The Unseen Barriers Framework: Distress-Based Exclusion in Disability Support and Access

Update - Expanded Scent Distress section with three empirical studies. Stafford and Welbeck (2011) and Yeomans (2006) provide evidence for heightened olfactory reactivity during hunger, while Sorokowski et al. (2023) supports the developmental relevance of food odours. This section now includes an original hypothesis that repeated scent exposure in the context of deprivation may shape long-term psychological or neurodevelopmental outcomes.

This working paper introduces the Unseen Barriers Framework, a new conceptual model developed by Shaun Gray to explain why disabled people disengage from support services that are nominally “accessible.” Drawing from lived experience, critical disability theory, trauma informed critique, and policy analysis, the framework positions distress, not dysfunction, as a structuring force behind missed appointments, avoidance, and non engagement.

At its core, the framework identifies and defines four original constructs of invisible exclusion:

• Scent Distress

• Communication Management Distress

• Cognitive Layering Distress

• Perception Based Distress

These distress states are often absent from datasets, access forms, and staff training, yet they shape the lived realities of countless disabled people navigating hostile, inflexible systems.

This release represents the first public articulation of the framework and includes narrative testimony, theoretical comparison across more than ten established models (such as the Social Model, Capabilities Approach, Mad Studies, and Trauma Theory), and practical policy implications. It is intended as the foundation for a broader body of work spanning health, social care, digital access, and welfare reform.

📝 Formal citation title:
Unseen Barriers: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Disabled People’s Access to Support Services (Gray, 2025)
This is the proposed title for future peer reviewed publication.

🔐 Licence:
Released under a Creative Commons BY NC ND 4.0 licence, with explicit permission for accessibility adaptation and direct translation into other languages. For any derivative uses, please contact the author.

Keywords:
Disability studies, distress, trauma, sensory access, affective exclusion, accessibility, support services, cognitive overload, welfare reform, food insecurity