The Best Disability eBooks for Beginners

Based on the pioneering New York Times series, About Us collects the personal essays and reflections that have transformed the national conversation around disability. Boldly claiming a space in which people with disabilities can be seen and heard as they are―not as others perceive them―About Us captures the voices of a community that has for too long been stereotyped and misrepresented. Speaking not only to those with disabilities, but also to their families, coworkers and support networks, the authors in About Us offer intimate stories of how they navigate a world not built for them.

Since its 2016 debut, the popular New York Times’ “Disability” column has transformed the national dialogue around disability. Now, echoing the refrain of the disability rights movement, “Nothing about us without us,” this landmark collection gathers the most powerful essays from the series that speak to the fullness of human experience―stories about first romance, childhood shame and isolation, segregation, professional ambition, child-bearing and parenting, aging and beyond. Reflecting on the fraught conversations around disability―from the friend who says “I don’t think of you as disabled,” to the father who scolds his child with attention differences, “Stop it stop it stop it what is wrong with you?”―the stories here reveal the range of responses, and the variety of consequences, to being labeled as “disabled” by the broader public. Here, a writer recounts her path through medical school as a wheelchair user―forging a unique bridge between patients with disabilities and their physicians. An acclaimed artist with spina bifida discusses her art practice as one that invites us to “stretch ourselves toward a world where all bodies are exquisite.” With these notes of triumph, these stories also offer honest portrayals of frustration over access to medical care, the burden of social stigma and the nearly constant need to self-advocate in the public realm. In its final sections, About Us turns to the questions of love, family and joy to show how it is possible to revel in life as a person with disabilities. Subverting the pervasive belief that disability results in relentless suffering and isolation, a quadriplegic writer reveals how she rediscovered intimacy without touch, and a mother with a chronic illness shares what her condition has taught her young children. With a foreword by Andrew Solomon and introductory comments by co-editors Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, About Us is a landmark publication of the disability movement for readers of all backgrounds, forms and abilities. Featuring Essays from: John Altmann • Todd Balf • Jennifer Bartlett • Emily Rapp Black • Sheila Black • Sasha Blair-Goldensohn • Cheri A. Blauwet • Molly McCully Brown • Joseph P. Carter • Peter Catapano • Randi Davenport • Luticha Doucette • Anne Finger • Joseph J. Fins • Shane Fistell • Paula M. Fitzgibbons • Kenny Fries • Rosemarie Garland-Thomson • Jenny Giering • Ona Gritz • Elizabeth Guffey • Jane Eaton Hamilton • Ariel Henle • Edward Hoagland • Alex Hubbard • Liz Jackson • Elizabeth Jameson • Cyndi Jones • Anne Kaier • Georgina Kleege • Rachel Kolb • Elliott Kukla • Catherine Kudlick • Emily Ladau • Laurie Clements Lambeth • Alaina Leary • Riva Lehrer • Gila Lyons • Ben Mattlin • Zack McDermott • Catherine Monahon • Jonathan Mooney • Susannah Nevison • Joanna Novak • Valerie Piro • Oliver Sacks • Katie Savin • Melissa Shang • Alice Sheppard • Daniel Simpson • Brad Snyder • Andrew Solomon • Rivers Solomon • Carol R. Steinberg • Jillian Weise • Abby L. Wilkerson • Alice Wong.

This is the only text to examine the experience of disability in relation to theories of human growth and development. It provides a foundational and comprehensive examination of disability that encompasses the intellectual, psychiatric, physical, and social arenas. The second edition is updated to underscore its versatility as an introductory text about the developmental tasks of people with disabilities for all the helping professions.

Reorganized to illuminate the book’s interdisciplinary focus, it includes new demographics, new case studies and first-person accounts, discussions on cultural aspects of disabilities, family concerns, and more. The text delivers practice guidelines for each of the conventional life stages and describes the developmental tasks of individuals with disabilities (IWDs). It emphasizes the positive trend in the perception of IWDs as normal and underscores the fact that IWDs have the same motivations, emotions, and goals as those without disabilities. Learning activities, suggestions for writing exercises, and websites for further study reinforce learning, as do graphs and charts illustrating trends and demographics. NEW TO THE SECOND EDITION:Introductory chapter on understanding disabilityDemographic updates throughoutNew case studies and first-person accountsExpanded discussions about cultural considerations, intersectionality, and family considerationsUpdated Instructor’s Manual and an Instructor’s Test BankKEY FEATURES:Examines the conventional stages of human growth and development from the perspective of individuals with disabilitiesIntegrates disability concepts with developmental theories and stages of the lifespanAddresses common ethical issues to illuminate the real-world implications faced by individuals with disabilities and their familiesIncludes learning activities, suggestions for writing exercises, and websites for further studyPurchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers.

Disability: The Basics is an engaging and accessible introduction to disability which explores the broad historical, social, environmental, economic and legal factors which affect the experiences of those living with an impairment or illness in contemporary society. The book explores key introductory topics including:. the diversity of the disability experience;. disability rights and advocacy;. ways in which disabled people have been treated throughout history and in different parts of the world;. the daily realities of living with an impairment or illness;.

health, education, employment and other services that exist to support and include disabled people;. ethical issues at the beginning and end of life.Disability: The Basics aims to provide readers with an understanding of the lived experiences of disabled people and highlight the continuing gaps and barriers in social responses to the challenge of disability. This book is suitable for lay people, students of disability studies as well as students taking a disability module as part of a wider course within social work, health care, sociology, nursing, policy and media studies.