%run _help_reading.py
import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv(
'https://github.com/MrGeislinger/victorsothervector/raw/main/'
'data/reading/all_reading-clean.csv'
)
book_name = """Disability Visibility"""
one_title = one_title_data(df, book_name)
one_title_summary = get_summary_by_day(one_title)
generate_plot(one_title_summary, book_name);
Overview
This collection of short essays was less about people describing their disabilities but instead their experiences being a part of this world. I would often forget what their disability was because it was a focus on their human experiences in a world that wasn’t always aligned with them.
Buy at Bookshop (non-affiliate link / affiliate link)
This book was a trip– gaining a perspective of experiences.
It never felt like inspiration porn that I can imagine a lot of disability-focus can turn into. (“Look how much they overcame!”) Instead, I felt that I had a better time simply relating to the author of each essay.
I’m hesitant to say I ‘felt’ what they meant because there’s no way for anyone to truly know another’s experience.
Sometimes the stories would make you mad at society being unjust or simply its poor perceptions of what a disability is like.
Other times, the stories felt inspiring and hopeful, but not in that cheap, sappy way. More along the lines that I can see how the world is moving forward in truly understanding those represented by this story, even if it is just little steps.
I’ve been thinking for the past while we all become disabled over time. I think I really started thinking about it last year when listening to Adam Conover’s Factually! podcast episode ‘What Tech Gets Wrong About Disability with Ashley Shew’ (site & YouTube) which actually was recommended by the guest Ashley Shew. Related to that episode of the podcast, I can see how tech sometimes is championed as a ‘fix’ which really emphasizes how we tend to have a bias in how we think of disabilities.
Disability Visibility is a great palette cleanser to readjust your thinking about disability and the world we live in.