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Medical vs. Social? Or, what happened to disability studies?

Anne Dalke's picture

I had many afterthoughts, following our rich conversation last night about the contexts of choice and the privilege of choosing; thanks to all for participating!

One thought was, what happened to diability studies? The "easy" (?) distinction I heard made between abortions for "medical" and for "social" reasons seemed to me to elide the ways in which disability activists have challenged the separability of those categories. To learn a little more about how this conversation is playing out @ the other end of life, see the website for the disability rights organization Not Dead Yet, which leads w/ this statement: "though often described as compassionate, legalized medical killing is really about a deadly double standard for people with severe disabilities."

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Kaye's picture

alliance building: DREDF and APIAHF

Continuing Anne's query about what happened to disability studies and "intra-acting" it with our recent readings on sex-selection from the National Asian Pacific American Women's forum, I wanted to share with you an e-newsletter from DREDF (Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund) that describes work they're doing with the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF).  This joint project addresses several entanglements that people experience and seeks to develop policies that would improve health for minorities with disabilities:  "Aside from the public health issues that most racial/ethnic minorities face, minorities with disabilities experience additional disparities in health, prejudice, discrimination, economic barriers, and difficulties accessing care as a result of their disability—in effect, they face a 'double burden.'"  Several of their examples highlight how gender contributes to additional health disparities.