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National Resource Center on Supported Living and Choice, Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University, 805 South Crouse Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13244-2280
1-800-894-0826 315-443-3851 (voice) 315-443-4355 (tty) 315-443-4338 (fax)
http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp thechp@sued.syr.edu
DISABILITY STUDIES DISABILITY STUDIES
O ver th e p ast several d ecad es, wh at we n o w refer to as " d isab ility stu d ies" h as b een a
p o werfu l in flu en ce o n p o licy an d p ractice in regard s to p eo p le with d isab ilities. D isab ility stu d ies h as
evo lved as a m ean s o f ad d ressin g h o w p eo p le with d isab ilities h ave b een treated h isto rically an d h o w
th ey co n tin u e to b e treated . O n ce seen th ro u gh a m ed ical m o d el as p eo p le wh o are sick an d in n eed
o f a cu re, th ro u gh a so cio lo gical m o d el wh ere p eo p le with d isab ilities are lab eled an d stigm atized b y
o th ers, o r th ro u gh a p sych o lo gical m o d el wh ere th eir exp erien ces h ave b een in d ivid u alized an d
p ath o lo gized , p eo p le with d isab ilities are n o w b ein g seen th ro u gh d ifferen t p ersp ectives. A lth o u gh
m ed ical an d p sych o lo gical m o d els are still p resen t, th ey are b ein g resisted b y a relatively n ew field
called d isab ility stu d ies, its p h ilo so p h y b ein g th at d isab ility is a so cial co n stru ctio n . Wh ile d isab ility
stu d ies d o es n o t d en y th at th ere are d ifferen ces, eith er p h ysical o r m en tal, b etween p eo p le, th ey
argu e th at " th e n atu re an d sign ifican ce o f th ese d ifferen ces d ep en d o n h o w we view an d in terp ret
th em " (B o gd an an d T aylo r, 1 9 9 4 ). T h erefo re, rath er th an seekin g to " fix" a p erso n o r to sep arate
h im o r h er fro m th e rest o f so ciety, a d isab ility stu d ies p ersp ective wo u ld seek to p ro b lem itize
so ciety rath er th an th e in d ivid u al. T h e so lu tio n th erefo re lies n o t in th e p erso n , b u t rath er in
b reakin g d o wn th e b arriers th at lim it p eo p le with d isab ilities fro m fu ll p articip atio n in th eir
co m m u n ities an d in so ciety in gen eral.
D isab ility stu d ies seek to exam in e th e so cial, eco n o m ic, an d p o litical fo rces th at fo r years
h ave served to m argin alize an d o p p ress p eo p le with d isab ilities. T h e field h as em erged o ver th e last
several years, d rawin g o n th eo ries an d p ersp ectives fro m so cio lo gy, so cial scien ce, wo m en 's stu d ies,
cu ltu ral stu d ies, an d ed u catio n . I t o ften fo cu ses o n th e id ea th at p eo p le with d isab ilities are a
m in o rity gro u p wh o h as b een d iscrim in ated again st. I n th is sen se, th e stu d y o f d isab ility is sim ilar to
th e stu d y o f race, class, an d gen d er in eq u alities. I n ad d itio n , d isab ility stu d ies p ro vid e th e in tellectu al
an d m eth o d o lo gical to o ls n eed ed to create d isab ility research an d p o licy. T h e th eo ries an d
p h ilo so p h ies o f d isab ility stu d ies can th en b e ap p lied to real issu es in th e law, in co m m u n ity
in clu sio n , an d in p u b lic p o licy.
T h e field o f d isab ility stu d ies co n tin u es to gro w an d ch an ge. R ecen t ad d itio n s to th e field
su ch as fem in ist d isab ility stu d ies an d cu ltu ral stu d ies h ave ch allen ged " trad itio n al" d isab ility stu d ies,
an d h ave fo rced th e field to b e m o re in clu sive o f d ifferen t p ersp ectives an d p o sitio n s in so ciety.
M o reo ver, d isab ility stu d ies m o st o ften fo cu ses o n issu es aro u n d p eo p le with p h ysical, rath er th an
co gn itive d isab ilities. O n e m ajo r ch allen ge fo r th e fu tu re o f d isab ility stu d ies is th e in clu sio n o f th e
exp erien ces o f p eo p le with co gn itive d isab ilities an d h o w th ey sh ap e th is em ergin g field .
Reference Reference
B o gd an , R . , & T aylo r, S. J . (1 9 9 4 ). The social meaning of mental retardation: Two life stories. The social meaning of mental retardation: Two life stories.
N ew Yo rk: T each ers C o llege Press.
FOR MORE INFORMATION. FOR MORE INFORMATION.
I n fo rm atio n Package o n D isab ility Stu d ies I n fo rm atio n Package o n D isab ility Stu d ies (1 9 9 8 ) b y Perri H arris an d L o ri L ewin in clu d es
in fo rm atio n o n recen t b o o ks, acad em ic p ro gram s, an d web sites ab o u t d isab ility stu d ies. A lso
in clu d ed are rep rin ts o f two articles ab o u t d isab ility stu d ies, o n e wh ich in clu d es an exten sive
b ib lio grap h y, an d th e o th er an article an d b ib lio grap h y ab o u t d evelo p m en tal d isab ilities an d d isab ility
stu d ies. T o req u est a co p y, p lease call 1 -8 0 0 -8 9 4 -0 8 2 6
So m e Selected R eferen ces o n D isab ility Stu d ies
D avis, L . J . (E d . ). (1 9 9 7 ). T h e d isab ility stu d ies read er. N ew Yo rk: R o u tled ge.
T h is ed ited read er is a co llectio n o f classic an d n ew essays, as well as fictio n an d p o etry, in th e
field o f d isab ility stu d ies.
I n gstad , B . , & Wh yte, S. R . (E d s. ). (1 9 9 5 ). D isab ility an d cu ltu re. B erkeley: U n iversity o f C alifo rn ia
Press.
T h is ed ited b o o k takes a glo b al lo o k at d isab ility. E ach ch ap ter reflects u n d erstan d in gs o f d isab ility
fro m d ifferen t cu ltu res. I ts an th ro p o lo gical fo cu s exam in es th e relatio n sh ip b etween d isab ility an d
cu ltu re, exp lain in g d isab ility in term s o f so cial p ro cesses fro m a m u lticu ltu ral p ersp ective
L in to n , S. (1 9 9 8 ). C laim in g d isab ility: K n o wled ge an d id en tity. N ew Yo rk: N ew Yo rk U n iversity
Press.
I n th is n ew b o o k, Sim i L in to n stu d ies d isab ility in relatio n to id en tity. Sh e argu es th at d isab ility
stu d ies m u st u n d erstan d th e m ean in gs p eo p le m ake o f variatio n s in h u m an b eh avio r, ap p earan ce,
an d fu n ctio n in g, n o t sim p ly ackn o wled ge th at th ese variatio n s exist.
L in to n , S. (1 9 9 8 ). D isab ility stu d ies/N o t d isab ility stu d ies. D isab ility & So ciety, 1 3 (4 ), 5 2 5 -5 4 0 .
I n th is article, Sim i L in to n seeks to d efin e th e b o u n d aries b etween wh at sh o u ld b e co n sid ered
d isab ility stu d ies an d wh at sh o u ld n o t.
M itch ell, D . T . , & Sn yd er, S. L . (E d s. ). (1 9 9 7 ). T h e b o d y an d p h ysical d ifferen ce: D isco u rses o n
d isab ility. A n n A rb o r, M I : T h e U n iversity o f M ich igan Press.
T h is ed ited b o o k b y M itch ell an d Sn yd er seeks to in tro d u ce d isab ility stu d ies to th e h u m an ities b y
exp lo rin g h o w writers h ave u sed p h ysical an d co gn itive d isab ilities in literatu re.
Sch lesin ger, L . , & T au b , D . (E d s. ). (1 9 9 8 ). T each in g so cio lo gy o f d isab ilities. Wash in gto n , D C :
A m erican So cio lo gical A sso ciatio n (A SA ) T each in g R eso u rces.
T each in g so cio lo gy o f d isab ilities is a co llectio n o f syllab i an d in stru ctio n al m aterials o n d isab ility
issu es.
D isab ility Stu d ies at Syracu se U n iversity D isab ility Stu d ies at Syracu se U n iversity
T h e D isab ility Stu d ies co n cen tratio n ap p lies so cial, cu ltu ral, h isto rical, an d p h ilo so p h ical p ersp ectives to th e
stu d y o f d isab ility in so ciety. C o n sisten t with th e Syracu se trad itio n , th is co n cen tratio n stan d s at th e fo refro n t o f
ch an ge an d n ew ways o f th in kin g ab o u t an d acco m m o d atin g p eo p le with d isab ilities. Wh ile it ad o p ts a cro ss-
d isab ility p ersp ective, it d evo tes sp ecial atten tio n to p eo p le wh o h ave b een lab eled as d evelo p m en tally d isab led o r
m en tally retard ed .
Fo r fu rth er in fo rm atio n ab o u t th e D isab ility Stu d ies co n cen tratio n , p lease co n tact: Steven J . T aylo r, Ph . D . ,
C o o rd in ato r, D isab ility Stu d ies C o n cen tratio n at 3 1 5 -4 4 3 -3 8 5 1 o r via em ail at staylo 0 1 @ m ailb o x. syr. ed u
T h is fact sh eet is availab le in altern ate fo rm ats u p o n req u est.
Prep ared b y Perri H arris
T he p rep aratio n o f this fact sheet was sup p o rted in p art by the N atio nal R eso urce C enter o n Sup p o rted Living and C ho ice, C enter o n H um an Po licy, Scho o l o f E d ucatio n, Syracuse
U niversity, thro ugh the U . S. D ep artm ent o f E d ucatio n, O ffice o f Sp ecial E d ucatio n and R ehabilitative Services, N atio nal I nstitute o n D isability and R ehabilitatio n R esearch (N I D R R ), thro ugh
C o ntract N o . H 1 3 3 A 9 9 0 0 0 1 . M em bers o f the C enter are enco uraged to exp ress their o p inio ns; ho wever, these d o no t necessarily rep resent the o fficial p o sitio n o f N I D R R and no
end o rsem ent sho uld be inferred .