Disability Dialogues

<p><b>A historical look at how activists influenced the adoption of more positive inclusive and sociopolitical views of disability.</b></p><p>Disability activism has fundamentally changed American society for the better--and along with it the views and practices of many clinical professionals. After 1945 disability self-advocates and family advocates pushed for the inclusion of more positive inclusive and sociopolitical perspectives on disability in clinical research training and practice. In <i>Disability Dialogues</i> Andrew J. Hogan highlights the contributions of disabled people--along with their family members and other allies--in changing clinical understandings and approaches to disability.</p><p>Hogan examines the evolving medical social and political engagement of three postwar professions--clinical psychology pediatrics and genetic counseling--with disability and disability-related advocacy. Professionals in these fields historically resisted adopting a more inclusive and accepting perspective on people with disabilities primarily due to concerns about professional role identity and prestige. In response to the work of disability activists however these attitudes gradually began to change. </p><p><i>Disability Dialogues</i> provides an important contribution to historical sociological and bioethical accounts of disability and clinical professionalization. Moving beyond advocacy alone Hogan makes the case for why present-day clinical professional fields need to better recruit and support disabled practitioners. Disabled clinicians are uniquely positioned to combine biomedical expertise with their lived experiences of disability and encourage greater tolerance for disabilities among their colleagues students and institutions.</p>