What is it like to experience disability? What are the prevailing cultural attitudes toward those who experience disability? How do social norms and public policies affect those experiencing disability? This book provides a vivid and concrete introduction to the wealth of social, political and ethical debates that surround the experience of disability.\\Beginning with an exploration of the perspective of persons with disabilities, the essays demonstrate the extent to which the disability experience is affected by social and cultural values, attitudes, and policies. In addition to these first-person reflections, there are essays relating to such issues as:\\The disability rights movement\Disability studies\Social policy relating to disability\Physician-assisted suicide, genetic testing, selective abortion, the moral status of handicapped newborns, and living and dying with dignity\\Written in an engaging style with a focus on the concrete, this collection of essays includes contributions by John Hockenberry, Oiver Sacks, Peter Singer, and others. It is a marvelous resource for enabling the reader to comprehend the experience of disability and to explore contemporary issues involving the disability community.

I. EXPERIENCING DISABILITY --Walking with the Kurds -- I Hate Tiny Tim -- The Exceptional Family: Walking the Edge of Tragedy and Transformation -- Young and Disabled -- Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness -- I'm Listening as Hard as I Can-- Expecting Adam -- Jamie -- II. THE CASE OF CHRISTOPHER REEVE --Fame and Disability: Christopher Reeve, Super Crips, and Infamous Celebrity -- More Than an Inspiration -- Christopher Reeve's Super Bowl Ad Scored a Touchdown: But It Has Provoked a Surprisingly Negative Reaction among Disabled Groups. Why? -- Wishing for Kryptonite: A Response to Christopher Reeve's Pursuit of Cure -- Christopher Reeve: 1952-2004 -- III. THE DISABILITY RIGHTS MOVEMENT: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES --The Disability Rights Movement: A Brief History --The Second Phase: From Disability Rights to Disability Culture -- Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf -- A Psychological View of Disability Culture-- IV. DISABILITY, SOCIAL POLICY, AND CITIZENSHIP --Models of Disability and the Americans with Disabilities Act -- The History of the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Movement Perspective -- Who Lost the ADA? -- Citizenship and Disability -- V. DISABILITY AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE --National Council on Disability Position Paper on Disability -- and Physician-Assisted Suicide Issued in and -- Reaffirmed in: Executive Summary -- Autonomy Board Position Statement on -- Physician-Assisted Suicide -- Gallagher and Batavia on Physician-Assisted Suicide: -- An Open Letter to People with Disabilities -- Physician-Assisted Death: Are We Asking the Right Questions? -- The Consequences of Legalized Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Testimony before the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee -- Suicide Intervention for People with Disabilities: A Lesson in Inequality -- Freeing Choices -- VI. VALUES AT STAKE IN DISABILITY DEBATES: -- MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ISSUES --A Defense of Genocide -- Unspeakable Conversations -- Shopping at the Genetic Supermarket -- The Uncertain Rationale for Prenatal Disability Screening -- Living and Dying with Dignity -- A Christian Approach to Disability Studies: A Prolegomenon