We have agreed to provide within the journal a list of completed theses in the field of Disability Studies. This will be an important resource for readers to follow through as well as provide the names of colleagues who are new entrants to the discipline.
This is an open invitation for theses completed from 2012 which fit with the Aims and Scope of Disability & Society.
Please provide the following information:
Name of the author
Thesis title
University awarding degree
Degree awarded and year
A 100-word synopsis of the thesis
Email address
Please forward this information to Helen Oliver, Journal Administrator, Disability & Society Editorial Office
Email: [email protected]
We will include this call for Doctoral Announcements in forthcoming issues of the journal.
Executive Editors
Name of author:Hannah Crawford
Thesis title:Mealtimes and Food for People with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities and Dysphagia: Understanding the Lived Experience of Family Carers
University awarding degree:The University of Edinburgh, UK
Degree awarded and year:PhD, 2016
This study used phenomenological methodology to investigate the lived experience of family carers of adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and dysphagia, in relation to mealtimes and food. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and life grids. Often family carers have different points of view about their adult son or daughter with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities than those of professionals. These are often not clearly articulated, and clinical interventions can become marked with conflict. Findings are presented around four themes – the meaning of food and mealtimes, relationships, roles within the family, and challenges – and recommendations are made for practice and for future research.
Email: [email protected]
Name of author:Janice M. Fennell
Thesis title:Technology and Disability Identity: ‘Now You See Me, Now You Don’t’
University awarding degree:York University, Canada
Degree awarded and year:PhD, 2017
This qualitative study investigated whether the promised empowerment of technology is compromised by the visibility of technology support for students with invisible special needs such as learning disabilities (LD). The research findings indicated a strong positive association between the variables of awareness, understanding, and acceptance. Participants’ responses revealed: a direct relationship between students’ lack of awareness of having a disability and lack of knowledge regarding why they have a school-supplied laptop with access to assistive technology (AT); a strong connection between students’ awareness and understanding of the diagnosis of LD and their willingness to ‘own’ or accept a disabled identity in order to access necessary supports such as AT; and overall that awareness, understanding, and acceptance of a LD appeared to significantly impact students’ willingness to happily engage with AT.
Email: [email protected]
Name of author:Anna Heyman
Thesis title:Young and Young Adult Carers’ Transitions to Adulthood: The Impacts of Intergenerational Mutuality, Unequal Reciprocation and Intergenerational Inequality
University awarding degree:University of Sunderland, UK
Degree awarded and year:PhD, 2016
This study focused on what happens to child–adult relationships when young and young adult carers move beyond normative intergenerational boundaries, and the impact on child–adult transitions of having ‘prematurely’ acquired knowledge of adult worlds. Qualitative biographical interviews with 13 young and young adult carers and in-depth interviews with 10 young carers’ workers were carried out and analysed, using a grounded approach. Major concerns for young and young adult carers were: the barriers to relationships with peers arising from their role; the rigidity of the education system; and poor support for their dependent relatives, which could have helped them indirectly to manage their caring role.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Name of author:Eline Jammaers
Thesis Title:Beyond Barriers: Exploring Ableism in the Workplace
University awarding degree:University of Hasselt, Belgium,
Degree awarded and Year:PhD, 2016
The goal of this dissertation was to theoretically refine the concept of ableism and extend it to the context of work. Empirically this was done through 65 in-depth interviews conducted in three organizations with employees with an officially recognized impairment, on the one hand, and supervisors, HR managers, labour union representatives and occupational doctors on the other. The findings show how grant ableist discourses penetrate organizations and control employees by impinging upon (disabled) workers’ own identity and informing ableist social practices, yet never in totalizing or uniform ways.
Email: [email protected]