The Disabled Child: Memoirs of a Normal Future

The Disabled Child: Memoirs of a Normal Future explores the narratives that have emerged from the community of parent-memoirists who have written in resistance to their children's exclusion from culture. These memoirs are generally written by white, heterosexual, middle or upper-middle class, able-bodied parents, and depict narratives in which the disabled child overcomes barriers to a normal childhood and adulthood. Apgar argues that these memoirs reinforce ableism by reinforcing and buying into dominant cultural narratives about gender, race, and class.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 30 January 2023
Publisher: The University of Michigan Press

Parents often find themselves in a bewildering situation when their children are born with disabilities or become disabled in childhood. They find themselves suddenly in a new world, without a roadmap or a sense of community to guide them. Without narratives to make sense of their experiences, they struggle to understand the challenges they face.

The Disabled Child: Memoirs of a Normal Future is a book that explores the narratives that have emerged from the community of parent-memoirists who have written in resistance to their children's exclusion from culture. These memoirs, despite their diverse disabilities, share several remarkable similarities. They are generally written by white, heterosexual, middle or upper-middle class, able-bodied parents, and they depict narratives in which the disabled child overcomes barriers to a normal childhood and adulthood.

In her book, Apgar demonstrates that parental memoirists write their children into dominant cultural narratives about gender, race, and class as they tell these stories. By reinforcing and buying into these norms, Apgar argues that "special needs" parental memoirs reinforce ableism at the same time that they are writing against it.

The book raises important questions about the role of parental memoirs in shaping cultural narratives and the impact they have on the lives of disabled children and their families. It encourages readers to think critically about the messages conveyed in these memoirs and to consider the ways in which they contribute to or challenge dominant cultural norms.

Overall, The Disabled Child: Memoirs of a Normal Future is a thought-provoking and important book that sheds light on the experiences of disabled children and their families and offers a critical perspective on the role of parental memoirs in shaping cultural narratives.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780472055692