Disability
The Limits of Self-Advocacy
Relying on self-advocacy has led to marked economic and racial disparities.
The Future of Neurodiversity
The movement has made important progress, but focusing on rights and representation leaves too many behind.
Father of War
My son’s violent illness humbled my sense of control and transformed my understanding of what it means to parent.
The Frozen Politics of Social Security
The tone of exhausted pragmatism—even among friends of the program—is counterproductive. It is beyond time to fight fire with fire.
Twenty Years of Freedom Dreams
Robin D. G. Kelley published his pathbreaking history of the Black radical imagination in 2002. Where are we two decades later?
Mental Illness Is Not in Your Head
Decades of biological research haven’t improved diagnosis or treatment. We should look to society, not to the brain.
Neither Chaos Nor Quest: Toward a Nonnarrative Medicine
Narrative medicine claims to champion the experience of patients—but it does so by requiring that the sick “earn” their care by telling a redemptive tale about what is wrong with them.
The Shocking School
The Judge Rotenberg Center, a Massachusetts school, still uses electric shock therapy to punish disabled students. How can an entire field of mental health accept this?
Police Violence Is a Disability Justice Issue
More than half of disabled people experience long-term poverty, increasing the chances of violent police encounters.
What Would Health Security Look Like?
Struggles for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal are two sides of the same coin.