The Disability Experience: Working Towards Belonging

Informative and thought-provoking, The Disability Experience: Working Towards Belonging sheds light on various disabilities and the challenges faced by the people who live with them. Though there are three major types of disabilities – sensory, intellectual and physical – the book’s primary focus is on the sensory and physical. (To have included the myriad of intellectual disabilities would have made the book too unwieldy.) Six chapters cover a variety of topics which include a brief and often horrific history of the treatment of the disabled, the development of technologies and adaptive measures to help people with disabilities lead more independent lives, and advocacy for the disabled. Text boxes provide additional information: some, entitled “In Real Life”, feature the stories of successful people who are living with disabilities while others, entitled “At the Top of Their Game”, list famous actors, athletes, musicians, writers and activists who, in spite of having a disability, have amazing accomplishments to their credit. One such example is award-winning violinist Adrian Anantawan, who, despite the fact that he was born without his right hand, is considered “one of the finest violin soloists of his generation”. Recent statistics and projections from Canada and the United States are interspersed throughout the text, one such fact being that, in Canada, approximately half a million people are legally blind, and it is estimated that each year 50,000 more people will become blind due to age-related diseases.

Author Hannalora Leavitt, legally blind since she was 12, has an engaging, conversational writing style. Much of the text is written in the third person and is meant to inform the audience, but Leavitt’s use of the first person when offering her own personal perspective or experiences causes the reader to think. Most readers will have seen, for instance, wheelchair ramps, closed captioning on television screens, and pictograms indicating the location of washrooms in public buildings, but have they ever thought about how a blind person enjoys live theatre or skiing down a mountain, or how wheelchair-bound people navigate a sandy beach, or how hearing-impaired parents handle a new baby’s needs without the ability to hear the infant’s cries? Activities which able-bodied people might take for granted, such as playing sports, attending a job interview, going to the doctor’s office or travelling by airplane, are that much harder for people with disabilities (referred to in the book as PWDs). Though there have been advancements in medicine and technology – and inclusivity – with respect to PWDs, such as cochlear implants, mobility aids, talking clocks, adaptive clothing and apps which identify and rate businesses in terms of accessibility, PWDs, sadly, continue to be marginalized and often feel that they live in a “world of otherness”. Over 80% of American PWDs are unemployed, yet many of them are capable of working. Currently, government incentive programs encourage employers to hire disabled persons, and college-level career-training programs offer co-op employment opportunities, but PWDS still experience workplace discrimination. Consequently, for many, self-employment is the answer. Finally, Leavitt discusses the politics of disability with topics such as genetic testing, medical assistance in dying (MAID), discrimination, human rights and laws that protect disabled people. Some of the true stories presented are sure to spark discussion and debate, again causing readers to think. For instance, was Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer justified in killing his profoundly disabled 12-year-old daughter who suffered chronic pain from a severe case of cerebral palsy and could not walk, talk or feed herself?

Illustrations consist of colour photographs, diagrams and cartoon-like drawings. Perhaps the drawings serve to make the book more appealing to a younger audience, but the photographs and diagrams would have been more than adequate. A table of contents, a glossary and an index are included as well as a list of online resources for further information.

The Disability Experience: Working Towards Belonging does an excellent job of explaining the disability experience and should be required reading for all teens (and adults, too).