The Experiences of Being an Autistic Foster Care Giver Working With UK Social Services
"I thought there was something wrong with her…"
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
How can social workers and neuro-diverse foster carers collaborate to provide the best support for a child or teen in need?
Building strong relationships between social workers and neuro-diverse foster carers can be challenging. With professionals often having no experience working with Autistic adults, trust can be difficult to initiate, and problems can seem insurmountable. Drawing from her own lived experience as a neuro-divergent foster carer, Megan Tanner explains how barriers can be broken down to establish a successful partnership with one sole aim: to create the best possible outcome for a child or teen in need.
Working to remove pre-conceptions and judgement surrounding neuro-diverse foster carers, this book is ideal reading for students and practitioners of Social Work and related courses, Disability Studies, Autism and Autistic studies, DEIB studies, Psychology, and social work policy makers.
Improving the Experience of Health Care for People Living With Sensory Disability
Knowing What Is Going On
by Dr. Annmaree Watharow, M. D., Ph. D.
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
How does a patient with sensory disability — such as a hearing or vision impairment, or both — get effective communication from a health care provider?
Too often, the answer is that they don't. Communication is crucial for any professional—patient relationship, not least when disability is in the mix. For people living with sensory disability, however, the challenge of knowing what is going on with their healthcare, participating in shared decision making, and retaining an appropriate level of agency, is even greater. Using verbatim testimony from people with first-hand experience of sensory disability, this book explores issues such as accessibility barriers in consent forms, patient information sheets and other paperwork, situational vulnerability to abuse and neglect, and dehumanisation, infantilisation, and disempowerment in care.
Written by Dr. Annmaree Watharow MD PhD, a doctor and author with personal experience of sensory disability, the stories in this book are told using people's own words, to allow readers to hear directly from the people who most need their own agency. Vital reading for doctors, nurses, health care providers, and social support workers in practice and training, this book will change the way you view sensory disability.
Breaking the Boundaries
On Lived-experience Mentorship For Autistic Students In Higher Education
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
Discover the inequalities faced by Autistic students in Higher Education and learn how to improve their experiences.
Picking Up the Pieces
Finding My Way as a Visually Impaired Woman In Higher Education
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
What barriers and traumas do students with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments, experience in higher education settings?
Drawing on personal experience, author Stephanie Levin provides an overview of disability history within higher education settings and explains the impact of poor care on disabled students. Stephanie was only 20 when she experienced retinal detachment that required surgery. Shortly afterwards she experienced retinal detachment in the same eye which resulted in vision loss. With her newfound identity as a visually impaired woman, Stephanie struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. She refused accommodations within her university for fear of stigmatization, but she found that her acquaintances, professors, and friends viewed her differently.
Through themes of trauma and identity, this book is ideal reading for teachers, carers, and disabled students as well as students of Disability Studies and Education.
A Life Lived Well as a Non-Binary and Autistic Mental Health Advocate
Finding a Place of Hope
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
What might it look like for an Autistic, non-binary person who lives with mental illness to live well and with hope?
In this book, author and advocate Yenn Purkis reflects on their experiences of life as an Autistic non-binary person who has a diagnosis of atypical schizophrenia. Exploring the intersecting areas of mental health and illness, neurodivergence and neurodiversity, and gender non-conformity, the narrative follows Yenn through experiences of incarceration, psychosis, employment, therapy both helpful and not, medication, diagnosis, stigma and anxiety.
Illuminating reading for students of disability studies, Autism studies, queer studies, and related social sciences, this book will also bring important perspective to those in practice and in training: doctors, psychiatrists, policy makers, teachers, and social workers. Yenn will describe a life well-lived, with and alongside Autism and mental illness, that will provide a vital perspective to anyone studying or working people who share these social identities.
No Place for Autism?
Exploring the Solitary Forager Hypothesis of Autism in Light of Place Identity
by Dr. Jim Hoerricks, Ph. D.
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
Disability or difference? How autism is understood varies from place to place.
Drawn from lived experience, this book explores the question of what autism is, and how it is best viewed in society. Dr. Jim Hoerricks PhD — an academic and non-verbal autistic person — interrogates different models of disability, and considers how autism might be seen as a difference in human experience, in light of the need for accommodations and structural supports.
Positioning autism as both a set of traits and an identity, No place for autism? asks what can be done to give place for autistic people and communities.
Holistic Language Instruction
Addressing Literacy in Standard and Non-Standard Populations
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
**How can the flaws within the global education system be addressed to ensure all language learners are accommodated? **
Guided by lived experience, Holistic Language Instruction challenges the idea that there is only one way to learn a language. As 40% of learners struggle with language development, author Jaime Hoerricks questions whether these students are disabled or if the system disables them by neglecting their unique language processing methods. Given that language processing differences have no connection with intellect, Hoerricks proposes that learners should be accommodated within the general population to enable their progress alongside peers, instead of being placed in a special education program or assigned to a speech and language professional.
Offering guidance for educators on how to foster literacy growth in all students, this book is ideal reading for students of Education Studies, Disability Studies and related courses, Speech and Language development, as well as teachers, education policy makers, and parents.
From Scientist to Stroke Survivor
Life Redacted
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
How does the journey of self-discovery unfold in the aftermath of a life-altering stroke?
From Scientist to Stroke Survivor is a poignant work of narrative nonfiction, a tapestry woven of prose, poetry, and lyrical essays. Diving deep into the facets of identity and the quest for self-reclamation, Elly Katz navigates the aftermath of a stroke, using the written word as a tool for understanding and articulation.
In her journey of self-discovery, Katz delves into migratory episodes of person-building. Each of these acts serves as a lens through which she explores identity, grapples with disability, and strives to reclaim the center of her life story-despite the eclipse caused by a life-altering stroke. These contemplative encounters exist at the margins shaping her realization of self. This book is an intimate exploration of disability which zigzags across genres, blurring boundaries and troubling the linearity of time. It is a pilgrimage of the soul-a journey that weaves through calamity and emergence, leaving no emotion untouched.
Drawing the readers into the profound depths of human resilience, this book is ideal reading for students of disability studies, writing courses and trauma courses.
Adaptive Fashion
How People With Disabilities Experience Clothing
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
How can clothing better serve people with disabilities?
Drawing from research and personal interviews from industry representatives and consumers, author Susan Rothman Kolko examines the roles the fashion industry plays in supporting and encouraging inclusive products. The apparel industry has challenges but is moving towards realistic adaptive solutions in clothing. From equal rights to understanding identity in the social world, this book provides insight and inspiration for designers and a working vocabulary for diversity in clothing.
Adaptive Fashion is ideal reading for students studying fashion, disability, diversity, history, business, marketing, sociology, and technology.
Love Is Praxis
Lived Experience-to-classroom Lessons Through The Voices Of Disabled Students, Practitioners, Mother
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
Explore the lived experiences of disabled people, centered as knowledge-bearers, who bring rich perspectives into the classroom context.
A Neurodivergent Blogger
Posts Highlighting Lived Experience Of Self-determination, Pride, And Empowerment
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
How can a collation of blog posts demonstrate the many elements of Autistic lived experience and guide readers on how to support development and change?
Reflecting on their personal experience, author and advocate Yenn Purkis curates a series of blog posts, reflecting on the many aspects of living with Autism including identity, community, relationships, sexuality and gender diversity, mental health, and self-advocacy.
Providing an analysis on how these topics have been navigated in the past, A Neurodivergent Blogger offers advice and guidance on allyship, and advocacy, with suggestions on how we can improve and support positive change.
Aiming to promote a sense of empowerment, agency, and support, this book is ideal reading for students of Disability Studies, Autism and Autistic Studies, Gender Studies, Queer & LGBT+ Studies, and Social Work, as well as Autistic folk and allies.
In Our Words
Stories from the Intersection of LGBTQIA+ Identity and Disability
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
Explore the many lived experiences of Disabled people identifying as LGBTQIA+
Dual Sensory Impairment and the Older Person
An Invisible Epidemic?
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
Is a decline in vision and hearing just a "fact of life" for people as we age?
Dual sensory impairment is an under-explored and little understood type of disability, but one which can have an enormous impact on those living with it and their partners, families, and carers. The number of people who are living with impairments to both sight and hearing is rapidly increasing as the global population ages, yet the challenges faced as a result are largely invisible. “The Third Sense” explores the experiences of older adults living with multiple or dual sensory loss, the social consequences, barriers, and stigma faced by people and their loved ones.
Drawn from the lived experience of both the authors and their research participants, this book is necessary and urgent reading for medical practitioners, clinicians, health workers, and social care providers in practice and training; higher education students of Disability Studies, Medicine and related courses, Social Work and related courses, Sociology, and Cultural Anthropology.
Growing Up Undiagnosed
Surviving Childhood in New York City as an Undiagnosed Autistic
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
What can experiences of social and sensory invalidation teach us about what in means to be autistic in a world created for the neuromajority?
Living as an undiagnosed autistic person in the loudest sensory city in the world, NYC, author Becca Lory Hector details her lived experience of social and sensory invalidation. Whether she refused to put on shoes, wore sunglasses inside, or asked direct questions, her very way of being was called into question, leading her to feel insignificant and unimportant. In a world created by and for the neuromajority, Becca’s needs took a back seat as others felt her reality couldn’t possibly be true.
“Growing Up Undiagnosed” is a collection of stories filled with lessons on the importance of validating the lived experiences of all. This book is ideal reading for students of Disability Studies, Autism Studies, DEIB Studies, Social Work, Education Studies, Medical students and practitioners, as well as psychiatrists, teachers, and social support workers in practice and training.
Untapped Talent
A Practical Guide For Hiring And Retaining Neurodivergent Staff
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
How can employers develop their hiring processes for neurodivergent people and best support people with diverse neurotypes to thrive in the workplace?
Drawing on academic research and professional and lived experiences, Untapped Talent offers strategies for managers and allies to create a more inclusive workplace that empowers neurodivergent people with conditions including autism, ADHD, and dyslexia.
Neurodivergent author Aron Mercer examines the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals, as well as the strengths and unique perspectives they can bring.
Offering a roadmap for employers who seek to support neurodivergent employees, and create a more inclusive and diverse organisation, this book is ideal reading for students of Disability Studies, Psychology, and Business, as well as managers, HR professionals, and allies.
A Neurodiverse Journey in Social Entrepreneurship
Embracing The Spectrum
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
Explores the transformative journey of a neurodiverse social entrepreneur.
Lived Experiences, Challenges, and Learnings about Dyspraxia
Toward Greater Inclusion
by Kimberley Marie Fraser
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
How can we better support and promote inclusivity for those living with Dyspraxia?
Documenting her journey from childhood and diagnosis to adulthood, author Kimberley Marie Fraser explores the challenge she has faced living with Dyspraxia. An invisible disability with challenges that evolve as life progresses, Kimberley highlights areas where her life has been affected, including education, employment, and well-being, and argues that it is not the disability itself, but a lack of awareness that leads to frequent misunderstandings and inadequate support for many.
Offering learnings from the author's lived experience, this book is ideal reading for students of Disability Studies, Psychology, Sociology, and Education. Guidance and suggestions to support inclusion across society are provided, and relevant for anyone who lives and works with or alongside people with Dyspraxia, including teachers, employers, and social care and support workers.
Mothering at the Margins
Black Mothers Raising Autistic Children In The Uk
Part of the Disability Studies (Lived Places Publishing) series
Explore the lived experiences of Black mothers raising Autistic children in the UK.