Dear Friends

I am a woman with a hidden disability from Belfast, Northern Ireland who is studying for a Masters degree in Women's Studies. I am about to embark on my research and am very keen to access the voices of disabled women. Having Internet access on my home PC is wonderful as I can contact so many more people!

My initial interest area was women's bodies, which led me on to women with disabilities and how feminist theory concerning the body has mainly ignored the needs, interests and concerns of disabled women. I am in the initial stages of thinking about my thesis and would like to ask any disabled women out there - which topics or issues concern you most as a disabled woman? What issues burn within you as a disabled woman in contemporary society? How have you been excluded as a woman with a disability? Do you feel there are gaps in research in disability studies regarding women's experience and understanding of disability? Do you feel that disabled women face different issues from disabled men? Would you be prepared to complete my research questionnaire which I will be posting to a website in the near future?

I would love to hear from anybody interested in assisting me in my research.