Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong

117 reviews

chronicacademia's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Abortion, Bullying, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

booksjessreads's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This is such an eye-opening anthology of essays from disabled people to speak their realities of being disabled in such an ablest world. The stories were so deeply personal and evoked so much emotion. I liked how through the audio, the essays felt more like dialogue with the reader, or like an official talk. Alice Wong and Alejandra Ospina read this with the right tone and made it so digestible despite the heavier content. 

This book does not solely focus on disability, but contributors also discuss further intersections of identity, such as gender, sexuality, age, race and religion. This allows the reader to understand how society further disadvantages those with these intersections and offers a deeply moving and rage-inducing account of US society. 

I enjoyed the audio so much I am getting my own print version to get more familiar with the text. This is essential reading and is one of the most informative reads I have read this year. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Ableism, Transphobia, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Fatphobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death and Pregnancy

heather3879's review

challenging reflective fast-paced

4.0

Read this one for a book discussion group and accidentally reserved the youth version rather than the adult version. From the discussion, I think both offered most of the same stories, but the youth version was more condensed. There were a large range of visible and invisible disabilities represented, and it made me think a lot about how people with disabilities may want to be seen and treated. It was compelling.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism and Injury/Injury detail

tinysierra's review

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

“Unfortunately, we live in a society that assumes that joy is impossible for disabled people, associating disability with only sadness and shame. So my joy- the joy of professional and personal wins, of pop culture and books, of expressing platonic love out loud- is revolutionary in a body like mine.” -Keah Brown

Disability Visibility is intersectional, from a variety of people with difference races, genders, religions, etc with a range of disabilities and illnesses.

I wish everyone in my life would read this collection.

There are so many important discussions, and it’s vital to hear them from the people affected. There are conversations about inspiration porn, sexual assault faced by disabled people, ableism, infantilization, reproductive/social/environmental justice, interdependence, community, art, poetry and JOY! There is so much room for joy and for dreaming better futures for disabled and non disabled people. 

As an asexual person, it was so awesome to see myself represented in these pages. 

I loved that there was even a section in the back for further reading about disability. There were also people and movies or other media mentioned throughout the book that I hadn’t heard of before as well, so there’s room for more learning. Not to mention all the contributors who have other works outside this collection. This book is so valuable for the resources and the powerful knowledge it contains.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

xfallenxnightx's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Ableism, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Domestic abuse

metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape

amberinbookland's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Excrement, Ableism, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Blood, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Medical content, and Death

changelingreader_adrian's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Racism, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abortion, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Grief, Confinement, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

sweetsimplenothing's review

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, and Death

Minor: Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

tigger89's review

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was an incredibly informative read. As Alice Wong notes in her introduction, these essays aren't presented with the intention of swaying abled readers. There's little sugarcoating or gentle easing in these chapters, and often the rage behind the words is palpable. With many of these essays, the reader is expected to meet the author where they are, and to do the work themselves to understand any concepts that don't make sense. This is okay. After all, we've got google in our pockets and are capable of searching up a reference.

It's not all frustration and anger, though. Several of the essays focus on community, companionship, and finding joy. I smiled the whole way through "Guide Dogs Don't Lead Blind People. We Wander as One." even at the inevitable moment of sadness. The collection also makes a point to end with positivity, with the entire last section focusing on community and the final essay detailing a moment of joy at a performance conducted by and for the disabled community.

I think most readers would walk away from this volume with at least a few thoughts to chew on, even if you've already spent some time pondering or working in disability advocacy. The sheer diversity of the voices presented virtually guarantees it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Excrement

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Rape