The disability experience: working toward belonging

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
Orca Book Publishers
Publication Date
2021.
Language
English

Description

Key Selling Points
  • This book aims to help readers understand what a disability is, what it’s like to be a person with a disability and how to become a better ally for people with disabilities.
  • Do blind people really hear better? Can guide dogs interpret traffic signals? Can a woman in a wheelchair have a baby? These and other common questions are broken down to help all readers better understand the disability experience.
  • Disability advocates are becoming much more vocal and there is a lack of nonfiction books for teens that approach the subject from the inside.
  • Hannalora Leavitt is a writer who has been visually impaired since the age of 11.
  • 650 million people around the world (10%) live with a disability.

People with disabilities (PWDs) have the same aspirations for their lives as you do for yours.

The difference is that PWDs don’t have the same access to education, employment, housing, transportation and healthcare in order to achieve their goals. In The Disability Experience you’ll meet people with different kinds of disabilities, and you'll begin to understand the ways PWDs have been ignored, reviled and marginalized throughout history. The book also celebrates the triumphs and achievements of PWDs and shares the powerful stories of those who have fought for change.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

More Details

Contributors
ISBN
9781459819283

Table of Contents

From the Book

Let's talk disabilities
A brief history of disability
The culture of disability
The culture of independence
Engineering a brighter future with technology
Advocacy and the politics of disability.

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Teens looking for own voices nonfiction from the disability community may appreciate both thought-provoking works. Essay collection Disability Visibility offers short works based on personal experience, while The Disability Experience focuses on comparing medical models of disability with social ones. -- Autumn Winters
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Although The Disability Experience is an own voices history of the disability rights movement in the United States and Rolling Warrior a memoir penned by one of the movement's leading figures, both books will inform readers about the historical fight against ableism. -- Autumn Winters

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Published Reviews

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up--This book invites readers to rethink the way people with disabilities are viewed. Leavitt, who is blind, explains that people with disabilities want the same things everyone does: independence, opportunities, and the ability to reach their goals. Leavitt also details how historically those with disabilities have been seen as "other," and covers segregation within institutions, ostracism, and the use of euthanasia for those with severe disabilities. Laws such as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 were passed to protect those with disabilities. The book explains how new technology creates greater mobility and other solutions and disability represents only one aspect of a person's life. The text centers on visible (blindness, deafness, physical) and cognitive disabilities. Communication disabilities (aphasia, stuttering, and autism) are acknowledged but not discussed in depth. The illustrations and sidebars contextualize the text and highlight a diverse population and a variety of individual stories. A glossary and an index are included. The book would be useful for reports, but its strength is a narrative voice that asks readers to contemplate another point of view. The last chapter explains how people without disabilities can be helpful, and encourages readers to consider a wide variety of options. It also urges readers to vote, pay attention, and civically participate as an ally. VERDICT A strong, if not entirely comprehensive, introduction to disabilities.--Connie Williams, Petaluma, CA

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Kirkus Book Review

An overview of disability history and culture. Leavitt, herself legally blind, begins by contrasting the impairment-focused medical model of disability with the social model, which incorporates the challenges that people with disabilities encounter in everyday life. Using person-first language, she applies the social model to a vast array of topics. Subjects include the treatment of people with disabilities throughout history; the meaning of disabled culture; assistive technologies and adaptations; and challenges faced by contemporary people with disabilities in work, school, and medical settings, such as ignorance, inaccessibility, and discrimination. She bolsters her exploration of physical, sensory, and intellectual disabilities with statistics enumerating disabled populations in the United States and Canada. Sidebars highlight athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs with disabilities, and expressive cartoons illustrate common scenarios; both photos and art feature ethnic diversity. The author's personal anecdotes provide additional insight. Unfortunately, Leavitt occasionally overgeneralizes: Although people may find learning braille challenging, she asserts that she learned it at age 10, "so how hard can it be?" and the preference of many autistic people for identity-first language is not addressed. However, her candid discussions of contemporary issues, such as low employment rates and medically assisted dying, are nuanced and hard-hitting, and her acknowledgement of disability in the LGBTQ+ community is refreshing. She ends on a hopeful note, offering ways for nondisabled readers to advocate for people with disabilities. A candid introduction to the multifaceted experiences of people with disabilities. (glossary, resources, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 7 Up—This book invites readers to rethink the way people with disabilities are viewed. Leavitt, who is blind, explains that people with disabilities want the same things everyone does: independence, opportunities, and the ability to reach their goals. Leavitt also details how historically those with disabilities have been seen as "other," and covers segregation within institutions, ostracism, and the use of euthanasia for those with severe disabilities. Laws such as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 were passed to protect those with disabilities. The book explains how new technology creates greater mobility and other solutions and disability represents only one aspect of a person's life. The text centers on visible (blindness, deafness, physical) and cognitive disabilities. Communication disabilities (aphasia, stuttering, and autism) are acknowledged but not discussed in depth. The illustrations and sidebars contextualize the text and highlight a diverse population and a variety of individual stories. A glossary and an index are included. The book would be useful for reports, but its strength is a narrative voice that asks readers to contemplate another point of view. The last chapter explains how people without disabilities can be helpful, and encourages readers to consider a wide variety of options. It also urges readers to vote, pay attention, and civically participate as an ally. VERDICT A strong, if not entirely comprehensive, introduction to disabilities.—Connie Williams, Petaluma, CA

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal.

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal.
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