Self Image & Self Esteem

Disability Can Have a Major Impact on Your Child's Self-Perception

Jun 30, 2009 Megan Drummond

Webster's Dictionary defines self-image as "one's conception of oneself or of one's role." How do you define it?

Self-image and body image can be forever changed after a disabling accident or injury. These views of yourself can also be skewed if you have been disabled your entire life.

The Effects of Media

The modern media is partially to blame for much of the self-image problems in society today. To prove this theory, Harvard Medical School did a study of teenage girls in Fiji before and after the introduction of Western television shows such as Friends and Melrose Place. At the onset of the study, only 3% of Fijian girls reported an eating disorder. Three years later, in Harvard’s follow-up survey, the rate of eating disorders on the tiny island nation had risen to 15% and 74% of girls reported feeling “too big or fat” (Harvard Medical School, May 1999).

It’s not only girls that are affected by this onslaught of unhealthy body images. Boys and men also feel the pressure of “looking perfect.” There is another group that is affected by this imagery, as well – a group that is often overlooked by the mainstream media in their marketing campaigns, television shows and magazines.

That group is the disability community – men, women and children alike.

Self-Image & Self-Esteem in Children with Disabilities

The images we all see in the media are hard enough for a nondisabled teenager’s self-image to assimilate. Add a disability to the mix and it is almost impossible to live up to the unrealistic standards of beauty and perfection that the media tells us we must live up to in order to be accepted by society.

Children living with a disability often feel, whether consciously or unconsciously, somehow inadequate in a society that views any physical imperfection as a sign of unworthiness. These feelings can be seeded in a child’s mind with even the simplest of children’s stories. The Ugly Duckling is ostracized and put down because he does not look the same as the others. Physical differences such as gigantism or dwarfism are used as traits of evil in a person, a la Jack & the Beanstalk or Rumpelstiltskin. All of these things, no matter how innocent or unintentional, can plant the seeds of self-doubt that can grow over the years with a stranger’s casual remarks or the exclusion of almost any realistic portrayal of disability in the media.

There are very few positive portrayals of individuals with disabilities on television for disabled children to look up to. They may tune into the annual MDA telethon to look for a role model, but will learn that the children on the telethon are often portrayed as sad and pitiful. Even Ms. Wheelchair America, the pageant that promotes the accomplishments of women with disabilities over appearance, often looks like a “typical” beauty queen.

The best example of a person with a visible disability on television is Cerrie Burnell, host of a British kids' show. Burnell was born with one arm ending in a stump just below her elbow. While most parents want their children to see a good example like Cerrie, the station that airs the show has received a handful of letters from parents not wanting to let their children watch for fear that Cerrie will frighten them and give them nightmares. Others are afraid that seeing the host with one arm will pique their child’s curiosity and do not want to have that conversation yet.

Neither of these reasons will do much for a child’s self-esteem. They will get the basic message that people with disabilities can’t do certain jobs.

Help Build Self-Image & Self-Esteem

There are some things you can do to help build your child’s self-esteem.

Spend as much television-free time with your child as possible to try to counteract the effects of this onslaught of unhealthy images. Encourage your child to pursue what she is good at and to try new things. In every conversation about self-perception, emphasize that the disability is only a small part of who she is.

Above all, make sure that the child knows he is loved just the way he is.

The copyright of the article Self Image & Self Esteem in Disabilities is owned by Megan Drummond. Permission to republish Self Image & Self Esteem in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Man In Wheelchair Giving Thumbs Up	Cerrie Burnell	Ms. Wheelchair America 2005
Ms. Wheelchair America 2009

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Jul 3, 2009 12:48 AM

Guest :

www.LisaCoxPresents.com - In 2005, I was a University graduate in an advertising agency. I was also a part-time fashion model. Then, just months before my 25th birthday, I died, twice.
A brain hemorrhage and a series of other life threatening complications put me ina coma and n life support for two months. My family knew it was bad when the head of the largest Intensive Care Unit in the southern hemisphere said I was “By far the sickest person there”. Shortly after, my parents were told they may have to turn off my life support.
Today, at age 29, I’ve undergone over a dozen operations, including heart surgery, a total hip replacement and the amputation of nine fingertips, all my toes and one leg. Yet despite all the ‘missing pieces’, life now feels more complete than ever before.
So why am I telling you this? Well, it’s certainly not for sympathy or pity. I’m hoping that sharing my story and the lessons I’ve learnt might encourage you to find more perspective in your own life. I simply ask that you have gratitude for what you do have and what you can do. Rather than worrying about what you don’t have or can’t do.
I frequently hear women whine about the size or shape of their legs. I think to myself, “you have two legs and you’re walking so what are you complaining about?”
Last year I was asked to speak at a dinner about overcoming challenges and why, after everything that’s happened, I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world. However, I never made it inside the venue and woke up in an ambulance. A seizure diagnosed epilepsy. But weeks later I returned and gave the same speech. Nothing had changed and after yet another stint in hospital, I still felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
The brain hemorrhage also caused irreversible damage to my sight – I’m 25% blind. But the fact that I can see a little makes me extremely grateful. Even if, when I look down, I see scars and ‘missing bits’, I’m so happy that I can see at all! If crows feet or dark circles were the biggest ‘problem’ with my eyes, I’d be very happy.
I frequently hear and see women validating their self-worth by the reflection in the mirror or the dress size in their wardrobe. Even more disturbing is the young age of our image obsessed culture. Recent studies reported that the incidence of Primary school children being diagnosed with eating disorders was increasing at an alarming rate.
The media’s flooded with statistics about poor body imag

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