This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the development and consequences of disability policies, contrasting policies grounded in medical definitions of disability with a 'social model' of disability supported by disability rights campaigners in their pursuit of anti-discrimination legislation. British policies are set in comparative context, and the impacts of policy on disabled people according to their class, gender, age and ethnicity are explored.

We live at a paradoxical time for many disabled people: some achieve new freedoms while others face cuts in services and attempts to restrict who counts as disabled. Locating disability policy within broader social policy contexts, Alan Roulstone and Simon Prideaux critically explore the roles of social support, poverty, socio-economic status, community safety, spatial change, and other issues in shaping disabled people's opportunities. They also consider implications for future policy developments, including the impact of changing government and academic understandings of disability.

"Understanding Disability Law discusses important statutory and constitutional issues relating to disability discrimination. It is designed to help students in disability law courses synthesize and apply the materials they are learning. It is also designed to function as a compact treatise for practicing lawyers and those looking for an analysis of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Fair Housing Act Amendments, and other laws as they relate to the controversial issues of disability rights. The book discusses the leading cases on each of the major topics of disability law and suggests ways of thinking about unresolved questions and debates over legal policy. The fourth edition adds new information on every important topic. It includes thorough discussion of the Supreme Court's Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller ruling about emotional distress damages in ADA, Section 504, and ACA cases, as well as the Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools decision concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in special education cases. It provides new sources on the intersection of race and disability and on accommodations in family unification services for parents with disabilities. Coverage remains as comprehensive and detailed as before and includes: Constitutional law bearing on disability discrimination; The controversy over who is a person with a disability for purposes of federal statutes; Employment discrimination rights and remedies; Educational discrimination, including special education law and higher education for students with disabilities; Discrimination in public accommodations; Discrimination by federal, state, and local governments; and Disability discrimination related to housing, transportation, and telecommunications"--

In an era of scarce social resources, the question of changing social policy constructions and responses to disabled people has become increasingly important. This text locates disability policy into broader social policy and welfare policy writings, embracing a range of indicators of disabled people's welfare.

A development of some of the main themes and issues surrounding disability that have arisen since the mid-1970s. By relating these developments to the author's own biography throughout this time, this text challenges the personal and social perceptions of disability.

In an era of scarce social resources the question of the changing social policy constructions and responses to disabled people has become increasingly important. Paradoxically, some disabled people are realising new freedoms and choices never before envisioned, whilst others are prey to major retractions in public services and aggressive attempts to redefine who counts as 'genuinely disabled'. Understanding disability policy locates disability policy into broader social policy and welfare policy writings and goes beyond narrow statutory evaluations of welfare to embrace a range of indicators of disabled people's welfare. The book critically explores the roles of social security, social support, poverty, socio-economic status, community safety, official discourses and spatial change in shaping disabled people's opportunities. It also situates welfare and disability policy in the broader conceptual shifts to the social model of disability and its critics. Finally it explores the possible connection between changing official and academic constructions of disability and their implications for social policy in the 21st century. The book is supported by a companion website, containing additional materials for both students and lecturers using the book, which is available from the link above.