Abstract
From the point of view of the Sociology of the Body and Disability Studies, this paper explores spinal cord injured adults' narratives of physical difference. The perspectives of SCI adults who live in the community are presented and analysed in order to discuss issues of embodiment, inclusion and physical difference in an ablest society.
Data come from open-ended, in-depth interviews with 15 SCI adults who live in the community, autobiographical accounts and ethnographic observations collected in a large rehabilitation centre, a sports program for people with disabilities and Independent Living Centers in a Mid western city of the United States. Methodological and epistemological concerns are discussed as they pertain to the collection of data and theoretical analysis. The major topics presented are: how SCI adults talk about their experience of disability; how these narratives can be interpreted and analysed; what it means to be marginalized; and what the practical consequences of these narratives could be. The analysis of these topics stays as close to the informants' narratives as possible.
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