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Disability is rarely considered a social issue. Scholars tend to discuss it in the abstract; medical personnel view it as a health issue; and legal concerns for the disabled focus on how to advocate or protect organizations against demands for accommodation. As a result, disabled individuals are seen as bits and pieces of everyone's constituency but their own. The writers of this work, both having long personal experiences with disabilities, offer a holistic understanding of the lives of disabled individuals from representations in the media to issues of civil rights.
Written to educate and inform readers about the social roles of disability, this accessible and informative work addresses: social classifications of disability; social reactions to disability; legal rights and classifications of persons with disabilities; issues of accessibility to information and communication technologies; representations of disability in a range of media, including literature, painting, film, televsion and advertising; and major issues shaping the comtemporary social roles of persons with disabilities. By examining the social roles of disability in the past and present from a range of perspectives and disciplines, this book reveals a portrait of the social place, limitations, and rights of persons with disabilities.
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Goals of this Book
The Social Lives of DisabilityThe Roles of Disability in Society
Social Classifications of and Reactions to Disability
Disability Discrimination and the Evolution of Legal Rights in Democratic Societies
Trying to Come to America: An Illustration of the Classifications of Disability in United States Immigration Law and Policy
Access and AccessibilityPhysical Access, Intellectual Access, and Access in Society
Access and Classifications of Disability in Legal Discourse
Accessibility and Technology in Application: Unequal Access Online
Social Representations of DisabilityThe Social Significance of the Representation of Disability
Representations of Disability across Media
"Nothing About Us Without Us"
The Future of Disability in SocietyFuture Social Issues for Persons with Disabilities
Disability Culture in a Non-disabled Society
References
About the Authors
About the author
CYNTHIA ANN BOWMAN is Assistant Professor of English Education at Florida State University./e She is Chair of the CEE Commission for the Preparation of Teachers with Disabilities.
