Stories on Disability Through our Voices : Born This Way

This book integrates the discipline of disability studies with the lived experiences of women with visible disabilities. It seeks to foreground the silenced voices of Korean and Korean American women with visible physical disabilities in South Korea and the United States. Drawing upon the work of scholars in disability studies, largely drawn from in disability studies in education and feminist disability studies, it challenges readers to (re)consider their own misconceptions and assumptions about disability and to reconceptualize their understanding of diversity. A special distinction of this book is that the author, as a woman with visible disabilities, is able to connect to other women with visible disabilities in unique ways as they share similar experiences as well as their own unique stories through the process of in-depth interviews. Starting with a recollection of her own experience of living with a disability, it then moves to the lived experiences of four other women with disabilities. This unique way of storytelling conveys the important message that living with disability is not a one-time linear process from initial diagnosis to acceptance and overcoming, but a dynamic, evolving, and ongoing meaning-making journey.
It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, Asian studies, women’s studies and sociology more broadly.