“one must either be a creature of the disability, or have transcended it entirely” (King 1993, p 72)
One of the dangers of doing work with disabled people is a tendency to make them into heroes, to portray them as not giving up, overcoming the odds, and being real fighting spirits – indeed, an inspiration to other disabled persons and able-bodied alike (the Nike ad springs to mind). This kind of mythology is defined as the ‘supercrip’ story by Eli Clare, who describes himself on his website as “White, disabled, and genderqueer.” Continue reading “Overcoming disability – the ‘supercrip’”
Carl Whetham photography 