View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

"This is a highly readable and well-edited historical anthology, a wide-ranging collection that deals with mental retardation over two centuries. The book deserves perusal by anyone interested in mental retardation. The plot is powerful, and the questions profound."--"New England Journal of Medicine"

"strongly recommended"
-- "Library Journal"

"Interesting collection of pieces."
--"Gainesville Sun"

"Illuminates the history of mental retardation in America, a subject that has largely been ignored by scholars. This volume goes far beyond the history of institutional care, and covers such subjects as the role of families, changes in concepts of retardation and educational theory, and the role of the state. "Mental Retardation in America" will contribute toward a new understanding of the subject and serve as a stimulus to further research."

--Gerald N. Grob, Rutgers University

"The book will be of value to scholars concerned with the newly emerging history of disability."
--"Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences"

"The anthology provides sound links between the shaping of knowledge and circumstances from reports to legislatures, theses, and classifications of feebl-minded."
--"History of Education Quarterly"

aNoll ad Trentas book succeeds in deepening appreciation of the complex history of mental retardation and in suggesting issues for further study, making it an essential resource for scholars of disability history. Its accessible style and clear organization will also make it of interest to the lay reader...a
--Nursing History Review

The expressions "idiot, you idiot, you're anidiot, don't be an idiot," and the like are generally interpreted as momentary insults. But, they are also expressions that represent an old, if unstable, history. Beginning with an examination of the early nineteenth century labeling of mental retardation as "idiocy," to what we call developmental, intellectual, or learning disabilities, Mental Retardation in America chronicles the history of mental retardation, its treatment and labeling, and its representations and ramifications within the changing economic, social, and political context of America.

Mental Retardation in America includes essays with a wide range of authors who approach the problems of retardation from many differing points of view. This work is divided into five sections, each following in chronological order the major changes in the treatment of people classified as retarded. Exploring historical issues, as well as current public policy concerns, Mental Retardation in America covers topics ranging from representations of the mentally disabled as social burdens and social menaces; Freudian inspired ideas of adjustment and adaptation; the relationship between community care and institutional treatment; historical events, such as the Buck v. Bell decision, which upheld the opinion on eugenic sterilization; the evolution of the disability rights movement; and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.

This book explores the challenges of applying disability theory and policy, including the social model of disability, to madness and distress. It brings together leading scholars and activists from Europe, North America, Australia and India, to explore the relationship between madness, distress and disability. Whether mental health problems should be viewed as disabilities is a pressing concern, especially since the inclusion of psychosocial disability in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This book will appeal to policy makers, practitioners, activists and academics.

""Bending Over Backwards" is a welcome dismemberment of all that was unknowingly artificial from the start."
--"The Minnesota Review"

a[Its] uniqueness of thought is this collectionas strength as it makes for an interesting and proactive read.a
--American Journal of Occupational Therapy

"Davis's work offers creative and challenging examples that may be useful to our discipline and particularly to Disability historians. "Bending Over Backwards" remains an important and useful work for historians as a template for examining the myriad ways disability and Deafness infiltrate vital aspects of our identity, including laws, cultural icons, literature, and citizenship."
--"H-Net Reviews"

"Taken all together, the chapters offer an important, theoretically rich introduction to disability issues."
--"Novel"

"It is crucial, if at times uncomfortable, reading for medical professionals and scholars in the medical humanities alike. . . . Daring to mix the literary and the medical, the symbolic and the instrumental, the interpretive and the interventionist, Davis demonstrates what disability can teach us about the life that awaits any human baby."
--"Literature and Medicine"

"This superlative book is highly recommended for undergraduates, scholars, and researchers in the fields of disability studies, sociology, psychology, anthropology, ethics, and cultural studies."--"Choice"

"Lennard Davis is history in the making; for he is one of the foremost proponents of "disability studies," the newest theoretical kid on the block, noteworthy in part because it brings together scholars from the humanities and the medical sciences."
--Stanley Fish, in "Chicago Tribune"

aA collection of essays written over several years for different audiences, it contains fascinating traces of Davisas intellectual journey from novel theorist and Foucauldian to disability studeis scholar and memoirist.a--"American Literature"

With the advent of the human genome, cloning, stem-cell research and many other developments in the way we think of the body, disability studies provides an entirely new way of thinking about the body in its relation to politics, the environment, the legal system, and global economies.

Bending Over Backwards reexamines issues concerning the relationship between disability and normality in the light of postmodern theory and political activism. Davis takes up homosexuality, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the legal system, the history of science and medicine, eugenics, and genetics. Throughout, he maintains that disability is the prime category of postmodernity because it redefines the body in relation to concepts of normalcy, which underlie the very foundations of democracy and humanistic ideas about the body.

Bending Over Backwards argues that disability can become the new prism through which postmodernity examines and defines itself, supplanting the categories of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.

"Colker's book provides a comprehensive review of the ADA's history and a thorough analysis of how effective it has been in vindicating the rights of the disabled. She does not paint a pretty picture, but it is an accurate, empirically based assessment."
--"Trial"

"[A] comprehensive, factually-supported, and carefully reasoned book in a manner worthy of academic interest. At the same time, [Colker] writes in a plain style free of academic jargon and returns consistently to the human-interest arena of practical ramifications."
--"New York Law Journal"

"This book is must reading for teachers, school administrators, parents, vocational rehabilitation counselors, disability rights lawyers, and Deaf Community leaders who hope to help take the citizen ship interests of deaf and hard-of-hearing people to the next level. The book helps these constituencies make the essential connections between raising and educating deaf children and the rights and opportunities those children hope to enjoy."
--Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education

"The Disability Pendulum chronicles societal views and court reactions to the evolving ADA. Ruth Colker shows that public acceptance and inclusion of persons with disabilities into society is as much driven by attitudes about disability as by law and policy themselves. Colker offers an enriched and fresh analysis of the forces affecting the civil rights movement of persons with disabilities in American society."
--Peter Blank, Charles M. and Marion Kierscht Professor of Law and Director, Law, Health Policy & Disability Center, University of Iowa College of Law

"Ruth Colker's bookis an absolute must-read for anyone interested in disability rights. Colker has long been one of the most astute observers of the development of disability rights in the courts. This book lays out the compelling story of what the ADA was intended to do and what the courts have done to the ADA. The book is both inspiring and sobering."
--Chai Feldblum, Georgetown University Law Center

a[Colker] does not paint a pretty picture, but is an accurate, empirically based assessmenta
-- Adele Rapport, The Associate Regional Attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissionas Indianapolis District Office

"The Disability Pendulum helps us to appreciate that how we address these issues will shape the lives of the next generation of children with disabilities."
--"The Law and Politics Book Review"

Signed into law in July 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became effective two years later, and court decisions about the law began to multiply in the middle of the decade. In The Disability Pendulum, Ruth Colker presents the first legislative history of the enactment of the ADA in Congress and analyzes the first decade of judicial decisions under the act. She assesses the success and failure of the first ten years of litigation under the ADA, focusing on its three major titles: employment, public entities, and public accommodations.

The Disability Pendulum argues that despite an initial atmosphere of bipartisan support with the expectation that the ADA would make a significant difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities, judicial decisions have not been consistent with Congressa intentions. The courts have operated like a pendulum, at timesswinging to a pro-disabled plaintiff and then back again to a pro-defendant stance. Colker, whose work on the ADA has been cited by the Supreme Court, offers insightful and practical suggestions on where to amend the act to make it more effective in defending disability rights, and also explains judicial hostility toward enforcing the act.

Veres, Sims and their contributors focus on the nuts-and-bolts issues in human resource management (HRM) created by passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), then identify future issues and their projected impact. With practical discussion of traditional HRM activities and innovative activities the act has created, they help alleviate fears and, in doing so, fill a wide gap in the literature on ADA compliance. A welcome resource for human resource professionals and their academic colleagues as well.

The history of federal regulation in the United States is such that fears in the human resource management community with regard to the Americans with Disabilities Act are hardly irrational. Especially disconcerting is the act's scope; and, to make matters worse, its provisions are often vague and even obscure. Writing from the viewpoint of human resource professionals, Veres, Sims, and their contributors look closely at some of the major issues raised by the act's passage, then forecast what other issues will be in the future. In doing so they provide practical advice on how to comply with the act in day-to-day situations and on crucial management topics.

Veres, Sims, and their contributors examine the act's provisions and the ways in which it demands that managers scrutinize and reassess their essential functions. Compliance issues and how to avoid running afoul of the act's provisions are examined next, followed by a discussion of how the act applies to recruiting, testing, and employee selection. The performance appraisal process and how non-imparied employees will respond to accommodations required for their non-impaired colleagues is carefully laid out, and the interaction of the Equal Pay Act and the ADA is examined. Training needs in an ADA context and other problems are also treated, with special focus on ways in which employee discontent can be minimized as such problems are met and solved. A valuable guide and resource for human resource professionals and their academic colleagues.

A volume in Family-School-Community Partnership Series Editor Diana B. Hiatt-Michael, Pepperdine University (sponsored by the Family School Community Partnership Issues SIG) Promising Practices to Empower Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families of Children with Disabilities offers research-supported school practices to empower families from diverse cultural backgrounds to make informed decisions regarding their children with diverse disabilities. In order to insure that every child is receiving the most appropriate educational program, these practices should be included in teacher and administrator preparation program throughout every county, state, and province. Every site administrator, school counselor and special education teacher should have a copy of this book at one's fingertips for ready reference. Suggested practices include activities for parent organizing, parent education, ways to provide co-mentoring of families, and formal support at Individualized Education Program meetings.

Since the passage in 1990 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, society has made considerable strides in improving the quality of life and the productivity of individuals with disabilities. At the same time, however, the American health care system has undergone considerable change, with some unforeseen consequences for those with disabilities.

Birenbaum analyzes all of the disability and health policy issues that have emerged from our reliance upon managed care. First, he examines how disability has been defined and redefined in social science and in government regulations. Then, he discusses the major changes in health care over the last decade--in particular, the financial and organizational principles behind managed care. After reviewing the structural advantages and disadvantages of managed care for people with disabilities, he concludes with observations on the future of health care for people with disabilities, particularly in the context of the quality of life and the possible functional outcomes following medical interventions.

A disabled foreigner in Japan, a society historically hostile to difference, Kenny Fries finds himself on a journey of profound self-discovery. As he visits gardens, experiences Noh and butoh, and meets artists and scholars, he discovers disabled gods, one-eyed samurai, blind chanting priests, and atomic bomb survivors. When he is diagnosed as HIV positive, all his assumptions about Japan, the body, and mortality are shaken, requiring him to find a way to reenter life on new terms.

"Bodies of Difference "chronicles the compelling story of disability's emergence as an area of significant sociopolitical activity in contemporary China. Keenly attentive to how bodies are embedded in discourse, history, and personal exigency, Matthew Kohrman details ways that disability became a fount for the production of institutions and identities across the Chinese landscape during the final decades of the twentieth century. He looks closely at the creation of the China Disabled Persons' Federation and the lives of numerous individuals, among them Deng Pufang, son of China's Communist leader Deng Xiaoping.

This book is a sequel to The Color Red, a mother's account of her head-long plunge into the world of autism. Believing strongly in the need for research, funding, and--most of all--connecting with others who are traveling this bewildering path or, as she describes a certain milestone, figuratively scaling Mt. Everest, Julie Jurgens-Shimek speaks to the hearts of all who live with autism. Autism Is a Four Letter Word - Love reflects not only Michael's growth but also the myriad adjustments--well made--by his immediate and extended family, how all have moved from chaos to order. Writing her account of this journey is Julie's way of reaching beyond her world into the worlds of parents, teachers, politicians, counselors, and more to plead her case, Michael's case, all autistics' cases for proper care and compassion. Julie doesn't just talk the talk-- she walks the walk--and invites you to join her as she introduces "Mike Shimek," regales you with a heart-warming account of where an autistic would wash custard cups, admonishes you to keep close tabs on presumably trustworthy professionals, testifies compassionately for safety devices, answers FAQs, counsels the bewildered, describes her personal transformation, and honors her mother--her "rock"--with space for a grandmother's chapter. In The Color Red, we saw fear and bewilderment but through the chaos, unconditional love. In this book, we see that same unconditional love, embellished with courage, faith, determination, stubbornness, stamina, and trust. This is a must read if you or a loved one is dealing with autism. The message is strong and will help carry you the distance.

This project draws together the diverse strands of the debate regarding disability in a way never before combined in a single volume. After providing a representative sampling of competing philosophical approaches to the conceptualization of disability as such, the volume goes on to address such themes as the complex interplay between disability and quality of life, questions of social justice as it relates to disability, and the personal dimensions of the disability experience.

By explicitly locating the discussion of various applied ethical questions within the broader theoretical context of how disability is best conceptualized, the volume seeks to bridge the gap between abstract philosophical musings about the nature of disease, illness and disability found in much of the philosophy of medicine literature, on the one hand, and the comparatively concrete but less philosophical discourse frequently encountered in much of the disability studies literature. It also critically examines various claims advanced by disability advocates, as well as those of their critics.

In bringing together leading scholars in the fields of moral theory, bioethics, and disability studies, this volume makes a unique contribution to the scholarly literature, while also offering a valuable resource to instructors and students interested in a text that critically examines and assesses various approaches to some of the most vexing problems in contemporary social and political philosophy.

Eliza Fricker gets it. Describing her perfectly imperfect experience of raising a PDA child, with societal judgements and internal pressures, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, resentful and alone. This book's comedic illustrations explain these challenging situations and feelings in a way that words simply cannot, will bring some much-needed levity back into PDA parenting. Humorous anecdotes with a compassionate tone remind parents that they are not alone, and they're doing a great job. If children are safe, happy, and you leave the house on time, who cares about some smelly socks? A light-hearted and digestible guide to being a PDA parent covering everything from tolerance levels, relationships and meltdowns to collaboration, flexibility, and self care to dip in and out as your schedule allows to help get to grips with this complex condition. This book is an essential read for any parent with a PDA child, to help better understand your child, build support systems and carve out some essential self care time guilt free.

Information Communication Technologies (ICT) have become an increasingly prevalent part of everyday life. Today, there are many cases in which ICT assist the elderly and people with disabilities to complete tasks once thought impossible. Enhancing the Human Experience through Assistive Technologies and E-Accessibility discusses trends in ICT in relation to assistive technologies and their impact on everyday tasks for those with disabilities. This reference work provides different perspectives on upcoming technologies and their impact on e-accessibility and e-inclusion, essential topics for researchers, businesses, and ICT product developers in the field of assistive technologies.

This book takes as its starting point the concept of 'the good life' and the challenge of ensuring people with intellectual disabilities are included in 'the good life.' The book explores the values underpinning current discourses of disability, analyzes their strengths and limitations, and proposes some alternative approaches to theory and practice. It deconstructs key concepts, theories, and practices within the learning disability field in the post institution era, and it identifies the values, strengths, and limits of these approaches. The book explores the boundaries around those included in the category 'disabled,' those on its margins, and those who move in and out of this category. It also proposes some alternative formulations to existing theories and practices, and explores their practical implications for the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Using evidence from the UK, Australia, Bangladesh, and the Republic of Ireland, People with Intellectual Disabilities bu

Improving human characteristics goes beyond compensating for an impairment. This book explores the rich and complex relationship between enhancement and impairment, showing that the study of disability offers new ways of thinking about the social and ethical implications of improving the human condition.

Bringing together disability theorists and medical sociologists for the first time in this cutting-edge collection, contributors examine chronic illness and disability, disability theory, doctor-patient encounters, lifeworld issues and the new genetics.

Disability can be either an ascribed status or an achieved status and its combination with other statuses will affect the person's social experiences. The term intersectionality has been used most often to discuss the ways in which the dual and simultaneous statuses of 'black' and "female' exist as facets of social structure and culture, interact in both those spheres, and affect individuals in ways which neither one does separately. Little attention has been paid to disability in this context, despite the many parallels to race and gender. This volume challenges critical thinking about the interrelationships with disability. It questions if the concepts and methods of intersectionality can be applied to disability at all or if they can be applied in the same way. The authors debate whether different conception of intersectionality would fit the disability context better and if there are methodologies which could be used to examine it. A variety of empirical evidence about situations in which disability intersects with other roles are also examined.

Disability policy has become an increasingly important issue in countries around the world. More and more, as populations are exposed to war and civil conflicts, natural disasters, environmental poisons along with the effects of normal aging, accidents and poverty, disability has become a growing public health and civil rights problem. In order to develop reasonable policy solutions, countries need accurate, reliable estimates of the size and make up of their disabled population. Comparisons of policy solutions cross-nationally require that the data that is used as the basis for the policy decisions is comparable. At the same time that the world has determined an important need for data on populations with disability, the data that is available is still haphazard and not comparable.
The UN has begun to address this need with a publication, the "Guidelines and Principles for the Development of Disability Statistics in 2001," and through the authorization of the formation of the Washington Group, an informal, temporary organization in the mode of a City Group. As a voluntary organization of National Statistical Office representatives, the purpose of the Washington Group is to address selected problems in statistical methods associated with the measurement of disability internationally. The papers in this volume reflect a sampling of the work done to this point by the Washington Group to address this important public health problem. The collection describes the background of disability measurement as the work of the group started from an international perspective and identifies other work being done in this area. It also provides snapshots of the data that is currently available and inuse along with how the data is used in a variety of countries. Finally, a section on methodological issues identifies some insight as well as suggested solutions to key problems that will need to be addressed if the Group is to accomplish its task.
*Volume includes papers that examine the statistical problems associated with the measurement of disability internationally
*Looks at country specific issues as well as overarching methodologies
*An important contribution to disability and public policy

Founded in 1893, the National League of the Blind was the first nationwide self-represented group of visually impaired people in Britain. This book explores its campaign to make the state solely responsible for providing training, employment and assistance for the visually impaired as a right, and its fight to abolish all charitable aid for them.

In today's rapidly changing technological world, it is increasingly important that web and desktop applications be accessible to everyone, including those of us with special needs. However, the legal requirements for accessibility are often convoluted and diffucult to understand, making it impossible for most developers to comply with the laws. In the first book on the market to address the topic, Author John Paul Mueller leads you through the maze of Section 508the congressional law ensuring that all Americans have access to information technologyand offers comprehensive guidance on how to quickly and easily update your applications to conform to Section 508 requirements.

To begin, Mueller outlines the Section 508 requirements that are relevant to web and desktop application developers, and explains the laws in language you can understand. Using extensive and varied program examples, Mueller continues on to teach you to write web and desktop applications that not only conform to Section 508 standards, but look forward to ensure long-term universal accessibility for all types of computer users. Specific topics include writing accessible web applications and desktop applications using Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET, developing special application capabilities, using Microsoft and other third-party tools to develop accessible features, developing accessible scripting solutions, and more. The book even includes a directory of helpful organizations, agencies, and resources to help you with any further accessibility concerns you may have.