Doctoral Dissertation Research: Impairment, Resilience, and Social Networks Among Disabled Women

残疾科学家早就注意到，随着年龄的增长，每个人最终都会残疾。随着医疗技术的进步，针对多种障碍的创新治疗方法增加了美国残疾人的数量。在这种加速增长中，越来越需要了解哪些因素增强或限制了为残疾人提供的住宿和资源。该博士研究项目调查美国残疾妇女群体的日常经历和社交网络。除了为培训人类学研究生提供资金外，还将与政府和非政府组织、医生和其他人分享研究结果，以改善对残疾人的照顾。该项目还致力于提高公众对科学的理解和对美国残疾人的科学方法。这个博士论文研究项目探讨残疾和性别的经验之间的关系，以及什么支持网络改善或恶化这些经验。 该项目探讨了特纳综合征（TS）患者的经历，这是一种染色体和激素紊乱，每2,000名活产女婴中就有一名受到影响。TS经常导致延迟或不完全成熟和不育，使其成为研究性别与残疾之间关系的独特案例研究。研究将在北卡罗来纳州进行，考虑到患有这种疾病的个人的聚集，这是一个理想的地点：一些非营利组织和一个专门的TS诊所提供接触这一人群及其资源的机会。访谈，日常活动的观察，沿着合作民族志的实验方法将深入了解TS个体的日常经历，包括他们面临的斗争，他们表现出的弹性，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

Scientists of disability have long noted that with age, everyone eventually becomes disabled. As medical technologies improve, innovative treatments for numerous impairments increase the number of disabled Americans. Amid this accelerated growth, there is an increased need to understand what factors enhance or limit the accommodations and resources that are made to disabled individuals. This doctoral research project investigates the everyday experiences and social networks of a population of disabled women in the U.S. In addition to providing funding for the training of a graduate student in anthropology in the methods of empirical, scientific data collection and analysis, findings will be shared with governmental and non-governmental organizations, doctors, and others with the aim of improving the care of disabled individuals. The project also endeavors to enhance the public's understanding of science and the scientific method with regard to disabled Americans. This doctoral dissertation research project examines the relationship between experiences of disability and gender, and what support networks improve or worsen these experiences. The project explores the experiences of individuals with Turner Syndrome (TS), a chromosome and hormone disorder that impacts one in every 2,000 live female births. TS frequently causes delayed or incomplete maturation and infertility, making it a unique case study for examining the relationship between gender and disability. Research will be conducted in North Carolina, an ideal locale given the clustering of individuals with this disorder: a number of nonprofits and a dedicated TS clinic offer access to this population and their resources. Interviews, observation of daily activities, along with experimental methods in collaborative ethnography will afford insight into the everyday experiences of individuals with TS, including what struggles they face, what resilience they demonstrate, and what resources they rely on and need.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.