Meaning of a Disability

The author of this book combines his years of sociological training and his time with illness and disability to analyze a broad range of matters on both subjects. He examines things that healthcare providers unwittingly say to patients, and communication problems in the intensive care unit.

Robillard is a sociology professor and ethnomethodologist. Paralyzed as a result of motor-neuron disease, he explores his daily life from an ethnomethodological perspective. The chapter titles are indicative of the topics addressed: "You Are Lucky Your Wife Stuck with You," "Communicating in Intensive Care," "Anger," "Isolation," and "Can He Think?" Robillard analyzes typical activities, such as communication, that are usually taken for granted, and discusses in detail the system by which graduate assistants and family members read his lips. In spite of this method, he is often excluded from conversations because the few people who can translate for him may be unavailable or are reluctant to translate. Healthcare professionals also routinely exclude him from input about his own care. Robillard's anger at these exclusions is palpable, as is his indignation at the "common culture of disability"Athe tendency of society to belittle people with disabilities based on a set of culturally engrained misconceptions. Although written as a personal narrative, this work includes numerous references to the scholarly literature of ethnomethodology, communication, and disability. Recommended primarily for sociology, anthropology, and disability studies collections in academic libraries; health professionals might also benefit from the patient perspective offered in the book.AXimena Chrisagis, Wright State Univ. Libs., Dayton, OH
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