As there has yet to be any substantial scrutiny of the complex confluences a more sustained dialogue between disability studies and comics studies might suggest, Disability in Comic Books and Graphic Narratives aims through its broad range of approaches and focus points to explore this exciting subject in productive and provocative ways.

Practice Issues in Sexuality and Learning Disabilities explores the sexual behaviour of people with learning difficulties and addresses issues of concern such as sexual abuse, HIV and AIDS, service provision for those from ethnic minorities, the development of policy guidelines and the implementation of such guidelines in this intensely personal area. Ann Craft draws upon professional expertise from a broad range of backgrounds including social work, psychology, and medicine. She offers practical ideas and suggestions for service responses which acknowledge and respect the right of people with learning disabilities to express their sexuality in ways that are valued by other members of their society.
Practice Issues in Sexuality and Learning Disabilities will be of interest to all whose work or relationship brings them into contact with people with learning disabilities - professionals, carers, parents, advocates. It will be invaluable to social workers, practitioners in social work and health, trainees, training officers and voluntary organizations.

Individuals with disabilities are often "desexualized" in our society, yet they have the same need for intimacy, self-worth, and social belonging as people without disabilities. Sexuality and Disabilities addresses persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities and their concerns in the areas of intimacy, family issues, sexuality, and sexual functioning. It offers suggestions for professionals who work with persons with these disabilities to help them work more competently with disabled persons in the sexuality arena. These concrete ideas are excellent for staff training and education and for enhancing professional development for those working with persons with physical disabilities.The contributing authors create an awareness that all people need individualized consideration and that the special needs of all individuals are important, especially for those who may have previously been left to discover things on their own--usually unsuccessfully. Sexuality and Disabilities focuses on a wide range of disabilities, including physical, developmental, and learning disabilities, mental retardation, and conditions that may have an impact on people later in life such as strokes, heart disease, or other chronic illness. Chapters discuss education and support issues for both practitioners and clients. Some of the topics examined include: components of a staff training program on sexuality and disability specific recommendations for sexuality education and counseling with people with spinal cord injuries and other acquired severe neurological disabilities a program model serving parents with mental retardation and their children specific ways educational programming, social work intervention, and policy efforts can address the special learning needs of people with cognitive impairments sources of support and stress for families caring for developmentally disabled children an analysis of special vulnerabilities and challenges relating to sexual victimization that confront people with disabilitiesAn extremely helpful tool for human service practitioners, Sexuality and Disabilities is also a valuable resource for graduate and undergraduate students who have an interest in working with people with physical, cognitive, or mental disabilities and helping them explore this basic facet of their lives.

This significant volume provides broad coverage of the spectrum of problems confronted by patients with developmental disabilities and the many kinds of occupational therapy services these individuals need. Experts identify exemplary institutional and community service programs for treating patients with autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. A welcome contribution to the meager professional literature on the subject, Developmental Disabilities: A Handbook for Occupational Therapists will be an enormously helpful resource for therapists who work with both children and adults, ranging from mild to severe levels of impairment. You will learn how to establish a therapeutic environment for children with autism, develop a pre-vocational program in a pediatric skilled care facility, use qualitative research to obtain insight into the world of adults with significantly limiting cerebral palsy, and provide early intervention for your developmentally disabled patients.

This is the first book to offer a philosophical engagement with microaggressions. It aims to provide an intersectional analysis of microaggressions that cuts across multiple dimensions of oppression and marginalization, and to engage a variety of perspectives that have been sidelined within the discipline of philosophy. The volume gathers a diverse group of contributors: philosophers of color, philosophers with disabilities, philosophers of various nationalities and ethnicities, and philosophers of several gender identities. Their unique frames of analysis articulate both how the concept of microaggressions can be used to clarify and sharpen our understanding of subtler aspects of oppression and how analysis, expansion, and reconceiving the notion of a microaggression can deepen and extend its explanatory power. The essays in the volume seek to defend microaggressions from common critiques and to explain their impact beyond the context of college students. Some of the guiding questions that this volume explores include, but are not limited to, the following: Can microaggressions be established as a viable scientific concept? What roles do microaggressions play in other oppressive phenomena like transphobia, fat phobia, and abelism? How can epistemological challenges around microaggressions be addressed via feminist theory, critical race theory, disability theory, or epistemologies of ignorance? What insights can be gleaned from intersectional analyses of microaggressions? Are there domain-specific analyses of microaggressions that would give insight to features of that domain, i.e. microaggressions related to sexuality, athletics, immigration status, national origin, body type, or ability. Microaggressions and Philosophy features cutting-edge research on an important topic that will appeal to a wide range of students and scholars across disciplines. It includes perspectives from philosophy of psychology, empirically informed philosophy, feminist philosophy, critical race theory, disability theory, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, and social and political philosophy.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the social and spatial experiences of people with dwarfism, an impairment that results in a person being no taller than 4' 10". This book engages with the concept that dwarfism's most prominent feature - body size and shape - can form the basis of social discrimination and disadvantages within society. By ignoring body size as a disability, it is hard to see the resulting disabling consequences of the built environment. Using a mixed-methods approach and drawing on the work undertaken by human geographers and disability studies academics, this book analyses how the relationship between harmful cultural stereotypes and space shapes everyday experiences of people with dwarfism and works to socially exclude them in diverse ways. Showing how spatial and social barriers are not mutually exclusive but can influence one another, this book responds to the limited academic work on the subject of dwarfism, whilst also contributing to the study of geographies of body size. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, human geography, the built environment, sociology and medical humanities.

How does one investigate a child maltreatment case when the victim is blind, mute, deaf, mentally retarded, or confined to an institution? Special Children, Special Risks presents analysis, recommendations, and related research from social work, psychology, psychiatry, medicine, and education essential for establishing and maintaining safe environments for handicapped children.

This book brings together a diverse group of experts to pool their knowledge and share their concerns about the risks of abuse faced by handicapped children. The contributors' perspectives come from the fields of medicine, social work, developmental psychology, psychiatry, clinical psychology, education, child welfare, law, public policy, and journalism.

the generative and resistant value of human vulnerability the importance of vulnerability in motivating engagement with social networks and material ecologies for productive thinking, communication, and community how relational ethics emerge as important for social and communicative life

This book investigates how being diagnosed with various disabilities impacts on identity. Once diagnosed with a disability, there is a risk that this label can become the primary status both for the person diagnosed as well as for their family. This reification of the diagnosis can be oppressive because it subjugates humanity in such a way that everything a person does can be interpreted as linked to their disability. Drawing on narrative approaches to identity in psychology and social sciences, the bio-psycho-social model and a holistic approach to disabilities, the chapters in this book understand disability as constructed in discourse, as negotiated among speaking subjects in social contexts, and as emergent. By doing so, they amplify voices that may have otherwise remained silent and use storytelling as a way of communicating the participants' realities to provide a more in-depth understanding of their point of view. This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, sociology, medical humanities, disability research methods, narrative theory, and rehabilitation studies.

Within the medical professions, the notion of the family as the basic unit of medical care has attracted a wide following, especially from physicians committed to a psychosocial orientation. Collaborative family-oriented primary care rests on interaction between family physicians and family therapists or counselors. Fundamental to this view is the conviction that one cannot understand a patient's illness without knowing the social, emotional, and biological context in which he or she lives. In addition, the author provides a much-needed examination of the rationale for instituting this type of medical care organization, and how such care can be cost effective, satisfying to patients, and a means to further understanding and research into health and illness.

This valuable book deals with the recreation activities for the disabled, including skiing, horseback riding, running, camping, water sports, and team sports. Experts examine competitive spirit, training, and the psychological benefits of recreational activities for the disabled child. Program development, evaluation, and instruction are discussed.

This handbook provides the reader with the applied knowledge essential for initiating, building, and continuing community service programs for the mentally retarded. Applied to specific populations, and to both urban and rural settings, the model also offers a blueprint for establishing successful service systems.

Disability and illness are not easy subjects to write about in a direct manner. These are, however, the domains that most of us will eventually inhabit. It is a simple fact that our bodies fail, though our culture protests this at every occasion. The bodies of disabled people have been deemed unworthy of textual representation beyond the texts of medicine. The life stories of those who are suffering are seen as tragic, fodder for stories of what happens to the "other." The author (Nancy Halifax, assistant professor of critical disability studies at York University) posits that the sociopolitical structures of our culture limit the range of disabled people's positions in the world; their absence in books and other cultural products points to the absence of social equity. The subjective experience of illness, impairment, and disability is poorly reflected in most current models of health and disease used in the practices and policies of medical and health institutions. Those with illness, impairment, and disability see this deficiency as a serious problem. This type of work that is called into creation by its subjects exemplifies the notion that writers are ethically preoccupied with telling stories, not only for oneself, but also for others. This book defies and celebrates academic writing; it presents a story of illness and disability, experiences that collectively enrich and challenge our understandings of embodiment, narrative, social structures, identity, and politics-the full continuum of what it means and has meant, to be human. This is a remarkable and important book for both arts-informed researchers and educators and non-arts-informed researchers and educators in cultural studies, critical disability studies, education, health, and qualitative research.

Sexuality, Disability, and the Law approaches issues of sexual autonomy and disability from multiple perspectives, including constitutional law, international human rights, therapeutic jurisprudence, history, cognitive psychology, dignity studies, and theories and findings on gender constructs and societal norms. Perlin and Lynch determine that if our society continues to assert that persons with mental disabilities possess a primitive morality, we allow ourselves to censor their feelings and their actions. By denying their ability and desires to show love and affection, we justify this disparate treatment. Our reliance on stereotypes has warped our attitudes and our policies, and has allowed us to avoid important issues of humanity and of dignity that should be at the basis of any policies that affect this population.

This book explores the intersection of gender and disability in the context of tourism. In part, the book foregrounds feminist theorising of intersectionality by examining how gender can overlap with other social identities to contribute to more systemic oppression, domination, discrimination, and marginalisation of certain categories of people. Our point of departure is that disability does not operate in isolation as it is constituted and experienced within an already gendered social and tourism environment. With substantial research on the intersection of gender and tourism on the one hand, and the intersection of disability and tourism on the other hand, the interconnectedness of gender and disability and the implications this has on tourism policy and practice remains understudied. Thus, the book provides a critical lens that helps unpack underlying assumptions about gender and disability while questioning the dominant ideas about gender and disability reproduced through tourism policies and institutional practices in an African context. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers in Gender Studies, Disability Studies, and Tourism Studies, particularly those with a research interest in Africa.

The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics were seen as a success and the hosts were praised for the promotion of equality, tolerance and unity as well as inspiring a legacy to continue these values. This volume contains a collection of sociological case studies which critically assess the diverse impacts of London 2012 and its key controversies.

A wide variety of medical conditions that qualify as disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act are explained in accurate, non-medical terminology. The book clearly details how the condition is acquired, what happens in the body to create the disability, how the person may look or act, what social accommodations are necessary and helpful, as well as guidelines for adapting the environment. This book's unique approach to disabilities will make anyone more comfortable when interfacing with a person who has a disability. People with disabilities are gaining access to jobs, education, recreation, and other facets of everyday life that able-bodied people take for granted. Legally the barriers are down, but psychologically and sociologically, the barriers are still in place. With this book, knowledge replaces uncertainty. Designed as an easy reference book, each medical condition is treated independently so the reader only needs to spend a few minutes to gain insight on a particular condition. Also included are a background chapter on anatomy, accommodating disabilities, and interrelating with someone who has a disability. This unique book provides a concise yet comprehensive examination, in non-medical terms, of a wide range of physical disabilities. The book emphasizes the source of the condition, the effects on a person's lifestyle, physical appearance, prospects for recovery or remission, psychological and social accommodation as well as environmental accommodations. It is an excellent reference for anyone who may come in contact with a person who has a physical disability, including human resource personnel, teachers, therapists, and people who deal with the general public.

This much-needed volume fills an overlooked gap in adult safeguarding - the digital arena - in providing a comprehensive overview of policy and practice in supporting vulnerable adults online. Providing an essential analysis illustrated by recent court rulings and case studies, the authors advocate for the effective support of adults with learning disabilities and/or mental capacity issues in their digital lives without compromising their privacy and participation rights. The text balances a theoretical exploration of the tensions between participation and protection, legislation, human rights, professional biases and social wrongs. It encourages a critical approach in adopting both a practical and realistic understanding for policy makers, professionals and students in social work, law and adult social care.

In Disability, Public Space Performance and Spectatorship: Unconscious Performers, Bree Hadley examines the performance practices of disabled artists in the US, UK, Europe and Australasia who re-engage, re-enact and re-envisage the stereotyping they are subject to in the very public spaces and places where this stereotyping typically plays out.

"Mark has been given twice the gift of life, and this book delivers for both. So doing his teachings justice demands us to think with our hearts as much as our minds and move forward with a passionate and productive life." Tyler Hayden - Author - Livin' Life Large & Chasing the Carrot In LIVE LIFE FROM THE HEART, Mark Black (Heart and Double-Lung Transplant Recipient, 3-Time Marathoner and Motivational Speaker), has created a definitive guide to creating the life you've always wanted. Based on twenty-nine years of battling illness and overcoming obstacles, LIVE LIFE FROM THE HEART, is chock full of real-world wisdom and powerful life principles that will change the way you look at your life and the challenges you face. In fifty-two easy-to-read chapters, you'll learn how to: * Release the powerful potential hidden within you * Set goals that will help you get what you really want * Alter your habits so that you can alter your reality * Recognize what's really important to you Mark Black has been inspiring audiences with his powerful presentations since 2002. He is the founder of his own speaking and consulting firm, Mark Black Speaks. Mark's powerful inspirational programs have impacted thousands of people across North America. Mark's presentations are in high demand by corporations, associations and educational institutions. His story of courage and perseverance inspires people to live their lives with passion and purpose. For information about booking Mark or to learn what he can do for your organization, go to his website: www.MarkBlackSpeaks.com

This volume examines the shift toward positive and more accurate portrayals of mental illness in entertainment media, asking where these succeed and considering where more needs to be done. With studies that identify and analyze the characters, viewpoints, and experiences of mental illness across film and television, it considers the messages conveyed about mental illness and reflects on how the different texts reflect, reinforce, or challenge sociocultural notions regarding mental illness. Presenting chapters that explore a range of texts from film and television, covering a variety of mental health conditions, including autism, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and more, this book will appeal to scholars of sociology, cultural and media studies, and mental health.

This unique guidebook presents a comprehensive analysis of the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the most significant federal civil rights law in almost 30 years, and its impact on over four million American businesses, state and local governments, nonprofit associations, 87 percent of America's private sector jobs, and 22.7 million working-age people with disabilities.

Written by two Washington-based experts on the new federal mandate, the book relies on extensive interviews with federal officials and the expert opinion of business leaders, leaders in the disability community, and the authors of the legislation. Fersh and Thomas provide a clear analysis of the final federal regulations and their implications for businesses, nonprofit associations, state and local governments, and managers and employers who need to make modifications to physical barriers in places of public accommodation, such as stores and restaurants, and in barriers to equal employment in the workplace. The book uses case histories and Congressional reports and testimony to illustrate new employment procedures--from applications, testing, and insurance benefits to job descriptions, reasonable accommodation, and new rights in telecommunications and public ground transportation. The social, legislative, and economic history that led to the laW's enactment is illustrated through photographs and 18 tables. Included are specific guidelines on how to interview and work with people with disabilities, containing specific sections on people who use wheelchairs, and people with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing and visual impairments, AIDS, speech impairments, learning disabilities, and mental illness. Also featured are how to sections for developing a compliance plan, implementing reasonable accommodation, and how to create an ADA awareness program for employees. The book explores the successful use of workers with disabilities in companies over the last twenty years, and the high costs of unemployment among working-age people with disabilities in tax revenues and lost productivity. Leaders and experts, such as I. King Jordan, Ph.D., president of Gallaudet University, provide short articles on their perspective of the ADA.