What is the direct impact that disability studies has on the lives of disabled people today? The editors and contributors to the essential anthology, Barriers and Belonging, provide thirty-seven personal narratives that explore what it means to live with disability and why the field of disability studies matters. Every chapter includes key terms, discussion questions, and suggestions for further reading.
Barriers and Belonging explores how disability informs self-knowledge, interpersonal and community relationships, and political commitments. Contributors offer experiential insight into living with an array of disabilities, from spinal cord injuries, blindness, deafness, and autism to psychiatric diagnoses, learning disabilities, and chronic pain. Several essays articulate activist and pride orientations toward disability, demonstrating the importance of understanding disability as a multi-dimensional process—as personal, relational and socio-political.