Resource Offers Works on the Lives of People with Disabilities

| By Gale Staff |

Disability Experiences: Memoirs, Autobiographies, and Other Personal Narratives features 200 narrative works that shed light on the lives of people with disabilities. The two volumes examine a fascinating set of memoirs and autobiographies written by a variety of authors. Included are works by famous persons such as Temple Grandin and Christy Brown as well as others likely unknown beyond the world of disability studies, such as Terry Galloway (who relates her experience with deafness) and José P. Ramirez (who relates his experience with leprosy). Each of the 200 entries examines a particular author and literary work (e.g., Kay Redfield Jamison, An Unquiet Mind).

Recently, the British Journal of Learning Disabilities reviewed Disability Experiences, calling it a “rich” and “excellent” resource.

This work is masterful, beautifully presented and breathtaking in its comprehensiveness in the coverage of biographical material that includes the personal narratives of people with disabilities . . . This book is undoubtedly well crafted and pleasing to read and certainly well presented. It represents, to me at least, the only unique and authoritative collection of narratives—the like of which I have not seen before . . . I found this book a source of inspiration and one that I have no hesitation in both commending the Editors and recommending to all without reservation.

Additionally, this publication offers members of interdisciplinary teams in health, and beyond, rich material to inform and assist their professional development by obtaining authentic insights into the lives of those whom they serve. I can imagine that extracts of this book will be used as an excellent pedagogical resource to explore phenomenological aspects of a range of disabilities, and in this respect, I found the critical responses for each entry very helpful.

– Professor Bob Gates, British Journal of Learning Disabilities Editor-in-Chief, University of West London, Institute for Practice, Interdisciplinary Research and Enterprise (INSPIRE)