The anatomy of diversity: Applying critical disability theory to anatomy education

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Brown, M. E. L. & Finn, G. M. (2024). The anatomy of diversity: Applying critical disability theory to anatomy education. Anatomical Sciences Education, 17(6), 1157-1163. https://doi.org/10.1002/ase.2461

Publication date: 30 May 2024 Added to AutiHub: 21 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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2
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1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Megan E. L. Brown *
  2. Gabrielle M. Finn

Abstract

We like to think that we are more progressive than the Romans. And, in many ways, we are. Advances in medicine have eradicated many deadly diseases, and our understanding of public health is such that we no longer use lead as a sweetener.1 However, when it comes to the attitudes and systemic inequalities surrounding disability, our progress is, surprisingly, less impressive. While we may no longer marginalize disabled people in exactly the same way the Romans did (which, horrifyingly, often involved abandoning newborn disabled children to the elements2), ableism continues within our society in both overt and hidden ways.3 And make no doubt about it, ableism is violence.4 Ableism is evident within all branches of health professions education,5 including anatomy education.6 Traditional anatomy curricula, models, and textbooks feature the "ideal" body, excluding or marginalizing representations of disability and so equating normality with bodies that are enabled.7 * Dissection and prosection usually occur on donors without visible disabilities, adding to a lack of disabled representation within anatomy education.8, 9 This, coupled with a frequent focus on teaching what is considered to be "normal" anatomy,9 implies that any deviation is abnormal or of lesser importance. This tendency to depict and prioritize the "ideal" body within anatomy education is not only a reflection of historical biases; it actively shapes the perception and attitudes of future anatomists and healthcare professionals and could negatively influence their ability to provide inclusive, empathetic care to diverse patient and learner populations. This is detrimental, given that anatomists play key roles in giving language to the human body and in shaping learners' perspectives on the body, its function, and variation at a formative stage in health professions education.10 Critical disability theory (hereafter, CDT) can provide us with a framework for understanding and addressing the ableism perpetuated within anatomy education materials, attitudes, and behaviors. We operate in line with Hall's11 understanding that CDT is an interdisciplinary methodology that includes critical disability studies but expands to encompass a broad range of theories from across multiple disciplines.11† As a methodology, CDT challenges individualistic explanations of, and perspectives on, disability. Simply, it puts forth that disability is not an inherent personal deficit, or a personal responsibility, but results from complex interactions between social, cultural, political, and economic factors. Though language is debated and there are differences in preferences between countries and between communities, many CDT scholars use identity-first language (i.e., disabled person, rather than person-first language person with a disability), in recognition of the importance of disability as an inherent and valued aspect of identity and diversity.13 It is important to respect the preferences of those within various communities regarding language—for example, people with cognitive disabilities tend to use person-first language, whilst Autistic people tend to use identity-first language.14 Given that we are engaging with CDT, and based on our own preferences as UK scholars, one of whom is disabled and uses identity-first language, we use identity-first language throughout. Overall, our purpose in employing CDT is to question established approaches to, and perspectives on, disability within a field and take action to advocate for changes in practice. This is a key tenant of CDT, and scholars must make themselves activists through their work.15 Despite its uptake within academia more broadly, and increasing references to critical approaches to studying disability within health professions education, we have identified an absence in exploring the intersection of CDT and anatomy education. Whilst it is not our intention for this to become a formal or comprehensive literature review, a series of searches using the keywords ("anatomy" AND "education") AND ("critical disability studies") across key medical and health databases (including MEDLINE, PubMed, ERIC, and Web of Knowledge) in January 2023 returned no relevant papers. Considering ongoing ableism within the field's practices (as with other branches of health professions education), and our own experience of this gap in the field, this absence is concerning. This Viewpoint article aims to bridge this gap by applying critical disability theory to anatomy education. We explore, integrating our personal experiences as learners and teachers of anatomy with CDT literature, how CDT can inform and transform contemporary anatomy education, supporting inclusivity of practice. We offer practical tips and approaches to education in service of this objective. Our joint perspective is informed by lived experience of disability, of work as a healthcare professional, and by experiences from the perspective of teacher and learner. The varied experiences of our team add depth to our exploration, including deep understanding of the challenges and oppression disabled people face, and practical understanding of the realities of educational practice. Our experiences of anatomy and anatomy education, in particular, have provided us with a sensitivity to the language used when discussing the human body. We hope to leverage these diverse perspectives to offer a path forward for a more holistic approach to anatomy education that challenges ableist norms and promotes inclusivity. Ableism involves discrimination or social prejudice based on an individual's physical, emotional, mental, or cognitive status.3 In its most basic, and shocking form, it is the belief that people fitting a specific standard of what is deemed "normal" physical, mental, or emotional ability, are superior to those not meeting these socially constructed standards.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited references
41
With a DOI
35
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
5
7 / 41 (17.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 41 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
41 / 41 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
107
From DOI or external metadata
107
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
22 / 107 (20.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 85 / 107 (79.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
8 / 107 (7.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 8 / 22 (36.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 5 / 95 (5.3%).
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