Significant disability: issues affecting people with significant disabilities from a historical, policy, leadership, and systems perspective.

E. Davis Martin, Jr. Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Ltd. Springfield, IL 2001, 208 pages $53.95 cloth, $34.95 paper

At first glance, Significant disability: Issues affecting people with significant disabilities from a historical, policy, leadership, and systems perspective appears to be another book in the genre of edited texts that provide a basic overview of the historical development of social attitudes and policies concerning disability. What separates this from the other "Intro to Disability 101" textbooks is its design-one half of the book is classic textbook, looking at the development of the social and political dimensions of disability; the other half of the book provides the reader with stories written by either individuals or family members of people who have significant disabilities.

The book is technically presented in three parts, although the third part is actually a short summarization of the recommendations for systems change identified in previous chapters. Part 1 includes four chapters that provide an operational definition of significant disability, an overview of the history of disability policy, a review of the ongoing social debate surrounding meeting the needs of people with significant disabilities, and a presentation of how the United States government has responded to the needs of people with significant disabilities through legislative responses.

Part 2 of the book is entitled Portraits of Leadership and is composed of ten chapters in which the editor provides individual authors the opportunity to present a myriad of opinions related to their experience of significant disability. For example, in Chapter 5--Patrick's Metamorphosis, the co-authors wrote about their son and how difficult it was to have no positive reinforcement from anyone within the helping professions about their son's disability. In the conclusion section, the editor writes that people with disabilities need advocates and support systems. In Patrick's case, his parents were his advocates. Patrick's parents share with the reader the importance of what they did and admit that it is not easy. In subsequent chapters, the authors give messages on a variety issues such as the necessity to "surround yourself with people who love you, radiate that love outward toward everyone you meet, and pursue your goals relentlessly" (Ch. 6, p.143), and "disability is not something you suffer from, battle, or try to get rid of, it is just a part of you like your heart or brain" (Ch. 7, p.148).

Part 3: Leadership and systems change is composed of one chapter. The author looks at the need for and process of making changes in various human service systems, from organizing principles for infusing positive change in agencies to mandating certification of rehabilitation counselors, to making assistive technology available, and ensuring the inclusiveness of educational systems. The author concludes this chapter and the book by saying that "the purpose and goals of [government] policies that effect the lives of people with disabilities ... have been to develop human service systems that are consumer centered and that are empowering" (p. 206) but those ideals have not been implemented with sufficient focus.

In the preface, the editor states "the text will be particularly useful in either graduate or advanced undergraduate courses for ... allied health professionals" (p.xiii). Although the author presents a thorough discussion of social attitude, policy, and legislation related to disability in the United States, there is insufficient depth of information for this to be a stand-alone text for a graduate course. Most of the existing introductory texts cover the same material as well as provide profession-specific information. Because of the combination of historical information and anecdotal stories, it is this reviewer's opinion that this book would be appropriate and useful as a text for an introductory undergraduate course or as an ancillary text to add a more human context in appropriate graduate courses. This book would also be a useful for practitioners as a referral source for clients, family members, and other rehabilitation stakeholders who are interested in understanding the development of public policies and social attitudes related to disability.

Charles D. Palmer, Ph.D., C.R.C.
Assistant Professor & Coordinator of Fieldwork
Rehabilitation Counseling Program
Mississippi State University