I'd just like to reiterate Glenn's words and add that my own
decision to go for a doctorate has been an empowering
experience in the most sympathetic and supportive of
environments. More than that, though, has been the
enjoyment of talking about disability issues to colleagues
and faculty members who had not previously given such
issues much thought and seeing their interests in it
awakened.
Peter Handley
UEA, Norwich.
On Fri, 7 Mar 2003 13:22:34 -0000 "Smith, Glenn"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I really have to reply to these postings. I started my PhD on disability and
> chronic illness when my kidneys were failing. I had my transplant near the
> end of my PhD. It was no easy task but I completed it. Academia allowed me
> the flexibility and freedom to be indpendent with my condition, yet improved
> my life and understanding of disabled issues and the world that are not
> easily understood or conveyed through practical activism. I wish people
> would stop doing academia down - it has a place in understanding the world
> and is often far from elitist - since it has historically allowed many
> different kinds of people a space from which to understand pain, suffering
> and marginalisation in a sympathetic environment without the pressures of a
> commercially driven and practically led 'real' world. These PhD places
> should be seen as a great way promote the further incoporation and
> intellectual respect of disability studies and people with impairments.
> Glenn
>
> Dr Glenn Smith,
> Research Fellow,
> London,
> NW3.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Derick Bird [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 07 March 2003 06:14
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: PhD Opportunities
>
>
> Sorry Mark but there really is no comparison.
>
> It simply is not possible to compare as if to place everyone with the same
> disability like the lumpen proletariat because there are so many different
> variables to consider.
>
> Different coping mechanisms. Lesion site and whether singular or clusters.
> Level of deterioration. Whether relapsing/remitting or whether primary or
> secondary progressive. MS is a neurological degenerating disease which
> debilitates in very different ways. The only common denominator is fatigue.
>
> But having MS was not the issue.
>
> Derick
>
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