Gyuzel Kamalova

GYUZEL KAMALOVA, then a graduate student at University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, was awarded a grant in October 2021 to aid research on “Enacting Diagnosis: Cognitive Disability and Moral Subjectivity in post-Soviet Kazakhstan,” supervised by Dr. Cassandra Hartblay. This project investigated how adults with cognitive disabilities living in Kazakhstan navigated their daily lives in institutions, NGOs, assisted living programs, community programs and inclusive theatre spaces. The project followed cognitive disability diagnostic practices both in the Soviet psychiatry and Kazakhstani psychiatry to understand the implications of medical diagnosis across clinical, legal, and quotidian contexts. In addition to archival research and interviews with medical professionals, this research paid special attention to the role of artistic engagements and performative arts in inclusive theatre circles in Almaty. The project also relied on art-based research methods that involved clay workshops and drawing with adults with cognitive disabilities residing in the assisted living home. This research attended to how adults with cognitive disabilities care, form and maintain relations to hold their social worlds together thereby contributing to the growing body of literature of cognitive disability.