Equity award recipient challenges ableism

Disability is understood differently by different people, and Kathryn Underwood is working on many fronts to better understand disability and how it is viewed by various groups. Specifically, children, their families and the institutions where children are most likely to be found, such as early childhood education, care, intervention, health and family services.

A professor of early childhood studies (ECS) and a recipient of this year's Alan Shepard Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Employee Award, Underwood is challenging the pervasive notions in society that a disability must be fixed and living with one is an inherently negative experience. That belief, she says, significantly affects how institutions view and respond to childhood disability.

"Early childhood is a critical site of ableism or discrimination based on ability," Underwood says. From birth, professionals begin to score babies on standardized assessments of health and ability with the intention of identifying difference early and then intervening.

This fixation on "normal" development and ability, however, has a broad impact, even affecting conversations about disability. “One young person who sits on our Youth Advisory committee for our research noted that adults are uncomfortable talking about disability,” says Underwood. 

Indeed, her research project, the Inclusive Early Childhood Service System, seeks to understand disability in early childhood from the viewpoint of parents and other family members in order to study institutional or systemic constructions of disability. The initiative, which from the beginning has involved partnerships with municipalities and service organizations in five Ontario communities – Wellington County, District of Timiskaming, Toronto, Hamilton, and Constance Lake First Nation – received an additional $2.48 million in funding last year from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The latest grant has enabled the research team to grow to include new partners across Canada in Brandon, M.B., Comox Valley, B.C. and Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Underwood is also effecting change at Ryerson University. She has contributed to other schools, including the School of Disability Studies, the Ryerson Faculty Association's Equity Committee and helps to guide the university-wide community as a member of Access Ryerson.

Within ECS, Underwood advocates for disabled children by teaching inclusion in her classes. She has students map out all the interactions that children with disabilities and their families have with early childhood education and care, schools and support agencies. The exercise helps students appreciate how systemic and structural problems within those institutions can lead children with disabilities to be seen as “needing support” when in fact the system may need to be redesigned.

Focusing on the big picture of disability is important, says Underwood. "It isn't all negative. Often, families report that a child's disability has changed how they view the world and their children. It can be an enormously positive experience for families. Their lives aren't simply about rehabilitation. However, when rehabilitation is not accessible, it can also impose work on families to seek out services that are designed for their children."

- With files from the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation

All three recipients of the Alan Shepard Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Employee Award will be celebrated at Ryerson Awards Night on April 1.

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