Holding Up The Sky Together

Unpacking the National Narrative about People with Intellectual Disabilities

Ronald Bishop - With Sadie Pennington and Morgan Weiss

Even as kindness toward individuals with intellectual disabilities has increased, encountering an individual and his or her family whose lives revolve around the daily challenges that come with them is atypical, or is experienced and narrated as such, particularly by the media. Even when there is progress, making such a leap provides rhetorical cover, or at least a distraction, while intolerance regroups. And for some, it becomes less about showing love and compassion than about being able to pat oneself on the back when an interaction with a person like our son Neil is over.

But it’s why they don’t know, or are curious but reluctant to engage, or just flat out lack empathy, that compelled us to write this book. Contributing to their misimpressions and misanthropy are portrayals of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the mass media, scant though they are. We should always be skeptical of those in my line of work who argue that the onslaught of information we take in from a widened array of sources can magically change our behavior – the so-called “hypodermic needle” theory of media effects. But these messages do help us craft our realities and develop and share our own narratives about folks with intellectual disabilities.

Holding Up the Sky Together is admittedly a hybrid: part memoir, part academic analysis—a professor with more than 30 published articles and four books, all of which revolve around media analysis, looks inward. But our fervent hope is to inject a bit more realism into the national dialogue about intellectual disabilities. We are grateful for increased awareness and tolerance, for Special Olympics, and for shows like Born This Way. But there is so much more to be done.

Hamilton Books

Pages: 194 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7618-7002-9 • Paperback • November 2017 • $35.99 • (£30.00)

978-0-7618-7003-6 • eBook • November 2017 • $34.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Social Science / People with Disabilities, Education / Inclusive Education, Education / Special Education / General, Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Biography & Autobiography / People with Disabilities

Holding Up The Sky Together

Unpacking the National Narrative about People with Intellectual Disabilities

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Even as kindness toward individuals with intellectual disabilities has increased, encountering an individual and his or her family whose lives revolve around the daily challenges that come with them is atypical, or is experienced and narrated as such, particularly by the media. Even when there is progress, making such a leap provides rhetorical cover, or at least a distraction, while intolerance regroups. And for some, it becomes less about showing love and compassion than about being able to pat oneself on the back when an interaction with a person like our son Neil is over.

But it’s why they don’t know, or are curious but reluctant to engage, or just flat out lack empathy, that compelled us to write this book. Contributing to their misimpressions and misanthropy are portrayals of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the mass media, scant though they are. We should always be skeptical of those in my line of work who argue that the onslaught of information we take in from a widened array of sources can magically change our behavior – the so-called “hypodermic needle” theory of media effects. But these messages do help us craft our realities and develop and share our own narratives about folks with intellectual disabilities.

Holding Up the Sky Together is admittedly a hybrid: part memoir, part academic analysis—a professor with more than 30 published articles and four books, all of which revolve around media analysis, looks inward. But our fervent hope is to inject a bit more realism into the national dialogue about intellectual disabilities. We are grateful for increased awareness and tolerance, for Special Olympics, and for shows like Born This Way. But there is so much more to be done.

Details

Hamilton Books

Pages: 194 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7618-7002-9 • Paperback • November 2017 • $35.99 • (£30.00)

978-0-7618-7003-6 • eBook • November 2017 • $34.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Social Science / People with Disabilities, Education / Inclusive Education, Education / Special Education / General, Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Biography & Autobiography / People with Disabilities

Author

Ronald Bishop is a professor in the Department of Communication at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He lives in Delaware with his amazing wife Sheila and his indomitable son. A native of Maplewood, N.J. He earned his Ph.D. at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Sadie Pennington is a communication major at Drexel University. She grew up in Caldwell, New Jersey and attended James Caldwell High School in West Caldwell.

Morgan Weiss is a communication major at Drexel University. She grew up in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania and attended Mount St. Joseph Academy in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: A Day in the Life
Chapter 2: The Saddest I’ve Ever Been
Chapter 3: “Making” Disabilities
Chapter 4: The Legend of “Scooter Boy”
Chapter 5: Catch the Wind
Chapter 6: Packaged for Public Consumption
Chapter 7: By Any Other Name
Chapter 8: The Homecoming Court
Chapter 9: Other Voices
Chapter 10: Other Voices, Continued
Chapter 11: Those Who Demand Attention
References

Reviews

This is a compelling memoir/media analysis that doesn't hold back in addressing the day-to-day complexities of raising a child with intellectual and physical disabilities. The book connects the author's parenting experience to the larger issue of society's distorted narratives about people with intellectual disabilities, as well as taking a nuanced look at how organizations like Special Olympics fit within these narratives.
— Beth Haller, Towson University

WOW! A rollercoaster of emotions and confrontations employing many voices—parents, people with disabilities, historians, educators, students, the mass media—orchestrated by a well read, thoughtful and talented author. An unusual and insightful review of literature integrated with real life stories makes this an engaging read. Bound to be controversial this book needs to be read for those who want to confront challenging issues facing disability today.
— Robert Bogdan, professor emeritus, Syracuse University. Award winning author of Picturing Disability: Beggar, Freak, Citizen, and Other Photographic Rhetoric (with Martin Elks and James Knoll)

Holding Up The Sky Together

Unpacking the National Narrative about People with Intellectual Disabilities

Ronald Bishop - With Sadie Pennington and Morgan Weiss

Holding Up The Sky Together

Unpacking the National Narrative about People with Intellectual Disabilities

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