Mogendorff, Karen.

"The Blurring of Boundaries between Research and Everyday Life:

Dilemmas of Employing One's Own Experiential Knowledge in Disability Research." Disability
Studies Quarterly 33.2 (2013): n. pag. Web. 7 Sept. 2014. http://dsqsds.org/article/view/3713/3231
Karen Mogendorff s main point in her article is to discuss how lines are blurred in the
Netherlands, when it comes to using personal experiences in the academic and medical realms and how
it affects professional and private life as well as the public. The dilemmas she raises are that of double
membership and disclosure, the latter concerning publication. Another point she advocates is that it is
important for disabled persons to research alongside the non-disabled to ensure that the research being
conducted (in the medical field here) takes disabled persons into account and hopefully lends a more
positive light on disability. Mogendorff states that she uses her experiences as a junior researcher in
anthropology from both academic and non academic settings; she also says her intent is not to be
stereotypical.
The author also discusses the hierarchy of disability mode of thinking, saying that people with
certain disabilities do not want to be compares with others of different disabilities, such as wheelchair
users and those with intellectual disabilities. She states that literature written by young disabled authors
is virtually non-existent and how even when it can be found, the experiences are limited, as relates to
the issue of blurring the line betwixt public, private, and professional life. One of the issues with this, she
claims is that those with disabilities are accused of being self-indulgent with the experiences and needy
concerning healthcare. Another problem Mogendorff came across while interviewing case studies was
the asking of inappropriate questions of the persons with disabilities, usually pertaining towards their
sex lives. The final point that Mogendorff makes is that disabled people themselves are best equipped
to improve disabled peoples lives. They really understand from experience what it is to be disabled.
Mogendorff did not use any specific literary criticism or theory in her article, instead focusing on
the impact of being disables and a researcher and how that impacts life. The author divides the article
by heading labeling the specific branches of discussion such as Dilemma of an Academic Researcher
and Dilemma of Double Membership. Mogendorff explained very clearly in the abstract of the article
her intents and purposes and the article followed accordingly. Since the author conducted her study and
research during a specific point in time, the sources she used are accurate and in order.
Around the time I found this article, one of the concerns I had about my thesis was attempting
to NOT make it my story, but to have my experiences woven in around the facts I have found. The title
of the article alone appeared to address and answer my question. After reading the article, I found the
topic Mogendorff chose to indeed be a complicated one, but a helpful one. I had not fully considered
the consequences of using ones experiences in academic work, but as a whole, I agreed with what she
had to say. I agree that persons with disabilities are the only people qualified to improve their lives, of
course, the seemingly worldwide problem of negative conceptualization and representation by the
medical field specifically, tends to hinder this. Negative terminology was one of the big points that
Mogendorff stressed as being tough to deal with.
This article relates to the identity portion of my thesis as it answered, albeit vaguely, that it is
complicated weaving personal experience into academic research. This article also works for the society
portion of my thesis because it discusses Disability Studies in the Netherlands, and how it is still
relatively a new field of study there. It was very helpful learning how Disability Studies works in other
countries as it gives me a more global perspective to look at, apart from the United States and Europe. I
will be using this article mainly for the society section of my thesis as it is the only one so far that I have
found doing something similar to myself.