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A review by liamliayaum
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
CW: Each essay, if it has content warnings, will be listed at the start of the essay.
Wow. I learned so much about disability in this book. Like most able-bodied individuals, I used to rarely give much thought to someone who is disabled (or differently-abled as some folks like one term but dislike the other). There is so much nuance and richness in this community. Pride. Independence. Ingenuity. Humility. But alongside the more positive aspects, there are the negative aspects of ableism, hate, and stripping of basic rights and dignity.
It's impossible to pick a favorite essay or even a favorite section. There was something to learn, to appreciate, and to ponder from every essay. Emotions were pulled at and tangled. There was an undercurrent of some sense of community, even when systems (and other people) worked to tear disabled/differently abled people apart.
It is important and just innately right to include this vast community in all spaces, however, there needs to be spaces where I, as an able bodied person, do not belong or should have less or no access to. There are a lot of things I could question to try to include as many folks as possible.
Wow. I learned so much about disability in this book. Like most able-bodied individuals, I used to rarely give much thought to someone who is disabled (or differently-abled as some folks like one term but dislike the other). There is so much nuance and richness in this community. Pride. Independence. Ingenuity. Humility. But alongside the more positive aspects, there are the negative aspects of ableism, hate, and stripping of basic rights and dignity.
It's impossible to pick a favorite essay or even a favorite section. There was something to learn, to appreciate, and to ponder from every essay. Emotions were pulled at and tangled. There was an undercurrent of some sense of community, even when systems (and other people) worked to tear disabled/differently abled people apart.
It is important and just innately right to include this vast community in all spaces, however, there needs to be spaces where I, as an able bodied person, do not belong or should have less or no access to. There are a lot of things I could question to try to include as many folks as possible.