One message that comes along with ever-improving fertility treatments and increasing acceptance of single motherhood, older first-time mothers, and same-sex partnerships, is that almost any woman can and should become a mother. The media and many studies focus on infertile and involuntarily childless women who are seeking treatment. They characterize this group as anxious and willing to try anything, even elaborate and financially ruinous high-tech interventions, to achieve a successful pregnancy.

But the majority of women who struggle with fertility avoid treatment. The women whose interviews appear in "Not Trying" belong to this majority. Their attitudes vary and may change as their life circumstances evolve. Some support the prevailing cultural narrative that women are meant to be mothers and refuse to see themselves as childfree by choice. Most of these women, who come from a wider range of social backgrounds than most researchers have studied, experience deep ambivalence about motherhood and non-motherhood, never actually choosing either path. They prefer to let life unfold, an attitude that seems to reduce anxiety about not conforming to social expectations.

The blind person who tries to make an online purchase. The young girl who cannot speak due to a cognitive disability. The man confined to his home due to permanent injury. The single mother with a long-term illness who struggles to feed her family.

With one in seven people worldwide currently living with a disability, the term "outcast" covers numerous scenarios. Digital outcasts rely on technology for everyday services that many people take for granted. However, poorly designed products risk alienating this important (and growing) population.

Through a "grass roots" approach to innovation, digital outcasts are gradually taking action to transform their lives and communities. This emerging trend provides exciting learning opportunities for all of us. Citing real-world case studies from healthcare to social science, this book examines the emerging legal and cultural impact of inclusive design.
Gain a better understanding of how people with disabilities use technology

Discover pitfalls and approaches to help you stay current in your UX practices

Anticipate a future in which ambient benefit can be achieved for people of all abilities and backgrounds

Acquired brain injury (ABI) describes damage to the brain that occurs after birth, caused by traumatic injury such as an accident or fall, or by non-traumatic cause such as substance abuse, stroke, or disease. Today's medical techniques are improving the survival rate for people of all ages diagnosed with ABI, and current trends in rehabilitation are supporting these individuals returning to live, attend school, and work in their communities. Yet strategies on the best way of providing community participation vary among rehabilitation experts. Because many of survivors of ABI do not and will not return to the status quo of their former lives it is important to examine what constitutes best and promising practices in this area. This casebook is the world's first compilation of evidence-informed programmes that foster community participation for people of all ages with brain injury. With this review, the authors elicited and carefully examined existing programmatic efforts that combine emphasis on the individual, the social, and the service systems in a way that captures community participation as a complex process of interactive change in the person-environment relationship - programmes that do not divorce ABI survivors from their contexts, and where participation efforts facilitate positive change in the social and political context. They considered community-based programmes to be programmes where individuals and families actively participate in their own therapy (rehabilitation) and take responsibility for their own health or that of a family/community member. Each case study chapter depicts a programme chosen on its extraordinary merits to provide community participation to its clients. The chapters are cowritten by the stakeholder and a researcher, giving a complete perspective of how the programme was established and continues to operate, and provides evidence of excellence.

Disability and Dissensus is a comprehensive collection of essays that reflects the interdisciplinary nature of critical cultural disability studies. The volume offers a selection of texts by numerous specialists in different areas of the humanities, both well-established scholars and young academics, as well as practitioners and activists from the USA, the UK, Poland, Ireland, and Greece. Taking inspiration from Critical Disability Studies and Jacques Ranciere's philosophy, the book critically engages with the changing modes of disability representation in contemporary cultures. It sheds light both on inspirations and continuities as well as tensions and conflicts within contemporary disability studies, fostering new understandings of human diversity and contributing to a dissensual ferment of thought in the academia, arts, and activism. Contributors are: Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Dan Goodley, Marek Mackiewicz-Ziccardi, Malgorzata Sugiera, David T. Mitchell, Sharon L. Snyder, Maria Tsakiri, Murray K. Simpson, James Casey, Agnieszka Izdebska, Edyta Lorek-Jezinska, Dorota Krzeminska, Jolanta Rzeznicka-Krupa, Wiktoria Siedlecka-Dorosz, Katarzyna Ojrzynska, Christian O'Reilly, and Len Collin.

Featuring contributed chapters from experts within the discipline, Fundamentals of Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling provides readers with a vast range of knowledge and skills to help them work effectively with individuals with disabilities. The text familiarizes readers with chief concepts and prepares them to move into expanded explorations of these topics as they continue their education and training within the field. The textbook opens with an overview of the historical context of clinical rehabilitation counseling, relevant rehabilitation legislation, a global perspective of disability, the impact of abuse and neglect on persons with disabilities, and the applicability of ethical concepts in clinical rehabilitation counseling. Additional chapters introduce the concepts of vocational rehabilitation, work and disability, as well as the role of assessment, case management, independent living, assistive technology, and forensic rehabilitation within the discipline. Readers are presented with applicable concepts that speak to the challenges clinical rehabilitation counselors are called upon to champion when aiding people with disabilities to improve their quality of life on a global scale. Fundamentals of Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling is an exemplary textbook for courses in clinical rehabilitation counseling and clinical mental health counseling.

Melissa was diagnosed with Autism as a young child. Autism affects social and communication skills, and also involves unusual repetitive behaviours. This is a true story that is not simply about the struggles of a child with Autism. This book captures the resilience, unconditional love and endless perseverence of Melissa and her family. It is rare to read a story told with such beautiful honesty. As Melissa's former community worker and her current friend, I would like to express my admiration for her journey. I have had the opportunity to watch her blossom from a child who was fearful and in her own world to a young adult pursuing social relationships with enthusiasm, empathy, and curiosity. Not to mention that she is now an entrepreneur Melissa truly is a remarkable woman. And this story about her life reaches out to touch your heart and open your mind. Jennifer Janes Community Helper of Individuals with Autism and current friend of Melissa Rhonda was able to make a difference in Melissa's life against all odds. When the medical profession and the school system gave Rhonda little hope that Melissa could have a normal life, she never accepted this dire prediction. When there was no help, she tried strategies that she felt would make a difference for Melissa. She sought out every treatment that was then available to help Melissa. What Rhonda had done is nothing short to a miracle-a miracle that was created through Perseverence and fueled by a mother's love. This is a "must-read book" for all to remind us that we can make a difference in the life of a child. It is a true story with a happy ending. Arlene Smith Retired Principal and Former Special Education Principal.