Stigma: Barriers to Culture and Identity for People With Intellectual Disability

This exploratory article examines disability culture and identity for people with intellectual disability. In doing so, we argue that the stigma around intellectual disability severely affects people with intellectual disability's sense of culture and identity. This stigma causes internalized ableism and leads to people with intellectual disability disassociating from other people with intellectual disability in an attempt to cope with this stigma. True community inclusion for people with intellectual disability can only occur when this stigma is removed. Fortunately, as we argue, the self-advocacy movement is making great strides in doing so. The self-advocacy movement must be supported to achieve true inclusion and a sense of culture and identity for people with intellectual disability.