Abstract: This paper examines how people with a disability use online websites to join communities with like-minded people, empowering them to find and provide support, gain knowledge and access education. Interaction on websites such as Disabilites-R-Us can provide a wealth of information and facilitates positive connections to users, without limitations of time or geographic location. Online communities can provide safe spaces for people with a disability, enabling them to participate and communicate more freely, giving them the choice to build relationships with their chosen folk.

   

With the advancement of technology, and the subsequent creation of communities based online, the way in which people communicate, collaborate, connect, and find their folk, has been altered. People with a disability have been empowered by online communities, facilitated by websites, such as Disabilities-R-Us, who provide accessible knowledge-sharing, education, support, and a platform to build networks of connectedness, potentially reaching a global audience. Whether a disability is life long, short, or long term, people seek out others, who may have had the same or similar experiences, feeling drawn to, and becoming part of a group of likeminded people. With this, they can share knowledge, hopes, fears, be a pillar of strength, provide support, and advocate for change. With the enablement of connection, via the Internet, technology, and mobile devices, we can see that virtual communities have the ability “to make communication the essential feature of belonging” (Delanty, 2018, p.201). By facilitating good communication online, a place can be created that gives people a feeling of being part of an inclusive group. The website Disabilities-R-Us has provided a space, where people with a disability can become a member of a family, structured specifically for them, empowering them, and providing a sense of community. They can come together with others who have a shared purpose, hobbies, interests, or passions. We are told “community is something experienced as belonging” (Delanty, 2018, p. 202), and people with a disability are given a sense of belonging in the online communities, facilitated by the website Disabilities-R-Us.

    Disabilities-R-Us was established over 27 years ago and has “been providing a friendly place where you can make online friends from all over the world” (https://www.disabilities-r-us.com/). The communities that it facilitates online are significant, as they provide spaces which have no geographical boundaries. It does not matter where users are, they are able to participate and connect with others from all over the globe. Whether they are able-bodied or not, whether they can hear or see, the goals of these communities are to provide an all-inclusive environment.  Disabilities-R-Us is primarily, as described on its title page, a site for people with a physical disability, but if you delve deeper, one realises that it does provide a wealth of information which caters for a wide range of disabilities, including most under the umbrella in the following quote. The definition of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cwlth) is encompassing,

     “It includes physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, neurological, and learning disabilities. Disability can be permanent or temporary, visible, or invisible. Some conditions and impairments are present from birth. Other people acquire or develop disability during their lifetime from an accident, condition, illness, or injury” (www.vic.gov.au).

     All these disabilities present their own issues, as everyone is unique and experiences life, and its challenges, differently. Each person who has a disability has their own perception, varying needs, and a desired level of interaction they wish to participate in, that which is comfortable for them. Accessibility to a community online, a place where people with a shared purpose, interests, or passions, regardless of time zone, allows users to choose who, why, what, when and how they belong. This gives them the ability to make choices, and to feel empowered in the way that they communicate, collaborate, and connect.  Disabilities-R-Us offers a wide selection of topics and resources which are accessible from anywhere, at any time, available to assist all people with a disability, and their friends or family, who may be seeking help. These resources include, but are not limited to, chat rooms, community forums, legal resources, disability resources, sexual resources, and news. Connections can also be made via the website, to the social media platforms Facebook and Twitter, which as Ellis and Goggin (2018) inform us, are “suited to advocacy efforts due to their accessibility and connectedness”. Users can use these as a further means of communication, to branch out, gain support from organisations, and ultimately provide support and empowerment to others.

    An essential part of an online community is providing the means to showcase your identity and speak freely without prejudice, criticism, or judgement. The affordances of this site can help people with a disability gain better knowledge from others, boost their confidence to liaise on topics, and can provide the driving force behind easy access to other available resources. Accessibility to tools and connections allow people with a disability to participate, and advocate to improve their life and the lives of others. Having a third place, a place other than home or work, to gather can provide a space for collective action, where people can rally support and advocate for change. People with a disability use the Internet and social media in their everyday lives (Ellis & Goggin, 2018), so it is a familiar space to many, the ideal arena to become part of a group which comes together to change understanding for the better. The Internet and online communities, such as Disabilities-R-Us, provide users with the means to be people of action, enabling them to belong to tailored groups for specific needs, or for targeting issues raised. The platform facilitates, and allows for people with a disability to be heard, and enables them to be able to make a stand for equality, inclusivity, and equal rights. It assists people with a disability to get moral support, which is the commonest type sought and received in online communities (Guo et al, 2005).  Websites, such as Disabilities-R-Us, allow people with a disability to find others, all over the world, who have the same issues, encounter the same barriers, and connects them with like-minded people who may belong to groups, that are already established, that advocate for change or tackle problems. Initially, they can meet, albeit, not physically, in a space that can accommodate their needs and help them to feel empowered. This can also enable them to source and connect with other communities with similar interests, political views, or religious views. Advocacy can, in a third place online, be supported by accessibility and facilitated connection, whether people have a disability or not.

    In the past, people have struggled with a lack of inclusivity because of their disability, judged by their inability to do things, rather than their ability, by the fact they look or think differently. Hampton (2016) tells us that “the study of community is the study of social structure” (p.103), and for people with a disability that structure has been based around able-bodied ‘normal’ people. Today, platforms, supported by the Internet, have such a widespread reach, and provide a functioning virtual world for positive constructive community. Although users may not meet face to face, they can build on, and support others who are trying to establish their identity in a supportive space. They will not be judged on how they look, speak, behave, or think, being in an online space allows for freer expression and less limitations because people with a disability will not be seen as such, like I n the real world. Online communities, such as Disabilities-R-Us, provide forums and chat rooms to enable people, without exclusivity, openly inviting everyone to connect through their site, to develop friendships and provide relief from isolation and loneliness (Obst & Stafurik, 2010). The way that an online environment facilitates connection allows users to feel safe and fulfil a need to readily communicate with people who might be in a similar situation (Seymour & Upton, p.294).  It provides a third place, where users can meet up, in a safe space, removing some of the difficult barriers, which can be an issue in the real world, such as social awkwardness, problems with hearing, speech, understanding and communication. Similar to building relationships with family or friends online, the Internet provides a means to stay in touch and develop strong ties to people who may not necessarily be close by, but become close because of their shared experiences or disabilities (Baumgartner et al, 2019). Doors are opened, which create more network diversity, which in turn leads to improved resources and information, and by covering a wider scope of topics (Hampton and Wellman, 2018), people with a disability can feel empowered. When they have knowledge and information it enables them the to aim for, and achieve, positive change.

    The Disabilities-R-Us website also provides links to other sites, and other groups, who are targeted to more specific groups, so if their online community does not quite fit what someone is looking for, they aim to assist in finding the right community, through other avenues. Any user, with a disability or not, can utilise the many resources in this community, regardless of their ability, they have no need to go out, or go into public spaces, this community comes to them (Ellis and Goggin, 2018). Providing community online helps people to connect and become part of a networked family, there is no limitation as to what nationality, culture, beliefs, practices, or shared interests you have, it is a space where you enter to become part of a circle of friends who embrace who you are as a person. Delanty informs us that the social aspect of this connecting online expands “the horizon of community beyond the limits set by traditional boundaries of place and time” (2018, p.207). These are accessible places without geographical boundary, with no specificity of time zone, and with less constraints (Hampton, 2016). Traditional communities have limited people who have a disability, particularly when they are bound to their home or rely on family, friends, or carers to assist them with mobility and, or, communication. People with a disability, in virtual worlds, still rely on others in the real world for assistance, but can find support, supplied by the other users and organisations who participate in creating this all-inclusive communities, such as Disabilities-R-Us.

     This paper is based upon one community, Disabilities-R-Us, and therefore cannot account for all activity, by persons with a disability, accessing any other disability orientated websites and seeking to gain knowledge, share, access education, or wishing to participate in advocation for people with a disability. Hampton and Wellman (2018, p.644) tell us that “there is failure and strength in all types of community”, and the success of an online community often relies on several factors to make it usable and functional for its users. The commitment of the creators, administrators, contributors, and the users of the website all play a part in the success of any online group (Baumgartner et al, 2023). Disabilities-R-Us has successfully brought together users, organisations, and educators, who liaise and collaborate, to create a positive and nurturing online community, accessible for anyone who has a computer, and the Internet available to them. It is essential for creators of websites, who target specific audiences, to have researched and gained an understanding of the needs of their potential users, and knowing how to provide accessibility for these people, enabling them to participate fully and inclusively online. Disabilities-R-Us have been providing a service to people with a disability, for over 27 years, and via their website have shared great resources, facilitated genuine connections, and assisted in building an essential lifeline for people with a disability.

    As we can see, the creation of communities online, such as Disabilities-R-Us, have enabled people with a disability to access knowledge, education, support and enter a world where they are more connected, are able to collaborate and communicate with like-minded folk, and therefore have a sense of community belonging. By focusing on inclusivity and covering many different aspects of disability, providing many resources and links to assistive sites, this online community is an intricate network of links, which provide information-sharing and support, which would not be possible without facilitation of the Internet and technology. It has given people with a disability the ability to access mobilized knowledge (Hampton, 2016), relevant resources, regardless of their geographical location, or time zone, and provided them with the means to give support, and advocate for others. A third place, other than that of home or work, has been created and provides accessibility, inclusivity, and a sense of community, to people with a disability. By becoming part of a group, where they feel like they belong, provided by platforms on the Internet, which have been specifically created, people with a disability feel like they have been brought into a more inclusive space. Online communities empower people with a disability, building for them a network of connectedness, sharing places online which have the capacity to reach an audience on a global scale.

 

 

 

References

 

    Baumgartner, A., Rohrbach, T., & Schönhagen, P. (2023). “If the phone were broken, I’d be screwed”: media use of people with disabilities in the digital era. Disability and Society, 38(1), 73-97. DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2021.1916884

 

    Delanty, G. (2018). Virtual community: Belonging as communication. In Community 3 (pp. 200–224). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315158259-10/virtual-community-gerard-delanty?context=ubx&refId=bdb85b23-0504-43c9-856e-95890dd93db0

 

    Ellis, K. & Goggin, G. (2018). Disability and media activism. In The Routledge Companion to Media and Activism (355-364). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315475059-38/disability-media-activism-katie-ellis-gerard-goggin?context=ubx&refId=f04d5e28-d073-498c-8f6c-abe74dd084ef

 

    Guo, B., Bricout, J., & Huang, J. (2005). A common open space or a digital divide? A social model perspective on the online disability in China. Disability & Society, 20(1), 49-66. DOI: 10.1080/0968759042000283638

 

    Hampton, K. (2016). Persistent and Pervasive Community: New Communication Technologies and the Future of Community. American Behavioral Scientist, 60(1), 101–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215601714

 

    Huang, J. & Guo, B. (2005). Building social capital: A study of the online disability community. Disability Studies Quarterly, 25(2).  https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/554/731

 

    Obst, P. & Stafurik, J. (2010). Online we are all able bodied: Online psychological sense of community and social support found through membership of disability-specific websites promotes well-being for people living with a physical disability. J. Community. Appl. Soc. Psychol 20, 525-531. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.1067

 

    Seymour, W. & Lupton, D. (2004). Holding the line online: exploring wired relationships for people with disabilities. Disability and Society, 19 (4), 291-305. DOI: 10.1080/09687590410001689421

 

    Empowerment and Connection for People with a DisabilityVic.gov.au (n.d.). Disability Definition. https://www.vic.gov.au/disability-access-and-inclusion-plan-2021-2025/disability-definition