Perception of four intellectual and developmental disabilities based on search engine and news portrayal

For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, other's perceptions of them based on their condition often begin before birth and go on to impact relationships, opportunities, and self perception across the life course. Search engine results and news media, which may portray these conditions stereotypically or in poor light, are often a key source in these perceptions. Our purpose was to understand how search engine results and available news media can shape perceptions on certain intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We developed an online Likert-scale survey to measure differences in perceptions based off first available search engine results, images, and news headlines of four intellectual and developmental disabilities: cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Angelman syndrome. These four conditions were selected to compare less prevalent (Prader-Willi and Angelman) and more prevalent conditions (Down syndrome and cerebral palsy). Perception questions addressed general impression and aspects of the disability experience expected to be impacted by perception from others. We recruited via multiple social media platforms, flyers posted in the Boston area, and word of mouth to local communities and friends.

229 individuals opened the survey, and 125 responses were used in analysis. Mean responses to Prader-Willi syndrome were significantly more negative than responses to cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and Angelman syndrome across all variables. Responses to Angelman syndrome were also more negative than responses to Down syndrome. Significant differences between conditions found when treating the data as continuous were confirmed when treating the data as ordinal.

Lesser-known intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as Prader-Willi syndrome and Angelman syndrome, are subject to more negative portrayal in media, leading to more negative perception, which may impact social opportunity and quality of life. Combined with our finding that the perception of Prader-Willi syndrome follows the ideals of the medical model of disability more closely than the social model, a need for social model of disability training and education for physicians and other medical providers is clear.