Review

Why experience counts

FEMALE FORMS: Experiencing and understanding disability
Carol Thomas
Open University Press 1999, £16.99

In this welcome addition to ‘disability studies’, Carol Thomas sets out to develop theorising on the social model of disability and to explore and expand the relevance of feminist ideas for understanding experiences – especially women’s – of disability. Not only does she do this in a more accessible manner than most academics, but she also ventures into uncharted territory by exploring the interface between disability studies, women’s studies and medical sociology.

The work uses disabled women’s experiences to bring a number of themes to life. Although it is well and truly grounded in the social model of disability, it addresses the difficult and contentious issue of the impact of impairment on ‘social model’ thinking.

Introducing the term ‘impairment effects’, Thomas succinctly offers a solution to what she calls the definitional riddle, which is: ‘Disability is about restrictions of activity which are socially caused. That is, disability is entirely socially caused. But some restrictions of activity are caused by illness and impairment. Thus some aspects of illness and impairment are disabling. But disability has nothing to do with impairment.’

Thomas argues that by disregarding the psycho-emotional dimensions of disability, the hardline social model advocates ignore matters to do with self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, sexuality, family life and so on. And that by doing so they leave these matters as ‘open season to psychologists and others who would not hesitate to apply the individualist/personal tragedy model to these issues’.

The author challenges the view that experience per se is about the private domain of life rather than the public domain of political struggle for disability rights and she cites the ‘tremendous social and political gains’ made by the women’s movement by placing personal experience at the very heart of its theoretical concerns and political actions.

Carol Thomas makes the argument powerfully that the ‘personal experience of living with both disability and impairment (and the interaction of these) should be on the disability studies agenda’. This is a challenging development which should indeed be taken on board by academics but it should also be taken up by the disabled people’s movement.

Disabled women with whom I have discussed the ‘impairment effects’ theory have all said ‘Yes, that’s right!’ – and now they all want to borrow the book.