This ground-breaking book aims to take a new and innovative view on how disability and architecture might be connected. Rather than putting disability at the end of the design process, centred mainly on compliance, it sees disability - and ability - as creative starting points for the whole design process. It asks the intriguing question: can working from dis/ability actually generate an alternative kind of architectural avant-garde? To do this, Doing Disability Differently: explores how thinking about dis/ability opens up to critical and creative investigation our everyday social attitudes and practices about people, objects and space argues that design can help resist and transform underlying and unnoticed inequalities introduces architects to the emerging and important field of disability studies and considers what different kinds of design thinking and doing this can enable asks how designing for everyday life - in all its diversity - can be better embedded within contemporary architecture as a discipline offers examples of what doing disability differently can mean for architectural theory, education and professional practice aims to embed into architectural practice, attitudes and approaches that creatively and constructively refuse to perpetuate body 'norms' or the resulting inequalities in access to, and support from, built space. Ultimately, this book suggests that re-addressing architecture and disability involves nothing less than re-thinking how to design for the everyday occupation of space more generally.

An electronic version of this book is also available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) license, thanks to the support of the Wellcome Trust. The Industrial Revolution produced injury, illness and disablement on a large scale and nowhere was this more visible than in coalmining. Disability in the Industrial Revolution sheds new light on the human cost of industrialisation by examining the lives and experiences of those disabled in an industry that was vital to Britain's economic growth. Although it is commonly assumed that industrialisation led to increasing marginalisation of people with impairments from the workforce, disabled mineworkers were expected to return to work wherever possible, and new medical services developed to assist in this endeavour. This book explores the working lives of disabled miners and analyses the medical, welfare and community responses to disablement in the coalfields. It shows how disability affected industrial relations and shaped the class identity of mineworkers. The book will appeal to students and academics interested in disability, occupational health and social history. -- .

In the twenty-first century there is increasing global recognition of pain relief as a basic human right. However, as Susan Honeyman argues in this new take on child pain and invisible disability, such a belief has historically been driven by adult, ideological needs, whereas the needs of children in pain have traditionally been marginalised or overlooked in comparison. Examining migraines in children and the socially disabling effects that chronic pain can have, this book uses medical, political and cultural discourse to convey a sense of invisible disability in children with migraine and its subsequent oppression within educational and medical policy. The book is supported by authentic migraineurs' experiences and first-hand interviews as well as testimonials from a range of historical, literary, and medical sources never combined in a child-centred context before. Representations of child pain and lifespan migraine within literature, art and popular culture are also pulled together in order to provide an interdisciplinary guide to those wanting to understand migraine in children and the identity politics of disability more fully. Child Pain, Migraine, and Invisible Disability will appeal to scholars in childhood studies, children's rights, literary and visual culture, disability studies and medical humanities. It will also be of interest to anyone who has suffered from migraines or has cared for children affected by chronic pain.

Disability and the Posthuman is the first study to analyse cultural representations and deployments of disability as they interact with posthumanist theories of technology and embodiment. Working across a wide range of texts, many new to critical enquiry, in contemporary writing, film and cultural practice from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Japan, it covers a diverse range of topics, including: contemporary cultural theory and aesthetics; design, engineering and gender; the visualisation of prosthetic technologies in the representation of war and conflict; and depictions of work, time and sleep. While noting the potential limitations of posthumanist assessments of the technologized body, the study argues that there are exciting, productive possibilities and subversive potentials in the dialogue between disability and posthumanism as they generate dissident crossings of cultural spaces. Such intersections cover both fictional/imagined and material/grounded examples of disability and look to a future in which the development of technology and complex embodiment of disability presence align to produce sustainable yet radical creative and critical voices.

This volume of "Research in Social Science and Disability" brings together interdisciplinary scholarship to examine a wide array of issues related to disability and community, a topic of critical importance academically and politically. The evolving and politically contested notions of community sit at the centre of much of the recent research on disability and, as researchers both create and reflect various ideas of membership when defining "disability" and aggregating individuals, their methodological decisions have significant implications for how we come to understand disability and community. This volume also examines a wide range of social institutions and practices such as education, employment, and cultural venues and the extent to which and how they include people with disabilities in the workings of these institutions. It includes research framed by a variety of theoretical perspectives and research methodologies and offers innovative ways to envision inclusive communities and, therefore, enables us to consider how to move forward to create them.

In medieval Europe, the much larger Christian population regarded Jews as their inferiors, but how did both Christians and Jews feel about those who were marginalised within the Ashkenazi Jewish community? In On the Margins of a Minority: Leprosy, Madness, and Disability among the Jews of Medieval Europe, author Ephraim Shoham-Steiner explores the life and plight of three of these groups. Shoham-Steiner draws on a wide variety of late-tenth- to fifteenth-century material from both internal (Jewish) as well as external (non-Jewish) sources to reconstruct social attitudes toward these "others," including lepers, madmen and the physically impaired. Shoham-Steiner considers how the outsiders were treated by their respective communities, while also maintaining a delicate balance with the surrounding non-Jewish community. On the Margins of a Minority is structured in three pairs of chapters addressing each of these three marginal groups. The first pair deals with the moral attitude toward leprosy and its sufferers; the second with the manifestations of madness and its causes as seen by medieval men and women, and the effect these signs had on the treatment of the insane; the third with impaired and disabled individuals, including those with limited mobility, manual dysfunction, deafness and blindness. Shoham-Steiner also addresses questions of the religious meaning of impairment in light of religious conceptions of the ideal body. He concludes with a bibliography of sources and studies that informed the research, including useful midrashic, exegetical, homiletic, ethical and guidance literature and texts from responsa and halakhic rulings. Understanding and exploring attitudes toward groups and individuals considered "other" by mainstream society provides us with information about marginalised groups, as well as the inner social mechanisms at work in a larger society. On the Margins of a Minority will appeal to scholars of Jewish medieval history as well as readers interested in the growing field of disability studies.

This book explores the sex lives of women with disabilities in Nepal, showing that many women suffer more than men despite prevailing disability policies that emphasize nondiscrimination against people with disabilities. It also argues that far from general perceptions of women as asexual, women with disabilities are capable of leading highly creative and fulfilling sexual lives. Using critical sexual theory and postcolonial studies as critical frameworks, the book investigates the narratives of authors with disabilities, exploring policy gaps and the need for supportive gender and sexual policies through the words of those affected. In particular, the book analyzes five female Nepali authors with disabilities: Radhika Dahal, Jhamak Ghimire, Sabitri Karki, Parijaat, and Mira Sahi, demonstrating the need for supportive gender policies to address the emotional and psychological needs of women with disabilities. Overall, the book argues that disciplinary discourses in practice often consider sex or sexuality as taboo, barely recognizing women in the context of marriage and family, and therefore creating gaps between policies and marginalized narratives. This book provides important insights into sex and disability within the context of the Global South, and as such will be of interest not only to researchers working on Nepal but also to scholars across gender studies, disability studies, international development, and postcolonialism.

The book examines issues of disabilities in Nigeria focusing on attitudes and reactions to people with disabilities within the context of practices perpetuating the treatment of people with disabilities. It contributes to research in the field by advancing discussions on society's positive engagement with disabilities issues and remediation of negative treatment of people with disabilities. Some of the issues examined in the book include a brief history of discrimination against people with disabilities, beliefs regarding causes of disabilities in Africa and Nigeria, scientific perspectives on causes of disabilities, some cases of disabilities in Nigeria, reactions to disabilities, social implications of non-adaptability to the condition of people with disabilities, remediation for people with disabilities, legal instrument and rights of people with disabilities and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Primarily, issues in the book are examined from both a philosophical and social studies contexts, and both the authors of the book are respectively trained in these aspects and subject areas (Edwin Etieyibo in philosophy and Odirin Omiegbe in social studies).

'Disability on Equal Terms is not a Turgid and difficult book despite its accent on complex and challenging themes. It is a lively and important read' - The Skill Journal, June 2009 `[A] collection of highly readable and scholarly essays that reflect both the theoretical and practical implications of recent developments in the field. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in disability: highly recommended' - Colin Barnes, Centre for Disability Studies, University of Leeds This authoritative collection of writings examines and challenges traditional notions of disability. Edited and written by leading experts in the field, it offers a multidisciplinary approach to disability studies, incorporating perspectives from a wide range of health and social care services, as well as a distinct and unique emphasis on the views, experiences, work and personal testimonies of disabled people themselves. The book is divided into three sections, each of which is prefaced by an editorial introduction which brings together the key themes and issues under discussion. Each section: " Examines the dominant assumptions about disability and impairment and their historical and cultural contexts " Documents the challenges to such presumptions generated by disabled people themselves " Explores the implications of such challenges for professional policy and practice This ground-breaking book will be essential reading for those studying disability studies, social work, nursing, and allied health and social care at all levels. It will also be a thought-provoking and inspiring read for disabled people and activists, professionals and policy makers. John Swain is based in the School of Health, Community and Education Studies at Northumbria Univeristy. Sally French is based at the Open Univeristy. Previous publications include the co-edited Disabling Barriers, Enabling Environments, Second Edition (SAGE, 2004).

The use of sign language has a long history. Indeed, humans' first languages may have been expressed through sign. Sign languages have been found around the world, even in communities without access to formal education. In addition to serving as a primary means of communication for Deaf communities, sign languages have become one of hearing students' most popular choices for second-language study. Sign languages are now accepted as complex and complete languages that are the linguistic equals of spoken languages. Sign-language research is a relatively young field, having begun fewer than 50 years ago. Since then, interest in the field has blossomed and research has become much more rigorous as demand for empirically verifiable results have increased. In the same way that cross-linguistic research has led to a better understanding of how language affects development, cross-modal research has led to a better understanding of how language is acquired. It has also provided valuable evidence on the cognitive and social development of both deaf and hearing children, excellent theoretical insights into how the human brain acquires and structures sign and spoken languages, and important information on how to promote the development of deaf children. This volume brings together the leading scholars on the acquisition and development of sign languages to present the latest theory and research on these topics. They address theoretical as well as applied questions and provide cogent summaries of what is known about early gestural development, interactive processes adapted to visual communication, linguisic structures, modality effects, and semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic development in sign.
Along with its companion volume, Advances in the Spoken Language Development of Deaf and Hard-of Hearing Children, this book will provide a deep and broad picture about what is known about deaf children's language development in a variety of situations and contexts. From this base of information, progress in research and its application will accelerate, and barriers to deaf children's full participation in the world around them will continue to be overcome.

Disabled Futures makes an important intervention in disability studies by taking an intersectional approach to race, gender, and disability. Milo Obourn reads disability studies, gender and sexuality studies, and critical race studies to develop a framework for addressing inequity. They theorize the concept of "racialized disgender"-to describe the ways in which racialization and gendering are social processes with disabling effects-thereby offering a new avenue for understanding race, gender, and disability as mutually constitutive. Obourn uses readings of literature and popular culture from Lost and Avatar to Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy to explore and unpack specific ways that race and gender construct-and are constructed by-historical notions of ability and disability, sickness and health, and successful recovery versus damaged lives. What emerges is not only a more complex and deeper understanding of the intersections between ableism, racism, and (cis)sexism, but also possibilities for imagining alternate and more radically inclusive futures in which all of our identities, experiences, freedoms, and oppressions are understood as interdependent and intertwined.

An estimated one billion people around the globe live with a disability; this number grows exponentially when family members, friends, and care providers are included. Various countries and international organizations have attempted to guard against discrimination and secure basic human rights for those whose lives are affected by disability. Yet despite such attempts many disabled persons in the United States and throughout the world still face exclusion from full citizenship and membership in their respective societies. They are regularly denied employment, housing, health care, access to buildings, and the right to move freely in public spaces. At base, such discrimination reflects a tacit yet pervasive assumption that disabled persons do not belong in society. Civil Disabilities challenges such norms and practices, urging a reconceptualization of disability and citizenship to secure a rightful place for disabled persons in society. Essays from leading scholars in a diversity of fields offer critical perspectives on current citizenship studies, which still largely assume an ableist world. Placing historians in conversation with anthropologists, sociologists with literary critics, and musicologists with political scientists, this interdisciplinary volume presents a compelling case for reimagining citizenship that is more consistent, inclusive, and just, in both theory and practice. By placing disability front and center in academic and civic discourse, Civil Disabilities tests the very notion of citizenship and transforms our understanding of disability and belonging. Contributors: Emily Abel, Douglas C. Baynton, Susan Burch, Allison C. Carey, Faye Ginsburg, Nancy J. Hirschmann, Hannah Joyner, Catherine Kudlick, Beth Linker, Alex Lubet, Rayna Rapp, Susan Schweik, Tobin Siebers, Lorella Terzi.

At least one in seven people are thought to be neurodivergent. So what exactly is neurodiversity? What does 'executive functioning' mean? What are 'spiky profiles'? In this simple guide, expert speaker and trainer Daniel Aherne provides a clear introduction to neurodiversity and the four most common neurodivergent identities of autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. Using an analogy of a cactus needing a desert to grow in, he emphasises the importance of getting the environment right for neurodivergent people, rather than expecting them to adapt to the neurotypical world. Daniel, who himself has ADHD, also explains how neurodivergent people often have great strengths alongside areas of difficulty, and writes about the interplay between diagnoses, as well as unpacking tricky concepts such as working memory, sensory processing, communication differences and more. Busting common misconceptions and setting out simple tips and guidance for supporting the neurodivergent people around you, whether among your family, friends or at your school, college or workplace - or if you yourself are ND and want to improve the understanding of others - this essential guide will help us all celebrate neurodiversity and foster more inclusive communities.

Social Work and Disability offers a contemporary and critical exploration of social work practice with people with physical and sensory impairments, an area that has previously been marginalized within both practice and academic literature. It explores how social work practice can, and indeed does, contribute to the promotion of disabled people s rights and the securing of positive outcomes in their lives. The book begins by exploring the ways in which disability is understood and how this informs policy and practice. Opening with a thought-provoking account of the lived experience of a disabled person using social work services, it goes on to critically analyse theory, policy and contemporary legislative change. Inequality, oppression and diversity are the focus of the second section of the book, while the remainder offers an in-depth exploration of the social work practice issues in disability settings, notably work with children, adults and safeguarding. Service-user and carer perspectives, case profiles, reflective activities and suggestions for further reading are included throughout. Social Work and Disability will be essential reading for social work students and practitioners. It will also be of interest to service users and carers, students on health and social care courses, third-sector practitioners and advocates.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the only UN treaty to date in which the people who are its target, that is disabled people, were actively involved in its drafting and the only one which requires the active participation of disabled people in its implementation. This does not, of course, automatically guarantee the direct participation of all disabled people. This is especially so for children with disabilities, whose status as legal minors may inhibit them from participating in decisions affecting their lives. This book focuses on the participation rights of the disabled child with regard to health, education, homelife and relationships, highlighting ways in which these rights are safeguarded and promoted throughout the EU, as well as exploring the factors that put these rights at risk. Finally, this groundbreaking text analyses whether disabled children's needs for assistance in order to realise their participation rights results in fewer opportunities to participate or in an increase in support in order for them to be able to do so.

Worldwide, the population ageing is a reality. The concept of Active Ageing, adopted by the World Health Organization, aims to guarantee quality ageing and appears as a strategy to solve this demographic challenge. The technological solutions might have a key role in the promotion of human functioning and in the mitigation of disabilities, particularly those resulting from the natural ageing process. This perspective is evident in the development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions. In this context, it is relevant to know about the recent developments in AAL and discuss future trends and challenges in this area. One of the objectives of this book is to do a systematic literature review on AAL, not only considering the technology used, but also the health condition that is intended to improve. For this purpose, we consider the human functioning, in particular the conceptual model of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Considering that the ICF conceptual framework is accepted within the healthcare domain, the use of its concepts and terminologies to promote multidisciplinary approaches for AAL solutions development processes can help to overcome difficulties of communication between users, careers and technological developers. AAL solutions must consider in their development the needs of the person that will use AAL solutions. The development must be user-centred and usability questions cannot be forgotten. In addition, the acceptance of the AAL solutions is closely related to the quality of the systems, so it is necessary to appropriately assess these solutions.

The first memoir written by a person with Down syndrome In this inspiring memoir, David Egan tells his own story, authentically describing a life of maximizing his abilities, as he advocates for himself and for all other people with disabilities. This book is yet another first in a life that has seen many firsts, a life buoyed by an optimistic perspective that refuses to be limited by stereotypes and the low expectations of others. As he says in the introduction, "You see there is an upside to Down. It has made me look at the words 'abilities' and 'disabilities' in a very different way than most of the world. A better way. A more inclusive way. A smarter way. I use the word 'smarter' very deliberately because one of the biggest perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities is that we are not smart." You will be quickly disabused of this faulty notion as you read David's impressive story. He has worked for more than twenty years for prestigious companies; he sits on the boards of two important advocacy organizations; he has addressed thousands of people as an advocate for people with disabilities; and he has competed in the Special Olympics. In describing his personal challenges and goals, he also conveys valuable lessons that apply to all people: the importance of a supporting family and friends; the need for others to see him and other people with disabilities as persons first, not just as examples of a diagnosis; the power of inclusion in school settings and community activities; the encouraging role that sports can play; the need for society to focus on our shared humanity despite differences; how to allow yourself to dream and to imagine possibilities; and much more. Concluding with an action plan detailing how individuals can discover their own abilities and how society can nurture those abilities, this is a book of hope that will encourage everyone to make the most of their lives.

Praise for the First Edition: ""This is an excellent book, but the best parts are the stories of the disabled, which give readers insights into their struggles and triumphs."" - Score: 94, 4 Stars - Doody's Medical Reviews What are the differences between individuals with disabilities who flourish as opposed to those who never really adjust after a trauma? How do those born with a disability differ from individuals who acquire one later in life? Fully updated and revised, this second edition of a unique rehabilitation counseling text reflects growing disparities among ""haves and have-nots"" as they bear on the psychosocial aspects of disability. New content focuses on returning veterans afflicted with physical and mental health problems, persons with disabilities living in poverty, and the need for increased family and community-based engagement. The book provides updated information about assisted suicide, genetic testing, new legislation, and much more. Using a minority model perspective, the text provides students and practitioners of rehabilitation and mental health counseling with vivid insight into the experience of living with a disability. It features first-person narratives from people living with a variety of disabling conditions, which are integrated with sociological and societal perspectives toward disability, and strategies for counseling such individuals. The text encompasses an historical perspective, psychological and sociological research, cultural variants regarding disability, myths and misconceptions, the attitudes of special interest and occupational groups, the use positive psychology, and adjustments to disability by the individual and family. A wealth of counseling guidelines and useful strategies are geared to individuals with specific disabilities. Designed for a 15-week semester, the book also includes thought-provoking discussion questions and exercises, an Instructor's Manual and PowerPoints. New to the Second Edition: Reflects the growing disparities between "haves and have-nots" as they impact people with disabilities Includes new content on veterans with physical and mental disabilities Describes the experience of impoverished individuals with disabilities Examines the need for increase family and community-based engagement Discusses strengths and weaknesses of the Americans with Disabilities Act Covers assisted suicide, genetic testing, and recent legislation Expanded coverage of sexual identity Provides an Instructor Manual and PowerPoints Key Features: Provides 16 personal narratives demonstrating the ""normalcy"" of individuals with different types of disabling conditions Includes stories of people living with blindness, hearing impairments, spinal chord injuries, muscular dystrophy, mental illness, and other disabilities Delivers counseling strategies geared toward specific disabilities, with ""do's"" and ""don'ts"" Discusses ongoing treatment issues and ethical dilemmas for rehabilitation counselors

Disability is often described in a way that suggests that it is a permanent and relatively stable state. Even when it is described as being socially constructed, the implication is that impairment leads to a permanent status of being 'disabled'. This volume argues that the relationship between impairment (physical state) and disability is neither fixed nor permanent but is fluid and not easily predicted. Furthermore, if this is true, we need to rethink how we are measuring disability. This volume attempts to reconceptualize disability not as static but a dynamic phenomenon which is related to social, cultural and historical contexts. It is part of the new social science emphasis on fluidity rather than stasis. The papers in the volume examine disability at all levels. Several look at micro-level interactional processes which shape physical conditions into disabilities or impairments into normality, some look at cultural differences over time in what constitutes disability and some look at how social processes and institutions create or deny the status of disability. The papers support the conceptualization of the fluidity of disability and have implications for its measurement.

This provocative and groundbreaking book is the first of its kind to propose the concept of Eco-ability: the intersectionality of the ecological world, persons with disabilities, and nonhuman animals. Rooted in disability studies and rights, environmentalism, and animal advocacy, this book calls for a social justice theory and movement that dismantles constructed "normalcy", ableism, speciesism, and ecological destruction while promoting mutual interdependence, collaboration, respect for difference, and inclusivity of our world. Eco-ability provides a positive, liberating, and empowering philosophy for educators and activists alike.

Just Care is Akemi Nishida's thoughtful examination of care injustice and social justice enabled through care. The current neoliberal political economy has turned care into a business opportunity for the healthcare industrial complex and a mechanism of social oppression and control. Nishida analyzes the challenges people negotiate whether they are situated as caregivers, receivers, or both. Also illuminated is how people with disabilities come together to assemble community care collectives and bed activism (resistance and visions emerging from the space of bed) to reimagine care as a key element for social change. The structure of care, Nishida writes, is deeply embedded in and embodies the cruel social order-based on disability, race, gender, migration status, and wealth-that determines who survives or deteriorates. Simultaneously, many marginalized communities treat care as the foundation of activism. Using interviews, focus groups, and participant observation with care workers and people with disabilities, Just Care looks into lives unfolding in the assemblage of Medicaid long-term care programs, community-based care collectives, and bed activism. Just Care identifies what care does, and asks: How can we activate care justice or just care where people feel cared affirmatively and care being used for the wellbeing of community and for just world making?

This textbook brings together a wide range of expert voices from the field of disability studies and the disabled people's movement to tackle the essential topics relevant to this area of study. From the outset disability is discussed from a social model perspective, demonstrating how future practice and discourse could break down barriers and lead to more equal relationships for disabled people in everyday life.

An interdisciplinary and broad-ranging text, the book includes 50 chapters on topics relevant across health and social care. Reflective questions and suggestions for further reading throughout will help readers gain a critical appreciation of the subject and expand their knowledge.

This will be valuable reading for students and professionals across disability studies, health, nursing, social work, social care, social policy and sociology.

Disability and Contemporary Performance presents a remarkable challenge to existing assumptions about disability and artistic practice. In particular, it explores where cultural knowledge about disability leaves off, and the lived experience of difference begins. Petra Kuppers, herself an award-winning artist and theorist, investigates the ways in which disabled performers challenge, change and work with current stereotypes through their work. She explores freak show fantasies and 'medical theatre' as well as live art, webwork, theatre, dance, photography and installations, to cast an entirely new light on contemporary identity politics and aesthetics.
This is an outstanding exploration of some of the most pressing issues in performance, cultural and disability studies today, written by a leading practitioner and critic.

Isabella Bertmann investigates the connection between disability, poverty, and quality of life, and how social protection measures can influence this relationship. The focus of this study is on South Africa. On the basis of qualitative interviews conducted with individuals affected as well as with local disability and social policy professionals, the author provides enlightening insights into the contemporary discourse on inclusive social protection systems. By combining theoretical considerations on well-being and quality of life (based on the Capability Approach) with her empirical data, she opens new perspectives on the multidimensionality of poverty, social inclusion, and self-determined living.