The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging (Orca Issue 5)
ISBN 10: 1459819284 ISBN-13: 978-1459819283 This is a different title and edition and Ms Friedman used this information. I am using the physical BOOK information: ISBN 10: 1502644664 ISBN 13: 9781502644664

Excellent book by a blind author about what the current landscape and culture of disability looks like in Canada and the United States. Comprehensive, in as much as any book about personal disability can be, yet also very accessible. Good pictures, pacing for young readers. Great real-life examples and in-depth sidebars through out. She's a very likable narrator, who doesn't shed the personal impact in a nonfiction book. ( )

I love that there is a book that's dedicated to talking about disabilities with young people in mind. I definitely think it's more of a high school level book; I wouldn't expect younger grades to read it. I enjoy the fact that multiple disabilities were talked about, and that history and language were brought into the conversation. I love the drawings that were worked in with actual pictures, which would definitely appeal to a younger audience. I do wish more authors were brought in to talk about their personal experiences with different disabilities at length. All in all, it was an informative book with great representation, and I think that's already a big step forward in educating folks about disabilities. ( )

I would generally recommend this book for teens 13+. It is written more like textbook with lots of text and lots of quality information. I think anyone younger would not want to read that much. But it covers history and personal experiences and gives a well-rounded approach to the "disability experience." In all, this is a great book for high school collections. ( )

The Disability Experience, written by Hannalora Leavitt, is targeted for YA audiences ages 12+. Viewing the cover may lead one to assume the information will be presented in graphic novel format, but actually this is structured more like a textbook. PWDs is the term used throughout -- this stands for people with disabilities. The book's aim seems to be a combination of providing awareness of societal attitudes towards PWDs, accessibility (or lack thereof) , and advocacy for and by PWDs.

The types of PWDs, of course, are varied and sometimes people have more than one. Several individuals (such as Nyle DiMarco, a Deaf winner of Dancing With the Stars) are briefly mentioned, within information boxes. The author (who is visually impaired) does also point out that many PWDs deal with hurdles in being hired and/or having meaningful careers.

This is good for providing general information, but I would like to point out a few things that may or may not be in the final edition (my reading copy was an advance reading copy):

-- the author mentions someone who has lost 80% of his hearing. Hearing loss is *not* measured in percentages! It is measured by decibel (dB) range; for example someone who is defined profoundly deaf is unable to hear sound below at least the 90 dB level or even higher (for reference, normal conversation is at about 25 dB) .

-- in the section about marriage and parenting, the author mentions she chose to marry a man with a visual impairment, while others prefer to partner with people who are able-bodied and thus make some challenges easier. What? I am deaf myself and I did *not* marry my hearing husband in hopes of making my life easier. But, then in the next paragraph, the author acknowledges who you chose to marry isn't necessarily a conscious choice and can be based on chemistry. Perhaps this section was an awkward attempt on challenging assumptions that all PWDs marry others that are also the same PWD, and why/why not that would be.

-- In the section about technology, the cochlear implant is mentioned as a greatest-ever leap in technology for hearing loss. It is pointed out that the deaf person must learn what various sounds mean post-implant, which is important to mention, because it's a common fallacy that cochlear implants will automatically make a person fully hearing. However, the author fails to point out that these implants are highly controversial within the deaf community and interpreted as a means to "fix" deaf people.

-- In a later section, the author does at least mention Alexander Graham Bell and his belief in eugenics in hopes of decreasing the deaf population and that Bell believed that sign language was bad. The author could have pointed out that these attitudes as promoted by Bell continue to this day, however.

It should be noted that the author is Canadian, and as such this book covers the experience of PWDs in Canada and the United States. The laws regarding accommodations and such are not necessarily interchangeable within both these North American countries.

So, how might this book be best used, keeping in mind that it is intended for YA (12+) audiences? Perhaps as a springboard for those (and that is actually a lot of people) who know little about PWDs, but not as a definitive teaching manual. ( )