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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
A good, VERY general overview of a history of disability in the United States. Nielsen covers 300+ years of history in less than 200 pages. I would love for this to be expanded into a series, since I would gladly read "A Disability History of the United States: 1492-1692" or "A Disability History of the United States: 1950-1990". There's entirely too much content to cover, and much of the material seemed to lean towards physical disabilities.
What I found fascinating within the content is once the United States gets into the Industrial Revolution and Capitalism, things spiral downwards for anyone with a disability. Your worth is solely based around your ability to earn money, yet nobody is willing to provide accommodations so you can prove your economic worth. Our system is ridiculous and has been ever since America came into being.
I wanted to read more about the history of people with cognitive/developmental disabilities. Nielsen touches on colonial times and how these folks were free to live with families and live integrated into society without an issue, but there's not much elaboration. I could chalk this up to a lack of primary sources, but if Nielsen is able to talk about it at all, surely there are more first person accounts? Another shame is that "disability" or "feeblemindedness" or "weakness" in general was literally just about anything just a couple of centuries ago, so I imagine researching for this book was a great big pain in the ass.
This is a recommended first read into the world of disability, and serves as an excellent starting point for anyone who plans to delve deeper into the politics of disability (like moi). With the latter aspect in mind, I especially recommend Nielsen's section on the 1960s and 1970s in Berkeley, CA when disability advocates were out in full force to get equal access to housing, employment, and just the ability to enter buildings without issue. Their common sense requests, which were radical just a few decades ago, will make you furious that this kind of assistance couldn't be brought into the foreground sooner as Nielsen notes it's cheaper to provide accommodations than to shove someone into an institution.
What I found fascinating within the content is once the United States gets into the Industrial Revolution and Capitalism, things spiral downwards for anyone with a disability. Your worth is solely based around your ability to earn money, yet nobody is willing to provide accommodations so you can prove your economic worth. Our system is ridiculous and has been ever since America came into being.
I wanted to read more about the history of people with cognitive/developmental disabilities. Nielsen touches on colonial times and how these folks were free to live with families and live integrated into society without an issue, but there's not much elaboration. I could chalk this up to a lack of primary sources, but if Nielsen is able to talk about it at all, surely there are more first person accounts? Another shame is that "disability" or "feeblemindedness" or "weakness" in general was literally just about anything just a couple of centuries ago, so I imagine researching for this book was a great big pain in the ass.
This is a recommended first read into the world of disability, and serves as an excellent starting point for anyone who plans to delve deeper into the politics of disability (like moi). With the latter aspect in mind, I especially recommend Nielsen's section on the 1960s and 1970s in Berkeley, CA when disability advocates were out in full force to get equal access to housing, employment, and just the ability to enter buildings without issue. Their common sense requests, which were radical just a few decades ago, will make you furious that this kind of assistance couldn't be brought into the foreground sooner as Nielsen notes it's cheaper to provide accommodations than to shove someone into an institution.
challenging
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Rape, War
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced