Disability Discourse

* Why has 'the discursive turn' been sidelined in the development of a social theory of disability, and what has been the result of this? * How might a social theory of disability which fully incorporates the multidimensional and multifunctional role of language be described? * What would such a theory contribute to a more inclusive understanding of 'discourse' and 'culture'? The idea that disability is socially created has, in recent years, been increasingly legitimated within social, cultural and policy frameworks and structures which view disability as a form of social oppression. However, the materialist emphasis of these frameworks and structures has sidelined the growing recognition of the central role of language in social phenomena which has accompanied the 'linguistic turn' in social theory. As a result, little attention has been paid within Disability Studies to analysing the role of language in struggle and transformation in power relations and the engineering of social and cultural change. Drawing upon personal narratives, rhetoric, material discourse, discourse analysis, cultural representation, ethnography and contextual studies, international contributors seek to emphasize the multi-dimensional and multi-functional nature of disability language in an attempt to further inform our understanding of disability and to locate disability more firmly within contemporary mainstream social and cultural theory.

Table of Contents:
Series editor's preface Introduction reclaiming language in disability studies Part one: Personal narratives Inside aphasia The wind gets in my way I am more than my wheels Depressed and disabled some discursive problems with mental illness Narrative identity and the disabled self Part two: The social creation of disability identity Why can't you be normal for once in your life? From a problem with no name to the emergency of a new category of difference Unless otherwise stated discourses of labelling and identity in coming out Carving out a place to act acquired impairment and contested identity Discourse and identity disabled children in mainstream high schools Transforming disability identity through critical literacy and the cultural politics of language Talking 'tragedy' identity issues in the parental story of disability Part three: Cultural discourses Studying disability rhetorically Modern slogan, ancient script disability in the Chinese language Bodies, brains and behaviour the return of the three stooges in learning disability Joseph F. Sullivan and the discourse of 'crippledom' in progressive America Art and lies? Representations of disability on film What they don't tell people with learning difficulties Final accounts and the parasite people Disability discourse, the principle of optimization and social change Biographical notes References Index.

About the Author :
Mairian Corker is a part-time Senior Research Fellow in Deaf and Disability Studies at the University of Central Lancashire. She is author of numerous publications including Deaf Transitions (Jessica Kingsley Publishers) and Deaf and Disabled or Deafness Disabled? (Open University Press), editor of Deaf Worlds and an Executive Editor of Disability and Society. Sally French is a part-time Lecturer in the Department of Health Studies at Brunel University. She also works as a freelance writer, researcher and physiotherapist. She has written and edited numerous articles and books relating to Disability Studies, including Disabling Barriers, Enabling Environments (Sage, in association with The Open University) and On Equal Terms (Butterworth-Heinemann).

Review :
"Most new books recycle existing thought, but occasionallya book comes along which offers a new set of ideas and a fresh perspective. This international compilation does both: it provides the familiar alongside the normal." - The Times Educational Supplement "Disability and the Dilemmas of Education and Justice pulls no punches. It is a relentless critique of our current special educational needs system and of those who work in it." - Special Children "A thought provoking and interesting book, that raises many valuable issues. Certainly worth a read for all involved in special education." - Education Review "I have for over 30 years been concerned with the education of students with a variety of disabilities and of various degrees of disability, andbelieved that I had acquired a knowledge of most of theproblems experienced by disabled people. However, after reading the essays containedin this book my eyes have been opened to a myriad of other problems experienced by them, and for me the essays have opened up new avenues of thought on education as it affects disabled students.The writing of this book has long been overdue." - EducationToday "...a must for students...It brings special needs into the wide cultural arena which seems to me to be where it must be located as we moveinto the twenty-first century." - British Educational Research Journal "This book is stronglyrecommendedto anyone involved in special education." - Educational Research "...a book that will inform and enlighten even the most veteran and knowledgeable members of the special education profession...At the same time, it is written in sufficient detail and with enough background information to allow its ideas to be accessible to newcomers or lay readers. Its authors'perspectives are fresh, informed by multiple sources and disciplines." - Qualitative Studies in Education