‘It Means Having a Disadvantage’: Shaping Anti-Ableist Discourse in Scottish Primary Schools

Objectives: Previous research indicates that providing mirrors and windows into children’s worlds through their material culture can reduce prejudice and promote positive friendship intentions between children from different backgrounds. However, much less is known about changing perceptions of disability in this context. This project assesses children’s categorizations and perceptions of disability before and after engaging with an intervention that introduces windows and mirrors into disabled people’s lives. Methods: A repeated-measures design was used. Children aged 8-12 years (N = 293) from five Scottish primary schools were invited to complete a short questionnaire before and after an intervention involving viewing positive images of toy characters and taking part in activities related to them. Results: We found that quantitatively measured affective responses towards disability were more positive after viewing the images. We also found that perceptions of ‘disability’ changed after the intervention but remained closely aligned to Scottish curriculum statements.Conclusions: This study shows how thinking about images of disabled toy characters affects children’s perceptions of disability. This has the potential to be applied in wider social and educational setting through the wider representation of disabled people in children’s curriculum materials, books and in modelling from educational professionals.