Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Other Sociology

Disability policies

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Education

Winks, Blinks, Squints, And Twitches: Looking For Disability And Culture Through Our Son’S Left Eye, Philip M. Ferguson, Dianne L. Ferguson Jun 2015

Winks, Blinks, Squints, And Twitches: Looking For Disability And Culture Through Our Son’S Left Eye, Philip M. Ferguson, Dianne L. Ferguson

Philip M. Ferguson

In this article, we argue that while an appreciation of disability's cultural context is fundamental, we should be careful not to replace one essentialist version of disability with a new one. We look at the relational patterns that emerge from the specific circumstances of significant intellectual disability. This article follows Clifford Geertz’ well‐known account of the multiple layers of cultural context and interpretive richness raised by even a seemingly simple act such as winking. By exploring the meaning of son's ability to wink, we argue that intellectual disability may be interpreted as the absence of culture. The article goes on …


Winks, Blinks, Squints, And Twitches: Looking For Disability And Culture Through Our Son’S Left Eye, Philip M. Ferguson, Dianne L. Ferguson Jan 2001

Winks, Blinks, Squints, And Twitches: Looking For Disability And Culture Through Our Son’S Left Eye, Philip M. Ferguson, Dianne L. Ferguson

Education Faculty Articles and Research

In this article, we argue that while an appreciation of disability's cultural context is fundamental, we should be careful not to replace one essentialist version of disability with a new one. We look at the relational patterns that emerge from the specific circumstances of significant intellectual disability. This article follows Clifford Geertz’ well‐known account of the multiple layers of cultural context and interpretive richness raised by even a seemingly simple act such as winking. By exploring the meaning of son's ability to wink, we argue that intellectual disability may be interpreted as the absence of culture. The article goes on …