Book launch: Autism: A Social and Medical History by Mitzi Waltz (Sheffield Hallam University)

“Autism: A Social and Medical History” contextualizes autism as a socio cultural phenomenon, and examines the often troubling effects of representations and social trends. Exploring the individuals and events in the history of this condition, Waltz blends research and personal perspectives to examine social narratives of normalcy, disability and difference.

Autism has often been seen as separate from other forms of impairment and negative attitudes towards people with autism and, in the past, their parents, have been prevalent. This book explores key research in the field as well as insight from parents and people with autism, the latter of whom have often had no voice in what is written about the history of autism.

This book will appeal to researchers and students in the fields of medical sociology, disability studies, and medical history as well as increasing public debates on autism.

Dr Mitzi Waltz will give a lecture on the topic: “The history of autism, and what we can learn from it”

Location: Owen 942, Howard St, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S1 1WB. For a map of City Campus click here.

Date: Tuesday 16^th April

Time: 6.00pm-9.00pm

Open to all, no charge. If attending please email s.waller@shu.ac.uk

 

Call for Papers: ‘Disability and the Gothic’ Edited Volume

The relationship between disability and the Gothic, as Martha Stoddard Holmes rightly observes, has been undertheorized by scholars of the genre. This is surprising, given the intensity with which the Gothic has historically explored and exploited the prejudices associated with human difference as manifested in physiological and mental deviations from a perceived norm.

The proposed volume, which will be presented within the established International Gothic Series, published by Manchester University Press, will explore the uses and abuses of disability in Gothic fiction from the eighteenth century to the present, and will advance a genuinely international and multicultural analysis of this neglected aspect of Gothic stylistics. We particularly welcome papers that discuss Gothic textuality beyond the established European and American canon.

Issues which might be explored by contributors could include (but are not limited to):

• Abject bodies                                           
• Human vivisection
• Amputation                                            
• Leprosy
• Birth defects
• Mental illness
• Body Integrity
• Phantom limbs
• Body modification                                  
• Pigmentation variations
• Branding and scarification                    
• Post-apocalyptic bodies
• Conjoined siblings                                  
• Prostheses
• Corrective surgery                                  
• Queer bodies
• Degeneration                                          
• Ritual disfigurement
• Hermaphroditism                                  
• Supernumerary limbs
• Hospital culture                                      
• Zoomorphism

Proposals of approximately 500 words should be sent to the editors by 30 September 2013.  The editors are: William Hughes (Department of English, Bath Spa University, UK) email w.hughes@bathspa.ac.uk and Andrew Smith (School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, University of Sheffield, UK) email andrew.smith1@sheffield.ac.uk.

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If you are interested in this, you might also be interested in…

Call For Papers for Precarious Positions ~ Encounters with Normalcy – 4th Annual International Conference ***Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane*** 3^rd + 4^th September 2013 at Sheffield Hallam University can be found here.

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Reminder: next DRF seminar 14th March starring Mitzi Waltz and Jonathan Harvey

A quick reminder that the next DRF will be on Thursday 14th March, 2pm-4pm in Arundel 10111. After the seminar many of us will be making our way up to the University of Sheffield for Dan Goodley’s inaugural lecture at The University of Sheffield (more details here - please note the separate locations of these two events). Presenting this month will be:

Slot 1: Mitzi Waltz (Sheffield Hallam University, UK): Autism and Economic Disempowerment

Slot 2: Jonathan Harvey (The Open University, UK) Insider/outsider status: negotiating the complexity of life

See here for more details (and scroll down to March).

Venue: The seminar will be held in the Arundel Building, 122 Charles Street, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University, S1 1WB.  For a map of City Campus click here.

If you, or anybody you know, would like to present at a DRF seminar please do get in touch.  Alternatively, let us know if there is an issue/article/book you’d like to facilitate a round table discussion on.

Even if you do not intend to present, feel free to come along, listen and share your thoughts.   For lunchtime slots, please feel free to bring your own food and drink.

We aim to be accessible and have produced some guidelines of which we would like presenters to be mindful – these can be accessed here: Accessible Presenting

To offer to present, facilitate a discussion or for more detailed access information please contact: Rebecca Mallett: r.mallett@shu.ac.uk or 0114 225 4669 or Jenny Slater: j.slater@shu.ac.uk or 0114 225 6691.

New Publication: Corporeality: The Body and Society, Edited by Cassandra A. Ogden and Stephen Wakeman

Please click on the link to find the flyer for a new book entitled Corporeality: The Body and Society. This volume, edited by (DRF member) Cassie Ogden and Stephen Wakeman, brings together work by established experts alongside new voices to provide an accessible and stimulating snap-shot of the role of the body in society in the early-twenty first century. The new essays collected in Corporeality: The Body and Society demonstrate some of the unique advantages attainable through studying the body theoretically. Focusing in on a series of embodied fields related to lifestyle media, war, disability, drugs and mental health, the book re-states the fundamental importance of a body-centred approach in the social sciences. Available now for purchase from:

• Foyles Bookstore: http://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/philosophy-psychology-social-sciences/corporeality-the-body-and-society,cassandra-a-ogden-stephen-wakeman-9781905929979

• University of Chester Press: http://www.chester.ac.uk/university-press

• Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corporeality-Society-Issues-Social-Sciences/dp/1905929978/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361282657&sr=8-1

Announcing ***Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane*** Sept, 2013: Sheffield, UK

As some of you may already know, at yesterday’s DRF seminar we had the privilege of announcing the date and details of the next ***Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane*** Conference.  See below for further details.

Event: 4th Annual International Conference ***Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane***

Date/Place: Tues. 3^rd – Wed. 4^th September 2013 – Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Hosted by: Dept. of Education, Childhood and Inclusion + Disability Research Forum, Sheffield Hallam University in association with University of Chester, Manchester Metropolitan University + the University of Sheffield.

Conference organising committee: Dan Goodley (UoS); Nick Hodge (SHU); Rebecca Mallett (SHU); Cassie Ogden (Univ of Chester); Katherine Runswick-Cole (MMU); Jenny Slater (SHU).

Title: Precarious Positions: Encounters with Normalcy

Call For Papers: disabilityresearchforum.wordpress.com/events/normalcy-2013

Conference Enquiries: normalcy2013@gmail.com

Conference Registration: to book a place please visit normalcy2013.eventbrite.co.uk

Printable Poster: Normlacy 2013 Poster

Keep up to date and join the debate on twitter #normalcy2013

Reminder of the next DRF themed seminar: Youth and Disability, Wednesday 9th Jan, 12-2

A reminder that the next DRF seminar will be on Wednesday 9^th January 2013 12pm-2pm in Arundel 10111.The theme of this seminar is ‘Youth and Disability’.

Slot 1: Jenny Slater (Department of Education, Childhood and Inclusion, Sheffield Hallam University, UK): “You’re not, I mean… I know you’re not, but I have to ask, you’re not… sexually active, are you?” Youth, disability, sexuality.

Abstract:

The quote I use to frame this paper comes out of my PhD research with young disabled people. It captures the troubled and troubling response that Molly, a young disabled woman, received from a doctor when requesting the contraceptive pill on sporting grounds. Furthermore, it illustrates the dangerous tying of disability to a discourse of asexuality; a discourse which works to sustain the positioning of disabled people’s bodies as a) childlike (Hall, 2011), b) asexual (Garland-Thomson, 2002; Liddiard, 2012), and c) the property of others, to be subject to intervention (Barton, 1993; McCarthy, 1998). For young disabled people, particularly young women, this is dangerous. In this paper I share more stories from my fieldwork in order to work through messy discourses of youth, disability and sexuality.  I use these stories to question Disability Studies and, to a lesser extent, popular media normalisation of issues concerning disability, disabled youth, gender and sexuality, stressing the importance of transdisciplinary conversation.

Slot 2: Ezekiel Isanda Oweya: (Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa): Experiences of African disabled youth living in rural Rift Valley to find and sustain livelihoods

 

Venue: The seminar will be held in the Arundel Building, 122 Charles Street, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University, S1 1WB.  For a map of City Campus click here.

If you, or anybody you know, would like to present at a DRF seminar please do get in touch.  Alternatively, let us know if there is an issue/article/book you’d like to facilitate a round table discussion on.

Even if you do not intend to present, feel free to come along, listen and share your thoughts.   For lunchtime slots, please feel free to bring your own food and drink.

We aim to be accessible and have produced some guidelines of which we would like presenters to be mindful – these can be accessed here: Accessible Presenting

To offer to present, facilitate a discussion or for more detailed access information please contact: Rebecca Mallett: r.mallett@shu.ac.uk or 0114 225 4669 or Jenny Slater: j.slater@shu.ac.uk or 0114 225 6691.

Reminder of next DRF Seminar: Welcoming the UG-DRF and Katherine Runswick-Cole

A reminder that the next DRF seminar will be next Tuesday 18th December 2012 2.00pm – 3.30pm.

The first half of the session will welcome Michelle Darby and Lucia Coello-Lage from our new Undergraduate DRF, before Katherine Runswick-Cole (Research Institute of Health and Social Change, Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University) will give a paper on:

Title: (Neuro)diversity: Pros and cons for (neoliberal) social policy

Abstract: This paper sets out to explore the term ‘neurodiversity’ and to examine the potential and limitations of ‘a politics of neurodiversity’ (Singer, 1999) in a neoliberal social policy context.  This work in progress seeks to problematise the notions of neurodiversity and neo-liberal social policy and to explore the possibilities of a politics of dismodernity (Davis, 2003).

Venue: Room 10212 in the Arundel Building, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University (More information on the venue can be found here).

There are still slots available in to present in 2013, so if you, or anybody you know, would like to present at a DRF seminar please do get in touch.  Alternatively, let us know if there is an issue/article/book on which you’d like to facilitate discussion.  Please email Jenny Slater: j.slater@shu.ac.uk

The Launch of the Undergraduate Disability Research Forum

We’re excited to annouance that tomorrow will see the launch of Sheffield Hallam’s Undergraduate Disability Reseach Forum (UG-DRF). As a sister project running alongside the DRF, UG-DRF will provide a space for undergraduates involved in and/or interested in Disability Research to share, discuss and receive feedback on their own disability research.

Rebecca Mallett and Jenny Slater, along with third year Education and Disability Studies students, Michelle Darby and Lucia Coello-Lage, will chair the first meeting on Tuesday 4th December 2012 which will involve third year Education Studies Students sharing their disability-focused dissertation research ideas, ‘speed dating’ style!

The second UG-DRF event will be with a DRF session on December 18^th 2012 where Michelle and Lucia will talk about their own research. This seminar will also welcome Katherine Runwick-Cole to speak on (Neuro)diversity: Pros and cons for (neoliberal) social policy. For more on this session click here.

Watch this space for more on the UG-DRF.

There are still slots available in to present in 2013, so if you, or anybody you know, would like to present at a DRF seminar please do get in touch.  Alternatively, let us know if there is an issue/article/book on which you’d like to facilitate discussion.  Please email Jenny Slater: j.slater@shu.ac.uk

CFP: Get involved in the 2012-13 Disability Research Forum Seminar Series

The DRF is looking for people to present as part of it’s 2012-13 seminar series.  The dates are as follows:

DRF Seminar Schedule 2012-2013

 1.                  18th December 2012 (Tues) 2pm-3.30pm

Katherine Runswick-Cole(Research Institute of Health and Social Change, Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University):  (Neuro)diversity: pros and cons for (neoliberal) social policy

This paper sets out to explore the term ‘neurodiversity’ and to examine the potential and limitations of ‘a politics of neurodiversity’ (Singer, 1999) in a neoliberal social policy context.  This work in progress seeks to problematise the notions of neurodiversity and neo-liberal social policy and to explore the possibilities of a politics of dismodernity (Davis, 2003).

Followed by Christmas Tea!

2.                 9^th January 2013 (Weds) 12pm-2pm, Arundel 10111

Slot 1: Jenny Slater (Department of Education, Childhood and Inclusion): “You’re not, I mean… I know you’re not, but I have to ask, you’re not… sexually active, are you?” Youth, disability and sexuality

Slot 2: TBC

3.                 13^th February 2013 (Weds) 4.30pm-6pm, Arundel 10212

Dan Goodley (Department of Education, Sheffield University): What is critical disability studies?

4.                 11^th March 2013 (Mon) 11am-1pm, Arundel 10111

Slot 1: TBC

Slot 2: TBC

5.                 15th April 2013 (Mon) 11am-1pm, Arundel 10111

Slot 1: TBC

Slot 2: TBC

More information on specific seminars will be announced shortly.

If you, or anybody you know, would like to present at a DRF seminar please do get in touch.  Alternatively, let us know if there is an issue/article/book on which you’d like to facilitate discussion.  Please email Rebecca Mallett: r.mallett@shu.ac.uk. More information on the venue can be found here and we’d like to take this opportunity to remind all presenters of the Accessible Presenting Info here.  We look forward to productive and engaging discussions ahead.

Rod Michalko and Tanya Titchkosky Come to Town

On one autumnal October evening, in a room full to capacity, over 45 interested individuals – including academics from various faculties and Disabled Student Support staff, Sheffield Hallam University; academics from the University of Sheffield, members of autism and disability communities – came together, in wisdom and wonder, to explore ‘disability’ with Tanya Titchkosky and Rod Michalko (University of Toronto, Canada).  

Below is an account of the day written by Helen Gibbons, a third year student on our BA (Hons) Education and Disability Studies. She recounts the evening seminar (part of the Education Research Seminar Series) as well as the afternoon class Rod and Tanya attended.

Rod Michalko and Tanya Titchkosky Come to Town ~ by Helen Gibbons

On Tuesday 16th October we (the third year BA (Hons) Education and Disability Studies students at Sheffield Hallam University) were extremely lucky to be given the opportunity to meet Rod Michalko and Tanya Titchkosky. Since starting the course three years ago we have read different journal articles, books and reviews written by Rod and Tanya so to meet them in person was a real treat.

During the day, Rod and Tanya attended our Critical Disability Studies module session where we were given the opportunity to chat, discuss and ask questions regarding their professional and, in some cases, personal experiences of living with an impairment and how they are “accepted” in society. During this session I became inspired at how amazing and influential these two individuals are by expressing and sharing their views of impairment and disability within society. During the session, I know I am not alone in saying, I learnt, understood and viewed a number of different ideas and theories through a fresh approach thanks to their brilliant explanations and examples. The highlights include…

• “Different words have different meanings” Rod Michalko
• “The one thing that interests me more than blindness is sight and eyes are used for a lot more than just seeing” Rod Michalko
• Disability is the assumption that everyone knows what it means, in many cases broken/abnormal. “We’ve been protected against the term disability” as “Disability is seen as a problem” Tanya Titchkosky
• “What we see isn’t necessarily correct” Tanya Titchkosky

In the evening Rod offered an examination of the ‘expert’ while Tanya offered suggestions on what a disability studies perspective could offer a critical study of education.  In her newest piece of work, “Towards a Politics of Wonder”, Tanya described an experience where a group of people weren’t considered during a fire evacuation and how a number of obstacles caused many of the individuals involved to be put at unnecessary danger. This lead to many interesting and eye opening views and theories including…

• by not recognising and supporting people with disabilities we are adding and increasing dangers
• it isn’t a lack of awareness, the fire fighters involved had been trained and given procedures and ways of supporting people in such situations but this is often interpreted as “it’s such a problem, it is easier to stay away” Tanya Titchkosky

To conclude I feel that the opportunity has been extremely useful and many of the theories, views and experiences shared and discussed will stay with me for many years to come. The messages I received from Rod and Tanya have not only been extremely useful and assisted with my academic work but they have also assisted and made me view disability and the “problems” differently. This has been evident through the practical aspect of things. When working in a Special Needs school, when being out in the general public and while spending time planning and developing my career I have been able to view things differently by some of the extremely useful discussions with Rod and Tanya.

I found Rod and Tanya’s seminar so influential that I have since set my heart on becoming a Disability Studies lecturer within a University just like them. It has enabled me to see just how much is possible and how disability is still seen as a “problem” when it really doesn’t have to be.

Thank You.