Becoming Disabled: Forging a Disability View of the World

(Hardback)

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Description

Using an autoethnographic approach, as well as multiple first-person accounts from disabled writers, artists, and scholars, Jan Doolittle Wilson describes how becoming disabled is to forge a new consciousness and a radically new way of viewing the world. In Becoming Disabled, Wilson examines disability in ways that challenge dominant discourses and systems that shape and reproduce disability stigma and discrimination. It is to create alternative meanings that understand disability as a valuable human variation, that embrace human interdependency, and that recognize the necessity of social supports for individual flourishing and happiness. From her own disability view of the world, Wilson critiques the disabling impact of language, media, medical practices, educational systems, neoliberalism, mothering ideals, and other systemic barriers. And she offers a powerful vision of a society in which all forms of human diversity are included and celebrated and one in which we are better able to care for ourselves and each other.

Reviews

This book gives us a brilliant and clearly written look into the world of disability and neurodiversity with a combination of scholarship, media savvy, and personal narrative drawn from the authors life and that of her daughter. Wilson presents up-to-date and nuanced information on these fascinating subjects in a format that is both engaging and meaningful. Highly recommended for those seeking an introduction to the topic and those who know it well.

Author Bio

Jan Doolittle Wilson is Wellspring Associate Professor of Gender Studies and History, Co-Director of the Womens and Gender Studies Program, and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Tulsa.