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A review by robotsandstars
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
5.0
There is so much explored about the ways in which Disability intersects with other identities, and how those intersections create such variety and difference in the experiences of Disabled folks. I gained a lot of perspective through the shared experiences and views of people who have different lived experiences from me.
It isn't an easy read a lot of the time. A lot of it was painful to read. Sometimes I felt justifiably enraged. Sometimes I felt encouraged and hopeful. There was a lot of joy and perseverance expressed that made me feel empowered as a Disabled person.
I appreciate how the essays were organized and that each had content notes at the beginning. I strongly urge anyone who reads to consider them carefully as the authors do not hold back.
Reading this book was also hard because it reminded me that even other Disabled folks can and do cause harm, likely due to internalized ableism, maybe due to that which I pointed out—we can be limited in our understanding of the various ways Disability affects individuals. It feels like a special kind of pain to hope that other Disabled people will not push an ableist narrative on you because they know better, because they've felt the harm that comes from those who don't understand and respect limitations, and then have them react in ways that bring up the same shame and guilt that ableism always has. Questioning whether you should be able to *push through* the challenges of your Disability to do the things that everyone else seems to manage doing. Too often I've caused myself harm because of this pressure. I know others have as well. I think we can all do better.
I encourage everyone who is able, to read this book, abled and Disabled alike. There is something to take away from it for all of us.
It isn't an easy read a lot of the time. A lot of it was painful to read. Sometimes I felt justifiably enraged. Sometimes I felt encouraged and hopeful. There was a lot of joy and perseverance expressed that made me feel empowered as a Disabled person.
I appreciate how the essays were organized and that each had content notes at the beginning. I strongly urge anyone who reads to consider them carefully as the authors do not hold back.
Reading this book was also hard because it reminded me that even other Disabled folks can and do cause harm, likely due to internalized ableism, maybe due to that which I pointed out—we can be limited in our understanding of the various ways Disability affects individuals. It feels like a special kind of pain to hope that other Disabled people will not push an ableist narrative on you because they know better, because they've felt the harm that comes from those who don't understand and respect limitations, and then have them react in ways that bring up the same shame and guilt that ableism always has. Questioning whether you should be able to *push through* the challenges of your Disability to do the things that everyone else seems to manage doing. Too often I've caused myself harm because of this pressure. I know others have as well. I think we can all do better.
I encourage everyone who is able, to read this book, abled and Disabled alike. There is something to take away from it for all of us.