academics with disabilities, chronic illnesses and/or neurodivergences, but the nature of the topic clearly affected and interested that group of scholars the most. I know that every single delegate had one form of need or another. Second, and related to the fact that every delegate had disclosed some need, the conference was the first of its kind by way of accessibility and inclusion. The event was organised in such a way that delegates could participate in and contribute to within the halls of the conference setting, but also remotely from home. The organisation had
35 THREE disability, identity and ageing Lotta Holme ‘In contrast to previous living conditions, we now gain access to normal ageing.’ (oscar, 62 years old) introduction In this chapter I explore from a lifecourse perspective how important leading activists of the modern Swedish disability movement regard their ageing and later life. More specifically, I focus on how a special group of disabled people experience ageing and later life in light of the modern history of disability and disability politics in which they have actively participated (see also
, disability and infirmity form rather more contingent sources of social division in part because of the temporal flux within which they emerge. There is a distinction, for example, between the predictable status of becoming aged and the less predictable status of becoming disabled, ill or infirm. Most people see bodily change as constituting the ‘authentic’ basis of age and ageing; reminders of the inevitable temporality that is attached to identity, location and status. Those changes that are evidenced by the ageing body, which do not reflect illness or impairment, best
27 TWO Dementia as a disability Introduction In Chapter One, the topic of human rights and dementia was introduced, and it was shown that dementia is a human rights issue since the individual diagnosed can experience injustice, inequality and marginalization. As I argue in later chapters, once diagnosed a person may encounter discrimination, segregation and social exclusion (Cantley and Bowes, 2004), their autonomy can be compromised (Boyle, 2008), and opportunities to exercise choice and control in decisions directly relevant to their lives may be denied
SeVen Ageing, disability and participation Janet Fast and Jenny de Jong Gierveld Meaningful participation and social integration in society have been shown to contribute to ageing well. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal research have linked social participation to positive outcomes including quality of life (Silverstein and Parker, 2002), emotional well-being (Lee and Russell, 2003), functional independence (Unger et al, 1997) and lower morbidity and mortality rates (Menec, 2003). Importantly, social participation is seen to lead to social embededdness
117 8 Meta-narratives of disability1 Authored with Mary-Dan Johnston In his book of the same title, Marshall Gregory discusses how we are shaped by stories. For Gregory, what is at stake in the stories that we hear is the way stories construct the world, the way stories invite responses and the way that stories exert shaping pressure, because ‘both the “knowledge” offered by stories and our seldom denied responses constitute kinds of practice, modes of clarification and sets of habits for living that, once configured and repeatedly reinforced, accompany us
121 TEN Beliefs about disability Summary The introduction of new benefits in the 1970s reflected a shift in social attitudes to disabled people and recognition that society had a role in responding to their financial needs. Policy since then has, with rare exceptions, been a response to fears that the changed attitudes and benefit provisions may have created excessive, or indeed illicit, demand for benefits. Survey evidence on the extent of disability has proved influential, increasing the climate for policy reform, although the definition and measurement of
It’s because of my physical appearance and because I’m Asian that I am bullied. Sometimes people make fun of me and ruin my belongings but I don’t tell my parents. ( Ditch the Label, 2018 : 15) Introduction This chapter turns to those children at increased risk of poverty either through their belonging to a non-white ethnic minority or through their own or a family member’s disability. As well as having an increased risk of living in poverty, these are circumstances that, when combined with poverty, have an interactive effect. Ethnicity While the
51 5 Social policy and disability Colin Cameron In this chapter I will explore the relationship between social policy and the experience of disability, drawing on perspectives developed by disabled people and using the UK as a case study. I will look at contested meanings of both terms, social policy and disability, and develop an argument suggesting that social policy has largely constructed disability as dependency. I conclude that the aspiration to equality for disabled people remains one which requires continued struggle and that progressive intentions
165 THIRTEEN The economy and disability Summary The link between the economy and caseloads is likely to be most direct in the case of Incapacity Benefit. Incapacity Benefit caseloads rose at a constant rate throughout most of the period to 1999. The growth was primarily the result of fewer people leaving benefit, resulting in an increase in the length of spells that people spent on benefit. Benefit claims increased as a direct result of more women working, who, when they became disabled, were entitled to benefit on account of their contribution record. Increased
