Perception of disability by young people explored in journal paper

Dr Paula Hamilton, Senior Lecturer in the University’s School of Education has produced a paper for the International Journal of Early Years Education using data gathered by Millie Pottinger for her dissertation. Millie achieved a first classification in the BA (Hons) Childhood Studies with Applied Psychology last year at the University and her dissertation which focused on young children’s perceptions of disability. 

Millie had discussed her idea of using diversity dolls in the second year of her degree. Enlisting the support of her mother, who is a design and technology teacher, Millie designed a set of diversity dolls which would both appeal to young children and accurately reflect a range of visual disabilities. 

Drawing upon Milie’s fieldwork, supervisor Dr Paula Hamilton, utilised some of her on-going research in this area to generate a paper which focused on the importance of early years practitioners gaining an understanding of children’s early social biases so that they can build intervention programs which encourage children to examine and question concepts of ‘normalcy’ relating to the human body, social inequities and the harmful impact of stereotypes. 

Milie’s data collection, which was skillfully gathered, was extremely important as it showed that although many young children have positive attitudes towards peers with physical disabilities, children's views are often negative, in that they tend to notice what aspects of the body looks or functions differently and assume people with disabilities can't participate or succeed and in order to do so they require need equipment, medication and support from others. Some children may also hold derogatory, hostile views which without being discovered through such an activity might otherwise remain hidden. This is worrying as there is much evidence to suggest that children with disabilities as being twice as likely to be bullied and have fewer friendships in school. 

The paper has recently been accepted by International Journal of Early Years Education, a prestigious childhood journal and can be accessed here. 

Millie, who now works as a primary school teacher, said: “The study stemmed from an interest in SEND and more specifically the inclusivity within schools and barriers in achieving this. Therefore, I wanted to understand the views of children to gain a greater insight.  

“I carried the research out within a year two class and used play though diversity dolls with adaptations to represent physical disabilities to initiate discussion of children’s thoughts. The findings suggested the lack of understanding children have towards children with disabilities, with consistent stereotypes arising.”  

Dr Paula Hamilton, Dissertation Supervisor/Programme Leader, MA Education, Society and Globalisation, said: “It has been an absolute delight to work with Millie on this project. She has shown tremendous skill in designing and implementing activities that appeal to young children and elicit their innermost feelings about human diversity and social justice. I feel privileged that she has allowed me to draw upon her fieldwork to co-produce a journal paper that will hopefully be pertinent to early years education.” 

Michelle Palser, Programme Leader, added: “Millie has had an ongoing interest and passion for learning about disability and special educational needs throughout her time as a student on the BA Childhood Studies with Applied Psychology programme. She has been able to extend her learning through a range of modules on inclusion and social justice, and considered how professionals can challenge discrimination. I am delighted to see her hard work culminate in this valuable piece of research.”