IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/indgen/v15y2008i2p317-340.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring Constructs of Intellectual Disability and Personhood in Haryana and Delhi

Author

Listed:
  • Nilika Mehrotra

    (Nilika Mehrotra is Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. E-mail: nilika21@yahoo.co.in.)

  • Shubhangi Vaidya

    (Shubhangi Vaidya is Assistant Director, Regional Services Division, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. E-mail: shubhangi_v2000@yahoo.co.in.)

Abstract

Intellectual disability is one of the least researched areas in social science inquiry. This paper traces the complex interplay between the concepts of intellectual disability, gender and personhood. It outlines the socio-historical and cross-cultural variability of intellectual disability, and its connections with class, urbanisation and modernisation. Based on ethnographic material on the disabled in Delhi and the neighbouring state of Haryana, it presents case studies of two NGOs working with the intellectually disabled, namely, Arpan, a school for the mentally retarded in Rohtak, Haryana, and Action for Autism in New Delhi. It engages specifically with the notion of masculinity and the manner in which intellectually disabled male adults are feminised and infantilised. An attempt is made to understand how disabled individuals and their families seek social spaces for themselves and negotiate the social compulsions for ‘normalcy’ and competent adulthood.

Suggested Citation

  • Nilika Mehrotra & Shubhangi Vaidya, 2008. "Exploring Constructs of Intellectual Disability and Personhood in Haryana and Delhi," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 317-340, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indgen:v:15:y:2008:i:2:p:317-340
    DOI: 10.1177/097152150801500206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097152150801500206
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/097152150801500206?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daley, Tamara C., 2004. "From symptom recognition to diagnosis: children with autism in urban India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(7), pages 1323-1335, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shaked, Michal, 2005. "The social trajectory of illness: Autism in the ultraorthodox community in Israel," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(10), pages 2190-2200, November.
    2. Rasmussen, Pernille Skovbo & Pedersen, Inge Kryger & Pagsberg, Anne Katrine, 2020. "Biographical disruption or cohesion?: How parents deal with their child's autism diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    3. Liliana Tapia Guillen & Marco A Solis Bravo & Lilia Albores Gallo & Yassel Flores Rodriguez & Ofelia Roldan Ceballos & Romina Erika Aguerre Estevez & Jimena Martin Salas, 2019. "Autism Spectrum Disorders in an Upper-Middle Income Country," Global Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 6(2), pages 36-42, March.
    4. Daley, Tamara C. & Weisner, Thomas & Singhal, Nidhi, 2014. "Adults with autism in India: A mixed-method approach to make meaning of daily routines," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 142-149.
    5. Sayyed Ali Samadi, 2020. "Parental Beliefs and Feelings about Autism Spectrum Disorder in Iran," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-13, January.
    6. Ha, Vu Song & Whittaker, Andrea & Whittaker, Maxine & Rodger, Sylvia, 2014. "Living with autism spectrum disorder in Hanoi, Vietnam," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 278-285.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:indgen:v:15:y:2008:i:2:p:317-340. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.