Microagressions: Marginalizing PWD, creating disparities

Microaggressions are commonplace indignities – verbal, behavioral, or environmental – that convey negative, hostile, or derogatory slights toward a marginalized group. Whether intentional or not,  microagressions have a powerful impact on the recipient’s psychological well-being, and are found to create inequities in areas including health care, employment, and education.   People with disabilities (PWD) are frequently subjected to microaggressions in their everyday lives.  Research on disability microaggression is still in its infancy, and to date studies have not compared the experiences among PWDs with visible and hidden disabilities. This study begins such a line of inquiry by capturing the microaggression experiences of people with hidden disabilities  (PWHD). Participants, recruited through online and face-to-face support groups, completed structured interviews. Preliminary results indicate that PWHD experience is both similar to those encountered by people with visible disabilities, and distinct.  Findings and public health implications will be discussed.