Disabling Language

Disabling Language explores how the disabled are represented in language and discourse, and how disabled people use language. Disabled people are everywhere, yet their experiences are rarely discussed in newspapers, advertisements or conversation - except in the form of derogatory naming. Through exploration of a range of real texts and advertisements, Mairian Corker contends that this silencing of disability disempowers disabled people and dis-ables the powers of language. In this book she brings together disability and discourse studies to analyze disabled people's struggles to subvert the dominant social codes that depersonalize, objectify and censor disability. The book identifies future directions for researching disability using discourse studies, and concludes with suggestions for strategies for disabled people to adopt in their pursuit of equality.