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A comprehensive assessment of the field of Disability Studies that presents beyond the medical to dig into the meaning

From public transportation and education to adequate access to buildings, the social impact of disability has been felt everywhere since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. And a remarkable groundswell of activism and critical literature has followed in this wake.

Claiming Disability is the first comprehensive examination of Disability Studies as a field of inquiry. Disability Studies is not simply about the variations that exist in human behavior, appearance, functioning, sensory acuity, and cognitive processing but the meaning we make of those variations. With vivid imagery and numerous examples, Simi Linton explores the divisions society creates--the normal versus the pathological, the competent citizen versus the ward of the state.

Map and manifesto, Claiming Disability overturns medicalized versions of disability and establishes disabled people and their allies as the rightful claimants to this territory.

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CHOICE Review

Linton's book is in large part a denunciation of the way American society in general and universities in particular disregard and discriminate against people with disabilities. Although many types of disabilities are mentioned in passing, "disability" as described here could apply as much to a person with impaired sight as it could to a neurologically devastated child. The author uses anecdotal examples to make her point. Unfortunately many of these stories are based on atrocities long since corrected. The problem with a book such as this one is that the personal beliefs and politics of the writer dominate the selection of "facts" presented. Since the word disability as used in this work could apply to thousands of human conditions, it lacks focus on the unique problems presented by a specific disability. For example, errors of fact abound in the treatment and literature pertaining to the field of mental retardation. Linton also deplores the emphasis on pathology, deficits, and abnormalities that are the defining characteristics of numerous disabilities and their treatment. Although the opinions presented here are sometimes interesting with regard to the insights of a disabled person, the book is just too loose with facts to be a high priority library purchase. R. K. Eyman; emeritus, University of California, Riverside