Introduction: Writing the Global Family, International Perspectives on Disability Studies and Family Narratives

Main Article Content

Philip Ferguson
Professor, College of Educational Studies, Chapman University

Janet Sauer
Associate Professor, Special Education, Lesley University

Keywords

global family, disability studies, family narrative

Abstract

We live in the Golden Age of the memoir. Everyone has a story to tell, and a growing number are finding their way to publication. The disability memoir has certainly been a part of this growth. It is refreshing to note how many of these recent narrative accounts of living with a disability have been written from what might be broadly termed a “disability studies perspective” taking on a more critical, socio-cultural orientation than the traditional ‘inspiration in the face of personal tragedy’ motif.  The list of such accounts is growing (a very short and incomplete list would include works by Anne Finger (2006), Simi Linton (2006), Harriet McBryde Johnson (2005), Eli Clare (1999), Rod Michalko (1998), and Stephen Kuusisto (1998). Beyond the personal memoir, there has been a similar explosion of memoirs written by family members of individuals with disabilities (parents, siblings, and children). However, unlike the personal memoir, relatively few of these “family narratives” have adopted a clear disability studies perspective...
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Published
Sep 17, 2014

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 9 No. 2 & 3
Section
Forums

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Author Biographies

Philip Ferguson, Professor, College of Educational Studies, Chapman University

Philip Ferguson is a Professor in the College of Educational Studies at Chapman University in Orange County, California. His research focuses on family/professional interactions and supports, social policy and the history of disability, as well as qualitative research methods in disability studies and education.

Janet Sauer, Associate Professor, Special Education, Lesley University

Janet Sauer prepares teachers to work with and learn from people with disabilities and their family members. She taught children in Botswana, Africa, on the Navajo Reservation, in Boston, Ohio and Iowa.  Her research interests focus on examining positive relationships in inclusive contexts, the nature of creativity as access to literacy, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Sauer’s advocacy efforts for the inclusion of students with disabilities in community and educational contexts have also led her to explore co-constructions in portraiture research methodology.