Disability Studies Quarterly
Fall 2005, Volume 25, No. 4
<www.dsq-sds.org>
Copyright 2005 by the Society
for Disability Studies


Editors' preface

In the summer 2005 issue, we mourned the passing of disability rights leader and author Frieda Zames. After hearing the evocative eulogy given by her sister and co-author, Doris Zames Fleischer, at Frieda's memorial service in New York City, we asked permission to publish it in this issue. Whether you knew Frieda or not, we think you'll appreciate the eulogy as a glorious tribute to someone who was integral to the Disability Rights Movement in her metropolitan hometown, and nationally, as well as a contributor to disability history through the book, The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation (2001).

In the current issue, we again have a bounty of quality papers, both thematic and general, as well as reviews, essays, and poetry. We present part 2 of the Freakery theme section, guest-edited by Michael Chemers. This part emphasizes representations of freaks in narratives and other forms of cultural products.

Another theme section, "Emerging Issues in the Study of Disability Policy and Law," guest-edited by Peter Blanck, alerts readers to policy developments that will shape the lives of people with disabilities in the U.S. and internationally. The papers' content ranges widely, including economic development, civil rights, social security, technology, and other matters that are influenced by and through legislation. The authors' approaches are equally diverse, drawing on, for example, judicial decisions, advocacy materials and actions, and even Foucauldian theory. Once again, given the large number of papers, we present this theme in 2 parts, the first in this issue and the second to appear in the Winter 2005/6 issue. See Blanck's introduction to this theme section for details.

The general papers offer a diverse array of topics — a paper on use of humor in families with a disabled child; a paper on images of disabled athletes, male and female, in Sports 'n Spokes magazine; a paper that analyzes the conversations of parents of disabled children when meeting with therapists, and one that examines the role of a disabling condition in the work and life of Flannery O'Connor. As this issue was being finalized, Hurricane Katrina ripped open deep societal issues involving disability. By drawing on a modern means of public discourse, i.e., listservs, we were able to include a timely comment derived from SDS' listserv, adapted for DSQ by its author. We welcome readers' responses to that comment, and to any material published in DSQ.

We have added a new section — "Pedagogy in Disability Studies," which will be an occasional feature, whenever appropriate papers are received. As Disability Studies courses increasingly thrive in academia, innovative approaches appear. The situation is ripe for sharing pedagogical ideas and outcomes. We welcome your contributions of this sort. We expect that generally these will be "commentaries," reviewed by the editors; if you wish formal peer-review for a pedagogical article, and the reviewers accept it, we will publish it with the general articles, indicating that it is about Pedagogy in Disability Studies.

Finally, we are pleased to report a staff change. Susan Baglieri became our new Editorial Assistant/Intern in the summer, but proved herself to be so invaluable so quickly, because of her expertise in Disability Studies and education, that we recently promoted her to DSQ's Assistant Editor. Sue is a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, in curriculum and teaching with a focus in learning disability. With her new title, she is assisting us in editing DSQ submissions as well as other important tasks.

Beth Haller & Corinne Kirchner, Co-Editors