Stigma and Stigma Resilience: Role of the Undergraduate and the Campus Environment.
Consuelo M Kreider, Sharon Medina, Stephanie Judycki and 2 others
PMID 38654665WHAT IT FOUND
Students with learning disabilities described stigma as constant invalidation from peers and instructors.
Resilience came from knowing their specific strengths, finding supportive mentors, and shifting advocacy from disclosing diagnoses to explaining learning needs.
Key findings
01Participants faced stigma through misconceptions that their conditions were fake, controllable, or linked to low intelligence, leading to internalized shame about using accommodations or medication.
02Stigmatizing actions included instructors dismissing accommodation requests and peers using diagnoses casually, which constrained participation and caused students to feel judged.
03Resilience was built through self-advocacy, self-reflection, and focusing on personal strengths, often supported by mentors or instructors who understood the condition.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted at a single university, and all participants were STEM majors, who may face different stigma levels than students in other fields. The data was secondary; the original study did not specifically ask about stigma, so findings rely on what emerged naturally in group discussions. The sample was limited to students who had already registered with the campus disability office, excluding those who did not seek formal accommodations.
Declared interests
The authors declare no commercial or financial conflicts of interest. The study was supported by the U.S. Government and N.I.H. grants.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these themes as evidence that specific interventions reduce stigma. This is a descriptive analysis of student experiences, not a test of a treatment's efficacy.