The purpose of this article is to analyse how humour and narratives about humour are used in a natural group of adults with Asperger's syndrome. Narratives about humour and use of humour in the group are analysed from a discursive psychological perspective, informed by insights from both disability studies and critical autism studies. The setting…

Through a close reading of Three Days to Walk, a memoir of disability by Chinese writer Zhang Yuncheng, this paper develops a new understanding of self-narrated life writing and its intersection with disability consciousness in the contemporary Chinese context. It examines the changing nature of disability life writing since the end of the early…

Even though disabled children are targets of various forms of abuse, such issues remain mostly undocumented open secrets in many countries including Ghana. The article is based on a qualitative data provided by three key informants. Six stories emerged from the data and are discussed in terms of four main forms of abuse. Labelling theories are…

Drawing upon the thought of Eric Fromm, this paper argues that efforts to understand and counter behaviour that causes difficulties in education should begin in a critical and reflective engagement with both the conditions of human freedom and the character of educational institutions and society as a whole. Fromm's critique of dominating ideas…

This qualitative study explored the beliefs of teachers in the USA about the education of students with disabilities, focusing on their conceptualizations of inclusive education. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews with 30 teachers. The findings highlight multiple interpretations of inclusive education and suggest that teachers' support…

University institutions are required by law to make their services accessible to students with disabilities. Canadian universities have gone a long way to eliminate the physical obstacles that present barriers for students. Many students with disabilities have invisible disabilities that require different types of adjustments. Although some…

Against the backdrop of severe austerity measures sweeping across Europe, in this article I report upon the resurgence of activism among disabled people in the United Kingdom. My starting point is the creation of a new campaigning group called Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) formed by disabled people with and without a history of engagement…

All too often individuals with disabilities in the popular media are portrayed as people to be pitied or super humans to be admired. Film is one important resource that helps form the public's beliefs and dispositions about people with disabilities. With that in mind a film festival was designed to provide authentic representation of people with…

This current issue piece aims to address the harmful exclusion of people with disabilities in the Iranian media. In a case study, this author collected news related to statistics of HIV-positive people covered by popular news websites written in the Persian language between June 2011 and June 2012. Within the analysed electronic texts, no…

This case study describes the manner in which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--the first state-funded institution of higher education in the United States--publicly addressed the disability civil rights movement just before and after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. An analysis of archived documents,…

The aim of this study was to investigate the qualitative differences in children's conceptions of the word "disabled". Two hundred and thirty children, aged 7-12 years of age, were instructed to make a drawing of what came into their minds when they heard the word "disabled". A brief written commentary on their drawing was also…

Based on a qualitative study, this article describes how undergraduate students in a teacher preparation program construct and make meaning of their experiences in supporting an adult with a disability as the member of a "circle of support". Data were collected through detailed reflection journals that were submitted by the students. Findings…

With so much unknown about autism, the disability tends to reflect the sociocultural preconceptions people project onto it. The predominant narrative in Western society of autism as a "disease" within the medical model contrasts with the more positive, empowering view of autism as a "difference" in the social model and neurodiversity movement.…

This phenomenological study aims at understanding lived experiences of college seniors and recent college graduates with physical disabilities seeking employment opportunities after graduation in the USA The extensive interviews revealed that participants' attitudes about and experiences with disability are diverse (pain to pride, denied…

This article discusses a small in-depth research study with five women who have an intellectual disability. Recognising the potential limitations of narrative approaches an inclusive arts-based methodology, supplemented with semi-structured interviews, and was employed to enable the women to speak for themselves about issues that were of interest…