Disabling Barriers - Enabling Environments (Published in association with The Open University)

Disabling Barriers - Enabling Environments (Published in association with The Open University)

by Sally French (Editor), John Swain (Editor), Mike J Oliver (Editor), Vic Finkelstein (Editor)

Synopsis

'The strengths of this text are many. It has breadth and diversity in its content yet is presented in bite-size chapters. For those wishing to know more, it offers signposts to the relevant literature. The contributors have been carefully selected for their specific perspective yet these have been skilfully inter-related by the editors. It is now some 11 years since the first edition of this text was published. In my view, this second edition was worth the wait' - "SCOLAG Journal". 'This has been a ground-breaking book!and I whole-heartedly welcome a new edition'- Professor Len Barton, School of Education, The University of Sheffield. 'It is a really well-structured book which has been very popular and widely used by students! Its great qualities are accessibility and diversity of contributors' - Jenny Corbett, Institute of Education, University of London. 'This book would be a valuable resource to students of disability studies and to health and social care staff and other professionals who work with disabled people' - "Disability and Rehabilitation". The Second Edition of this landmark text has been revised to provide an up-to-date accessible introductory text to the field of disability studies. In addition to analysing the barriers that disabled people encounter in education, housing, leisure and employment, the revised edition has new chapters on: international issues; diversity among disabled people; sexuality; and, bioethics. Written by disabled people who are leading academics in the field, the text comprises 45 short and engaging chapters, to provide a broad-ranging and accessible introduction to disability issues. "Disabling Barriers, Enabling Environments" is an invaluable resource for both students and practitioners alike. It is an ideal text for undergraduates and postgraduates taking courses in disability studies, as well as disability courses in social work, education, health studies, sociology and social policy.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Edition: 1
Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
Published: 30 Dec 1992

ISBN 10: 0803988257
ISBN 13: 9780803988255

Media Reviews
`This book is about change; change brought about, mainly by disabled people, in the way disability is conceptualised within our society... its structure reflects its content and message. It does not categorise people or specific disabilities, but focuses on their experiences of social barriers to `full participative citizenship'. The book, edited and written in part by people with disabilities... provides a positive framework within which to articulate many of my own findings... a major contribution to understanding disability... I found both the way this book is written and its content to be stimulating, exciting and challenging, with implications not just for how we think about disability but also for constructions of health and illness' - Health Psychology Update

`A welcome explicitness about the social model of disability, the nature of the barriers we encounter, the importance of definitions of disability, and the fact that control by disabled people is crucial' - Community Care

`This book gives an insider's perspective of disability which should make workers in this field review their approach and question existing procedures and attitudes. It is thought provoking and relevant in these times of patient/client choice.... Anyone within the caring professions can benefit from reading this book. It is presented clearly, is comprehensive and meaty in its content, with a refreshing lack of jargon. It is a book primarily aimed at students but one to be borrowed and digested by occupational therapists at all levels and in any field' - British Journal of Occupational Therapy

`At the risk of sounding like a scratched record, I am constantly delighted by the quality of the Open University's set books. This course Reader for 'The Disabling Society' is a magnificently challenging and readable collection of papers from some of the most stellar writers and thinkers in what I am reluctant to call the 'disability movement'. Mike Oliver can undercut people's cherished notions of 'disabled clients' and 'helping professionals' like few other writers, while Sally French's and Vic Finkelstein's contributions offer brilliant insights into people's everyday struggles and experiences of disability.

Among the 35 contributions it is hard to fault any and even harder to select highlights. When I think of the ways in which 'disability' is traditionally taught in our schools of nursing - that is, as some kind of apolitical human tragedy or physiological malfunction - I could get down on both knees and plead with nurses to read this book instead' - Nursing Times

`An explicit and detailed breakdown, from the perspective of participants, of why disabled people are engaged in a revolution - a revolution to break down barriers of attitude and the environment.... For students, researchers, policy-makers and disabled activists there had been a real need for a compendium of thought and ideas such as this.... I am sure it will have a place of honour in the increasing list of disability literature' - Journal of Social Policy

`It should be read by those interested in disability as well as those wishing a more complete perspective on issues relating to minority groups and to discrimination' - Contemporary Sociology

`It contains essays on a range of disability subjects and is therefore an excellent reference book' - Equality Street

Author Bio
John Swain is Professor of Disability and Inclusion at Northumbria University. Sally French is an associate lecturer at the Open University.