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fjette's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A good survey of disability history! It balanced broad trends with specific examples and shed light on patterns of thought/concepts of disability and how it has shifted and changed over the years. I would’ve liked it to be longer, honestly. I also found the passive tone a bit bizarre at times - disability came to be defined by whether/how much people could labor, but the book neglects to mention who/how these definitions were championed. Ableism is always ascribed to society at large or occasionally a policy or large company. Some of the trends of ableism were treated as inevitable when there were contemporary drivers behind them
chaosmavin's review against another edition
3.0
Generally speaking I think this is a good intro book for understanding the basics of disability in America from it's early history. The book does end in somewhat present time the vast majority of the book is spent in the beginnings with indigenous history as it relates to disability and tribal acceptance and colonial America around the 1400s. It's a relatively short book so I wasn't quite prepared to start that far back and by starting that far back there was a lot of history that got glossed over quickly instead of having a deeper dive. I do think it's a good weed and I was particularly intrigued by the history between 1890 and 1927 pertaining to immigrants. I have never in all of my learning around racism, sexism, homophobia and antisemitism been exposed to how immigration law at this time used disability as a mechanism to exclude so many immigrants. And this wasn't just about people with obvious disabilities like being in mobile or blind… The book relates a story of a gentleman whose penis was on the small side and immigration officials declared him perverted and deported him on the basis he would likely engage in immoral relationships. So essentially immigration officers of the day what size you up in the clear whatever they could if they found you and worthy. Another story she related is of a Jewish pan with a hump back who who is being sponsored and had a job yet immigration declared that sSo essentially immigration officers of the day what size you up in the clear whatever they could if they found you and worthy. Another story she related is of a Jewish man with a hump back who who is being sponsored and had a job yet immigration declared that he was unable to work and would be a burden on society he was unable to work and would be a burden on society.
The book does a great job telling you how horrible the general population and most especially government treated and excluded sometimes brutalized people with disabilities. Comes up short though when it gets to the disability rights movement and while it mentions some of the great leaders of the movement it never really goes into detail about them.
It's a quick read and there are many valuable sources cited, I'm just sorry that she didn't write a longer book with more details and deeper dives into everything that went on from the 60s to today which has move the needle for so many people who don't actually know the history of the rights they now have and who fight for them to have them.
The book does a great job telling you how horrible the general population and most especially government treated and excluded sometimes brutalized people with disabilities. Comes up short though when it gets to the disability rights movement and while it mentions some of the great leaders of the movement it never really goes into detail about them.
It's a quick read and there are many valuable sources cited, I'm just sorry that she didn't write a longer book with more details and deeper dives into everything that went on from the 60s to today which has move the needle for so many people who don't actually know the history of the rights they now have and who fight for them to have them.
swiftling's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book, it was a good overview of US history from a disability perspective. But as a disabled person, I could've done without the "era-accurate" language use
ninjakiwi12's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Fun(ny) fact(s): Shoutout to Madi for recommending this book to me and to Baylor libraries for their forgiving late books policies.
Favorite quote/image (quoting Clara Chow): "'I guess I am an activist,' she concluded. 'I think it's just caring.'" (pg. 161)
Honorable mention: "Disability is not just a bodily category, but instead and also a social category shaped by changing social factors–just as is able-bodiness. That is not to argue that we should all hold hands and cheerfully insist that we're all disabled in some way or another. That ignores the lived reality that disability can bring physical discomfort or difficulty. It also ignores the historical reality that being defined as disabled has made access to power and resources limited or difficult; and that hierarchies of power contribute to definitions of disability." (pg. xv)
Why: Nielsen provides a brief survey of the history of disabilities in the US, which is no easy task given the diversity of experiences that people with disabilities have at any given point, much less through history. She rightly points out that this is just as part of the American story as the history learned in school, seeking to offer fresh perspective on such a nuanced, complex story.
Favorite quote/image (quoting Clara Chow): "'I guess I am an activist,' she concluded. 'I think it's just caring.'" (pg. 161)
Honorable mention: "Disability is not just a bodily category, but instead and also a social category shaped by changing social factors–just as is able-bodiness. That is not to argue that we should all hold hands and cheerfully insist that we're all disabled in some way or another. That ignores the lived reality that disability can bring physical discomfort or difficulty. It also ignores the historical reality that being defined as disabled has made access to power and resources limited or difficult; and that hierarchies of power contribute to definitions of disability." (pg. xv)
Why: Nielsen provides a brief survey of the history of disabilities in the US, which is no easy task given the diversity of experiences that people with disabilities have at any given point, much less through history. She rightly points out that this is just as part of the American story as the history learned in school, seeking to offer fresh perspective on such a nuanced, complex story.
pangnaolin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Wow. And I thought I knew a lot about being Disabled!
Okay, I'm joking. I do know a lot about being Disabled, simply because I am, but this brought so many new ideas to light for me. I adored getting to hear so much new information about how disability exited in Native American communities-- the existence of Plain Sign Language, and how true disability was about imbalance of mind, body, and spirit instead of something like an inability to walk, and even how it was often believed that Disability was born of straying from the path you should walk.
So many of Nielsen's stories stick with me, now. I think often of Samuel Coolidge and how he was a community responsibility-- cared for [if you could call it that] and tolerated until he could no longer serve the purpose of working in schools, and then being locked up. I think of those enslaved people on the Middle Passage, thrown overboard for becoming disabled along the way. I think about how immigrants were screened for being likely to become a public charge-- for being queer, Jewish, effeminate in any way [a small penis was enough], disabled, pregnant, poor, and most things, really. I think about the woman who were forcibly sterilized and pushed into insane asylums for the crime of having been raped. I think of the Hiawatha Insane Asylum.
Nielsen taught me so much in such a short read. Her writing is so beautiful and succinct, and her choice in stories really drew it together. A Disability History of the US was never a drag, even when it was difficult. It became clearer to me that Disability is not just about being with limited physical or mental capacity to function, but how much you are perceived as undesirable or difficult. Being 'ugly' is enough to be disabled. Knowing this now, I see it in every day. I see the argument that trans people are mentally ill-- disabled, so to speak. I see much more than I did before.
I don't think I'll ever look at the history of my country, or of my community, the same way. Please, do read this. It's worth what you'll take from it.
Okay, I'm joking. I do know a lot about being Disabled, simply because I am, but this brought so many new ideas to light for me. I adored getting to hear so much new information about how disability exited in Native American communities-- the existence of Plain Sign Language, and how true disability was about imbalance of mind, body, and spirit instead of something like an inability to walk, and even how it was often believed that Disability was born of straying from the path you should walk.
So many of Nielsen's stories stick with me, now. I think often of Samuel Coolidge and how he was a community responsibility-- cared for [if you could call it that] and tolerated until he could no longer serve the purpose of working in schools, and then being locked up. I think of those enslaved people on the Middle Passage, thrown overboard for becoming disabled along the way. I think about how immigrants were screened for being likely to become a public charge-- for being queer, Jewish, effeminate in any way [a small penis was enough], disabled, pregnant, poor, and most things, really. I think about the woman who were forcibly sterilized and pushed into insane asylums for the crime of having been raped. I think of the Hiawatha Insane Asylum.
Nielsen taught me so much in such a short read. Her writing is so beautiful and succinct, and her choice in stories really drew it together. A Disability History of the US was never a drag, even when it was difficult. It became clearer to me that Disability is not just about being with limited physical or mental capacity to function, but how much you are perceived as undesirable or difficult. Being 'ugly' is enough to be disabled. Knowing this now, I see it in every day. I see the argument that trans people are mentally ill-- disabled, so to speak. I see much more than I did before.
I don't think I'll ever look at the history of my country, or of my community, the same way. Please, do read this. It's worth what you'll take from it.