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Reviews tagging 'Ableism'
The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness by Suzanne O'Sullivan
2 reviews
moltovivace's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
I really wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, the title is misleading. All of the mystery illnesses the author discusses are not mysteries at all, but rather psychosomatic illnesses, or at least she argues that they are.
I’m conflicted about how I feel about the author’s perspective. On the one hand, she has some very valid points and insights into the way cultural and societal forces shape our perception of illness.
On the other hand, I found her bedside manner with patients to be at times disrespectful, rude, and ableist. Many times, it seemed she came to patients with preconceived ideas about their illness before she even met them and tried to fit them into a box they didn’t want to be in. I found her comments about Sienna particularly disrespectful and ableist. I’d invite her to examine her beliefs about disability and consider the model of the disabling world.
Overall, a decent but limited book with some interesting insights.
I’m conflicted about how I feel about the author’s perspective. On the one hand, she has some very valid points and insights into the way cultural and societal forces shape our perception of illness.
On the other hand, I found her bedside manner with patients to be at times disrespectful, rude, and ableist. Many times, it seemed she came to patients with preconceived ideas about their illness before she even met them and tried to fit them into a box they didn’t want to be in. I found her comments about Sienna particularly disrespectful and ableist. I’d invite her to examine her beliefs about disability and consider the model of the disabling world.
Overall, a decent but limited book with some interesting insights.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
tilda_bookworm's review against another edition
2.5
On the plus side: I enjoyed O'Sullivan's writing style. The descriptions of things were vivid and lively and I could imagine myself in the different places and could picture some of the people in a way that brought them to life and made them seem more "real" than some non-fiction of this nature. I really liked O'Sullivan's explanations about how functional illnesses work, why they should be taken seriously and the focus on the "social" part of biopsychosocial which is so often neglected.
However, I am inclined to agree with some of the other reviewers who found the book a bit repetitive. There was also no discussion about ableism in this book despite the obvious relevance. The author held some ableist views (although I completely expect this from medical doctors because they are trained to view disability as bad and to be avoided at all costs). Despite being fully aware that doctors think in this way, I was still surprised that the author was quite so anti-accomodations, and she wondered how Sienna would cope in adulthood when she would no longer be given accommodations. This seemed really weird to me because the author was otherwise suggesting that societal problems were the overlooked root of the illnesses being discussed, societal problems like... not accommodating to the needs of certain groups of people! The author also mentioned that Sienna's problems may have been caused by her "choosing" a life that was not suited to her, completely ignoring the societal factors that make it impossible for people to just "choose" a different life.
The author seemed to veer away from their area of specialism when they began to discuss autism and ADHD. This part of the book almost had me discrediting most of what had gone before because it seemed ill informed and not at all rooted in a nuanced understanding of neurodivergence and neurodiversity (as a movement/the politics of). I think this section might have angered me if I didn't find it so eyeroll inducing and silly. There definitely are things that could be said about autism and ADHD in relation to this topic but I think the author missed the mark.
It's difficult for me to rate this book. I would probably have given it 4 stars up until the bit about Sienna. I was really interested in Sienna's story but the author was so disgustingly disparaging and patronising about her and her mother that it depressed me.
However, I am inclined to agree with some of the other reviewers who found the book a bit repetitive. There was also no discussion about ableism in this book despite the obvious relevance. The author held some ableist views (although I completely expect this from medical doctors because they are trained to view disability as bad and to be avoided at all costs). Despite being fully aware that doctors think in this way, I was still surprised that the author was quite so anti-accomodations, and she wondered how Sienna would cope in adulthood when she would no longer be given accommodations. This seemed really weird to me because the author was otherwise suggesting that societal problems were the overlooked root of the illnesses being discussed, societal problems like... not accommodating to the needs of certain groups of people! The author also mentioned that Sienna's problems may have been caused by her "choosing" a life that was not suited to her, completely ignoring the societal factors that make it impossible for people to just "choose" a different life.
The author seemed to veer away from their area of specialism when they began to discuss autism and ADHD. This part of the book almost had me discrediting most of what had gone before because it seemed ill informed and not at all rooted in a nuanced understanding of neurodivergence and neurodiversity (as a movement/the politics of). I think this section might have angered me if I didn't find it so eyeroll inducing and silly. There definitely are things that could be said about autism and ADHD in relation to this topic but I think the author missed the mark.
It's difficult for me to rate this book. I would probably have given it 4 stars up until the bit about Sienna. I was really interested in Sienna's story but the author was so disgustingly disparaging and patronising about her and her mother that it depressed me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
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