I got many comments, in various ways about the question I posed about alopecia being an inconvenience or a disability. It's a good debate.
Whilst there is no one answer, I did come to a sort of conclusion, which is that it is only a disability if the person with the condition, defines it as such. But I do have a issue with this self definition. As I wonder if we can have it both ways?
For example, some health authorities contribute to wig reimbursement, others also cover psychological counselling services. However if we want to campaign for such support and ensure more health authorities recognize the need for such support, is it appropriate to label alopecia as an inconvenience? Clearly it would need to be recognized as a disability in order for governments to part with their increasingly small pool of money.
So where does that leave the debate?
I dont't think it can be self defined. I believe if we think society should financially support us baldies to find our place in society, through talking it through, or making us look normal, then alopecia needs to be recognized as a disability.
Do I feel disabled? A big no.
But did I ever, do I sometimes and do new alopecians need help - a big YES!
So you know what, I would be happy to hear that alopecia is a recognized disability.
How I then chose to behave is down to me.
I wanted to comment on the first post, but time was not on my side, so thank you for this second chance. Reading both your posts reminds me that we can also conceptualise disability within the Social Disability model. This argues that a person is "disabled" not by any impairment, but by the way society is structured. A simple example is that a wheelchair user is disabled because humans keep installing stairs rather than ramps. I was reminded of this because the list of ways in which you felt alopecia could be considered a disability were not because of the lack of hair, but because of the perceptions of others. You can swim without hair. You can probably swim in an empty pool without hair, but you may not feel confident to swim if the pool is busy. The social model is important, because it deals with the issue that so called disabled people are not 'impaired', society simply doesn't adjust to their needs effectively. In this perspective alopecia is not a disability, but the way other respond to it is disabling. In view of this, psychological support is essential in order to assist the person with alopecia to overcome the deeply ingrained, social constructed norm that hair is 'normal' and baldness is not. I hope this makes some sense, I am a little sleep deprived and overdosing on coffee.
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