Abstract
The book Society and Disability: An International Perspective on Social Policy, tries to answer questions such as: "Why are people afraid of me?" "Why do doctors act as if I am not an equal partner in my own health care?" "Why do people think that, because I can't speak, I have nothing to say?" The book Society and Disability is for and about people with disabilities. The extensive and thoughtful review provides the reader with the clear understanding of the development and the changes in the attitudes, thinking, perspectives and assumptions of the following major approaches or models which impacted the field of special education and rehabilitation throughout history-: 1) social welfare, 2) scientific medical, 3) humanistic-educational. The author proposes a fourth model, which integrates the above approaches into a comprehensive, hierarchical structure based on the rights of each person to lead a life according to personal values, goals, desires, and needs. The author draws on an international, philosophical, and historical perspective, with an emphasis on implications for policy and practice. Society and Disability was produced in collaboration with AHVA Publishers, an Affiliation of the Association of the Handicapped of Haifa and the North, Haifa, Israel, and the Institute on Disabilities, Pennsylvania's University Affiliated Program at Temple University, USA. It is due to appear in English early 1999, a Hebrew version is on sale now from AHVA.
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