Self-advocacy in the Lives of People with Learning Difficulties

How do people with the label of learning difficulties challenge disabling environments? What role can professionals play in supporting such challenges? How do self-advocacy groups contribute to disability politics and the development of theories of disability? This timely book sets out to answer these questions for students, teachers and practitioners working in the field. It examines self-advocacy in the lives of people with learning difficulties. The term 'learning difficulties' is used to describe people who have been labelled at some point in their lives as requiring specialist 'mental handicap services'. Learning difficulties is preferred over other synonyms, such as mental handicap, mental impairment or learning disabilities, because it is the term preferred by many in the self-advocacy movement (the focus of this book). Hitherto, a number of books have introduced and examined the notion of self-advocacy. This volume goes beyond these studies to offer an appraisal of self-advocacy in the lives of people with learning difficulties that is grounded in their own experiences. It redresses the dominant focus on learning difficulties as pathology or tragedy, highlighting the ways in which people so-labelled are fighting for their own human rights in a disabling society through their involvement in self-advocacy groups. It outlines a number of lessons for supporters, policy makers, professionals and service providers in relation to the resilience of self-advocates with learning difficulties and gives examples of good practice.

ISBN 0335205267   Volumes 001 ISBN13 9780335205264 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 486 Publisher Open University Press   Published in Milton Keynes Imprint Open University Press   Series editor Barton, Len Format Paperback   Series title Disability, Human Rights & Society Publication date 01 Dec 2000   Height (mm) 228 Library of Congress HV3008.G7   Width (mm) 151 DEWEY 362.40486   Spine width (mm) 16 DEWEY edition DC21   Academic level General Pages 288

		Series editor's preface
		Preface
		Acknowledgements
Pt. I		Setting the agenda		1
1		Introduction		3
2		Self-advocacy and people with learning difficulties		6
3		Self-advocacy, impairment and the social model of disability		26
4		Researching self-advocacy		46
Pt. II		Living self-advocacy		77
5		Five life stories of 'top self-advocates'		79
6		Learning from life stories		112
Pt. III		Self-advocacy in action		133
7		Inside self-advocacy groups: typologies and dynamics		135
8		Across self-advocacy groups: support and models of disability		174
Pt. IV		Self-advocacy revisited		197
9		Conclusions: the politics of resilience		199
App. 1		Introductory booklet for narrators		220
App. 2		Collaborative life story of Joyce Kershaw		224
App. 3		Introductory booklet for groups		232
		References		236
		Index		258

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