Full Description
Parents of children with disabilities often situate their activism as a means of improving the world for their child. However, some disabled activists perceive parental activism as working against the independence and dignity of people with disabilities. This thorny relationship is at the heart of the groundbreaking Allies and Obstacles.
The authors chronicle parents' path-breaking advocacy in arenas such as the right to education and to liberty via deinstitutionalization as well as how they engaged in legal and political advocacy. Allies and Obstacles provides a macro analysis of parent activism using a social movement perspective to reveal and analyze the complex-and often tense-relationship of parents to disability rights organizations and activism.
The authors look at organizational and individual narratives using four case studies that focus on intellectual disability, psychiatric diagnoses, autism, and a broad range of physical disabilities including cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. These cases explore the specific ways in which activism developed among parents and people with disabilities, as well as the points of alliance and the key points of contestation. Ultimately, Allies and Obstacles develops new insights into disability activism, policy, and the family.
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 1
Chapter 1 Introduction 4
Part I: Disability Activist Communities 42
Chapter 2 Intellectual Disability and Parent Activism 43
Chapter 3 Psychiatric Diagnosis, Disability, and Parent Activism 82
Chapter 4 Autistic Identity and Parent Activism 114
Chapter 5 Physical Disability and Parent Activism 147
Part II: Cross-Disability Analysis 179
Chapter 6 Timing: Factors Affecting the Emergence of Parent Led Organizations 180
Chapter 7 Frames and Positions within the Field of Disability Activism 203
Chapter 8 Social Movement Strategies and Public Policy 248
Chapter 9 Narratives of Rights 270
Chapter 10 Parents, Children, and Advocacy across Life Transitions 316
Chapter 11 Conclusion 340
Appendix A: A Note on Methods 358
Endnotes 360
Bibliography 386
