The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. It is black with writing. From top to bottom it reads: The authors name, “Jay Timothy Dolmage”, upper left, in yellow. “Academic” in large, white capitals from the upper right and across the upper centre of the image.”Ableism” in large, red capitals across the lower centre of the image to the lower right conrer. “Disability and Higher Education” in smaller, yellow capitals across the bottom of the image. A small photograph of some kind of statue is placed next to “Ableism”. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Discussions of Ableism
• Discussions of Eugenics

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Summary:

Academic Ableism brings together disability studies and institutional critique to recognize the ways that disability is composed in and by higher education, and rewrites the spaces, times, and economies of disability in higher education to place disability front and center. For too long, argues Jay Timothy Dolmage, disability has been constructed as the antithesis of higher education, often positioned as a distraction, a drain, a problem to be solved. The ethic of higher education encourages students and teachers alike to accentuate ability, valorize perfection, and stigmatize anything that hints at intellectual, mental, or physical weakness, even as we gesture toward the value of diversity and innovation. Examining everything from campus accommodation processes, to architecture, to popular films about college life, Dolmage argues that disability is central to higher education, and that building more inclusive schools allows better education for all.

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Notes:

Someone told me that, in an effort to ensure that this book was as accessible as possible, Dolmage tries to use plain language wherever possible, and has purposely made it free on platforms like Kindle and Google Play Books.

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Archivist’s Comments:

In this book, Dolmage explores the concept of academic ableism and the inherit inaccessibility of the education system as a whole, when it comes to catering to disabled students. He also explores the representation of disability in popular media.

Higher education campuses are so ridiculousy inaccessible, for reasons you might never even have considered until you’re the one dealing with them. I think this sounds like a great book, and the reviews seem to agree. And honestly I just love how accessible the writer has tried to make it.

Fun fact, this was one of the first books I put on the original spreadsheet.

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