June Furr, Dr. Alexis Carreiro, and Dr. John McArthur had an article published in Disability & Society, titled “Strategic Approaches to Disability Disclosure on Social Media.” The article explores the ways persons with physical disabilities choose how and when to disclose information about their disabilities online.

The article was co-authored by Furr, an alumna of the Master of Arts in Communication program at Queens University of Charlotte and now Ph.D. student at Clemson University; Carreiro and McArthur, both professors in the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens.

The abstract reads:

Persons with physical disabilities often face isolation in face-to-face settings or limited opportunities to form relationships due to an ongoing, and often derogatory, disability narrative of difference. Unlike face-to-face interactions, social media let persons with disabilities control how and when they disclose information about their disabilities and offer new opportunities for relationship formation. This qualitative study establishes a theoretical framework for exploring how and why persons with physical disabilities choose to disclose their disabilities on social media platforms. Major findings from the study describe three strategic approaches (open, secure, and limited) to disability disclosure on social media. The study also examines the relationship between age of discloser and age of the disability as key factors in approach selection.

The article can be read in full on the journal’s website at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2016.1256272