about both as lacking agency. Kari Weil argues that the normative ways in which the complexity of human expression and consciousness is measured according to linguistic ability is not necessarily correct, rather, it is “an obstacle to a…fullness of vision” (88). Weil claims that this “fullness of vision” is expressed by “beings who are removed from ‘normal’ sociolinguistic behavior. These beings may be nonhuman animals as well as persons with certain linguistic and cognitive disabilities” (88-89). Drawing on the example of Temple Grandin, (who has written about her life with autism and how this has enabled her to form a bond with animals), both Weil and Wolfe state that the idea of animals and disabled humans as “simple” needs re-assessment. Wolfe makes this clear when she cites Grandin’s first book, Emergence: Labeled Autistic, as demonstrating the interior narrative to autistic thought and experience, and therefore enabling an “unthinkable” act “because it had been medical dogma…that there was no ‘inside,’ no inner life, in the autistic…” (111). Wolfe uses this re-conception of the inner life of disability to think through the complexity of animals’ “interior” life. This is not to conflate animals with disabled humans, but instead, to offer a more nuanced understanding of representations of difference. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson analyses how these representations of difference normalise disability as a spectacle. She writes, “the history of disabled people in the Western world is in part the history of being on display, of being visually conspicuous while politically and socially erased” (56). Disability, then, is visibilised as a spectacle to be looked at as “other”, and in this act of looking, disabilities are rendered as irrelevant to “ordinary” normality. Garland- Thomson further indicates that curiosity preoccupies the human eye when gazing on perceived disabilities, wherein the compulsion to “gawk with abandon at the prosthetic hook, the empty sleeve, the scarred flesh…” occurs without seeing (or wanting to see) the whole body “of the person with a disability” (57). In this context, those who gawk fail to see the interior life Wolfe and Weir state is taken away from disability. Instead, disabled people are labelled in terms of their perceived anomalies to a normative social order. Garland-Thomson states that this process of looking at disability is considered “illicit” (2002: 57) and therefore the need to look away accompanies the compulsion to “gawk”. Why is this process of looking illicit? The stories of those who contend with disabilities provide an explanation. For example, the blogger, BigMamaDiva2, writes about how her son’s diagnosis of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified) was the official label used to identify the series of “symptoms” her son was exhibiting (1). PDD-NOS is under the umbrella of the Autism spectrum of diagnoses. In her blog, BigMamaDiva2 narrates how people perceive her son through a narrow lens defined by the hegemony of normalcy and the assumptions attached to autism. Through this lens, her son is deemed “limited” and “rude”. Part of the reason that he is perceived in this manner is the fact that he looks back and even stares intently at the people who misjudge him. The look of judgement people give him is thrown back in their faces, accounted for, and not dismissed. Even if BigMamaDiva2’s son does not intend to challenge these people, the fact that he does not give them the opportunity to look away, or to look with impunity, creates a sense of discomfort for those who mark out his “disability” and look down on him because of it. This exchange in looking/being looked at contributes to the illicitness in looking at disability because of the discomfort it brings to those who stare and those who are stared at. There is a message that informs this sense of discomfort; it is a message that tells those who are looked at that they are being judged as helpless and inferior. Extending this discomfort is the fact that those who are looked at can look back and stare in response to those who castigate them. This desire to “look away”, as Garland-Thomson puts it, intimates the need to look away before the person being stared at has the chance to look back. In this context, this sense of looking at/looking away attempts to construct a hierarchy wherein the exceptional is pathologized and the “ordinary” is normalised (Garland-Thomson 56). However, when a person views animals, a different kind of gaze can be evoked. This kind of gaze is informed by cuteness and how it frames some animals as human objects of appreciation and adoration. By “cuteness,” I refer to Joshua Dale’s definition of “cute” as: juvenile features that cause an affective reaction, somatic cuteness…namely, large head and small, round body; short extremities; big eyes; small nose and mouth. Whether genetic, or activated by learned signals, the cuteness response is also associated with a range of behavioral aspects, including: childlike, dependent, gentle, intimate, clumsy, and nonthreatening. Such physical and behavioral features trigger an attachment based on the desire to protect and take care of the cute object. (1) The reasons that contribute to the illicitness of looking at human disability are the factors which “cute-fy” animals and disability. It is precisely because of the animals’ supposed “disabled” characteristics of helplessness, inferiority and child-like appeal that package them as cute. In this context, this kind of animal refers to a domesticated pet. If that pet has a disability, this sense of cuteness is enhanced as it emphasises the factors which construct them as cute in the first place. Disability is thus “cute-fied” through asserting signifiers of disability as cute. The following section draws on this process of cute-fying disability to chart the ways in which animals are framed in a human/animal hierarchy that conceptualises disabled animals as commodified spectacles for human consumption. The following section also demonstrates how cute-fying disability also engenders a re-reading of disability in the manner advocated by Titchkosky, Weir, and Wolfe to “see” and contend with disabilities in a more ethical manner. Lil Bub: Commodity, Charity and Companion Lil Bub, a cat which has become a celebrity, is an example of how “cute-ifying” disability occurs online. According to Mike Bridavsky (Lil Bub’s carer/owner), this cat was: discovered as the runt of a healthy feral litter in a tool shed in rural Indiana, she was taken in as a rescue when it was clear that she would require special care. BUB was born with a multitude of genetic anomalies […] She is a “perma-kitten”, which means she will stay kitten sized and maintain kitten-like features her entire life. She also has an extreme case of dwarfism, which means her limbs are disproportionately small relative to the rest of her body and she has some difficulty moving around. She has very short, stubby legs and a weird, long, serpent-like body. Her lower jaw is significantly shorter than her upper jaw, and her teeth never grew in which is why her tongue is always hanging around. (1) As of the 16th of April 2014, Lil Bub’s genetic anomalies have garnered 669,617 likes on the Facebook page dedicated to her. This page has links to an online shop selling merchandise (for example, shirts, calendars, and mugs) highlighting Lil Bub’s genetic anomalies, as well as a YouTube channel which showcases Lil Bub’s disability as cuteness. A documentary about Lil Bub (Lil Bub & Friendz) also won the award for best online feature film at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. On both the Facebook page and the YouTube channel, people have written about how cute Lil Bub is. Many use highly emotive language to express how cute they think Lil Bub is, writing that they are “dying” from Lil Bub’s cuteness to how “overwhelmingly sweet” Lil Bub’s face is. These comments are predominantly in response to images of Lil Bub walking and sitting. On the Facebook page, these images are paired with captions written by Lil Bub’s owner and fans of Lil Bub. These captions imagine a context to Lil Bub’s expression of permanent cuteness, which shows her tongue hanging out and eyes that boggle in a look of surprise. For example, the caption “Friday!” is written above a picture of Lil Bub staring at the camera. Another caption, “must be raining yoghurt” is written above a picture of Lil Bub with a similar expression. Images of Lil Bub are predominantly the same, but the captions change to add diversity to what viewers can see on Facebook. Lil Bub also features on the online portal, I Can Has Cheezburger, which has a page dedicated to animals with disabilities (http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/tag/disabled). Carlson questions the popularity of these animals, and more specifically, why animal disabilities are considered as cute. Taking the definition of cute as categorising something/one as infantilised, needing assistance, and simpler than oneself, it can be argued that this definition matches with the views expressed by Taylor, as well as akin to how disability is seen in terms of “normality”. In this context, cuteness can encourage reductive ideas about disability and those who are differently-abled as “simple”. In Lil Bub’s case, several memes are made about her, including one with her usual look of surprise. This meme (http://cheezburger.com/7459833088#comments), which features on I Can Has Cheezburger, notes, “most cats look at you, questioning your intelligence…not this one.” The assumption that Lil Bub is not “condescending” (like other cats are supposed to be) is due to the fact that her tongue is sticking out because she has not grown any teeth. Her disability is framed as non-threatening, less confrontational than other cats, and therefore is a cuter, loveable option. In this context, disability is used to neutralise and make disability a manageable spectacle that can be commented on. Consequently, cuteness makes disability palatable by rearranging how people can consume and grasp the spectacle of disability. As mentioned earlier in this paper, Garland-Thomson writes about the illicitness which surrounds looking at disability. Cute-ifying disability through animals can remove the illicitness that informs the interaction Garland-Thomson describes. The online presence of cute animals, who are “cute” because of their disabilities, invites the human gaze to rest on their disabilities and encourages them to linger, to keep looking without feeling the need to look away. This desire to linger on the cute animal informs the commodification of Lil Bub. For example, the range of products produced to celebrate Lil Bub’s cuteness highlight how viewers are invited to visually absorb everything to do with Lil Bub. Cute-ifying disability, in terms of packaging “cute disabilities” as commodities, re-signifies how humans can perceive and view disability through rearranging the “awkward partnership” between disability and ability. Disability, in this case, can be marketed as “cute” and bought and sold because of its cuteness. However, the marketing of cuteness can also act as an entry point to think through and create awareness about complex social issues. For instance, cuteness can promote awareness about the “right to life” of disabled animals, which is one of Bridavsky’s aims. On a fact sheet written by Bridavsky, the message of celebrating difference is expressed: Beyond being overwhelmingly cute, exceptionally smart and painfully witty, BUB is an advocate for homeless and special needs pets all over the universe. Since before she was a star she has made it a point to spread a message of positivity. She proves that being different is better and she encourages the adoption of pets and helping those less fortunate. To date Lil BUB has directly raised more than $60,000 for various charities through her online store and meet-and-greets at animal shelters all of the country while spreading awareness about the importance of adoption, and spaying and neutering your pets. (1) While Bridavsky focuses on difference through the figure of Lil Bub’s cuteness, this does not detract from the potential cuteness has to expand normative horizons and go beyond acting in the service of enabling reductive norms. For instance, through Bridavsky’s initiative, Lil Bub has partnered with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to generate funds for cats with special needs. In this context, Lil Bub’s “cute-fied” disability enables humans to think charitably towards animals with disabilities, and brings awareness to animals with special needs. Moreover, the online presence of Lil Bub and other disabled animals, and their packaging as cute creatures, can operate in the service of disabled people. This is not to state that animals are only relevant in terms of human existence, but to specify that representations of disabilities can resignify normative ideas about disability as something that is other to the complexity of human existence. Viewing an animal’s disability online can be a recuperative process with humans with disabilities. For instance, Nancy, a person who commented on Carlson’s idea of “cute-ifying disability” on 24 February 2014, remarked: “Children identify with cartoons and animals. A lot. Children have told me how Winter the dolfin has a fake tail, and relate it to their leg brace. Or how they saw a dog in a wheelchair and they identified with it since they are in a wheelchair [sic]” (1). Conclusion As the examples above demonstrate, Lil Bub’s popularity can be read in terms of the interaction between the commodification and characterisation of animals as cute, the use of cuteness and disability to raise awareness and funding for charities, and the relationship between animals and humans as companions and sources of inspiration for one another. Cute-fying disability is informed through this complex assemblage that reorients one-sided ideas of cuteness as simply enabling ethical engagements with disability or disenabling such negotiations. At the heart of this is the question: “in whose interest is this for?” As Carlson notes, the issue is not so much in seeing animals as cute, but in not seeing humans with disabilities in a way that sees them as human beings (1). Carlson takes issue with the fact that the same level of benevolence and friendliness offered to disabled animals online is not extended to humans with disabilities. By this, Carlson is not suggesting that people see other people with disabilities as “cute”. Rather, she, like Garland-Thomson, advocate for the “process of dismantling the institutional, attitudinal, legislative, economic, and architectural barriers that keep people with disabilities from full participation in society” (75). The example of Lil Bub demonstrates the various ways through which these barriers are erected and challenged. For instance, Lil Bub has been framed in terms of a human/animal hierarchy that positions her as figure for human entertainment. Her disabilities have also positioned her within another kind of hierarchy wherein she is packaged as less complex and less threatening than “normal” cats, as suggested by the meme that claims that Lil Bub does not judge people, unlike other cats. Simultaneously, Lil Bub’s popularity has garnered awareness towards animals with disabilities and the help humans can offer to assist them. Moreover, Lil Bub, and other disabled animals that are represented as cute, are relatable as companions for humans and can be a source of inspiration for many people. In mapping out the nuances to cute-fying disability in Lil Bub’s case, this paper is not invested in stating whether cute-fying disability is wrong or right, but rather, to point towards the ways in which cute-fying disability can simultaneously work for and against ethical engagements with disability for humans and animals. References BigMamaDiva2. “Winn-ER son!!!” BigMamaDiva2, 2014. 10 Jan. 2014 ‹http://bigmamadiva2.blogspot.com.au/›. Bridavsky, Mike. Lil Bub: About. n.d. 2 Apr. 2014 ‹http://lilbub.com/about›. Carlson, Tiffiny. “Animals and Wheelchairs: Cute-ifying Disability.” Easy Stand Blog, 19 Feb. 2013. 17 Feb. 2014 ‹http://blog.easystand.com/2013/02/animals-and-wheelchairs-cute-ifying-disability/›. Dale, Joshua. Cute Studies, 2014. 17 Feb. 2014 ‹http://www.academia.edu/5132057/CFP_Cute_Studies›. 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