Forum: 2009 Pacific Rim Conference, Disability Studies Strand

Forum Editor Introduction
Megan A. Conway, Ph.D. & Norma Jean Stodden, Ph.D. 
University of Hawai‘i at M?noa

Aloha! We are pleased to present a forum comprised of four of the papers presented at the 2nd Disability Studies Strand of the Annual Pacific Rim Conference on Disability held in May, 2009, in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. This year’s conference will be held April 12-13 and we are excited to see the Disability Studies Strand grow and develop with every year. 

The articles presented in this forum are a wonderful mix of perspectives and cultures, representing a sample of the diversity that is Disability Studies today. In Disabled Literature: Disabled Individuals in American Literature, Miles Beauchamp and Wendy Chung provide insight into the vast topic of the portrayal of disability in both modern literature and literature from the past. Rachel Carling Jenkins traveled from Australia to present A Way Forward: Presenting a Post-Modern Framework for Disability that explores the history of disabled people in Australia and the current struggle to shift perspectives about disability in that country. Akira Ruddle-Miyamoto and Ron Amundson provide a fascinating look at the link between treatment of Native Hawaiians and the settlement of persons with Hansen’s Disease on the Moloka‘i settlement of Kalaupapa in Holier Than Thou: Stigma and the Kokuas of the Kalaupapa Settlement. Finally, Lisa Boyce et al discuss innovative approaches to supporting children with disabilities and their families in their article Family Bookmaking: An Approach to Support Parent-Child Language Interactions in Natural Environments.  

We hope you enjoy this forum and we also hope to see you at this year’s or future conferences in lovely Honolulu!