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Mary Ann McColl
Captus Press,
ISBN
978-1-55322-383-2
(2019)
Appreciative Disability Studies offers a new way of viewing disability studies in terms of the resilience and resourcefulness of people with disabilities as they interact with their environment and with society. While providing a broad understanding of disability, the author, Dr. Mary Ann McColl, also attempts to go deep in certain areas by looking into attitudes towards people with disabilities. This book is organized into five main sections. Section 1 discusses what is meant by disability, by providing definitions, models and guidance for language referring to disability. This section examines demographics of disability in Canada and around the world, attitudes toward disability and how they can be improved. The next two sections look at how disability affects people in the major domains of life namely self-care, productivity and leisure. Section 2 explores definitions of self-care, types and prevalence of self-care disabilities, the idea of independence as well as subsets of self-care including spirituality, sexuality and healthcare. Section 3 describes productivity and leisure and the importance of each in having a meaningful life. Section 4 covers the origins of human rights, policy relating to human rights, current knowledge about the condition of living with a disability, how that knowledge was obtained and how it relates to the real issues experienced by those with a disability. Finally Section 5 brings together the key messages and themes from the preceding chapters such as how to think and talk about disability, how many people are affected by disability and who they are, barriers that currently exist and how we can work toward a future where everyone can enjoy a prosperous life. Self-care, productivity and leisure are three concepts studied based on the author’s background as an occupational therapist, which helps effectively categorize the challenges faced and strategies used by those living with disability in one form or another. The author aims to share not only the practical perspective of living with a disability but also the broader concerns of disability in society. Throughout the book, a simple yet effective framework – discover, dream, design, and deploy – is used to help summarize and apply the main takeaways from each chapter. This framework allows the readers to apply Appreciative Inquiry to imagine the world as it might be, one in which disabled people feel included in the mainstream. The author concludes the book on a personal note and encourages readers to reflexively consider how every aspect of our social world impacts people with all sorts of disabilities.
Section 1 What Do We Mean by Disability? Chapter 1 Introducing Appreciative Disability Studies Chapter 2 Thinking about disability: Models and definitions Chapter 3 Talking about disability Chapter 4 Demographics of disability Chapter 5 Attitudes toward disability Section 2 Disability and Self-Care Chapter 6 The depth and breadth of self-care Chapter 7 Demographics of self-care disability Chapter 8 Independence, autonomy, and capacity Chapter 9 Health care and health maintenance Chapter 10 Spirituality and disability Chapter 11 Sexuality and disability Section 3 Disability, Productivity, and Leisure Chapter 12 Disability and work Chapter 13 Disability and education Chapter 14 Disability and income Chapter 15 Disability and leisure Section 4 Disability in Society Chapter 16 Human rights and disability Chapter 17 Disability policy Chapter 18 Disability and research Section 5 Themes in Appreciative Disability Studies Glossary, References, and Index |
