Disability, communication, and life itself in the COVID-19 pandemic

Health Sociol Rev. 2020 Jul;29(2):168-176. doi: 10.1080/14461242.2020.1784020. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Abstract

In this article we offer an analysis of a deeply problematic and troubling dual aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic: how disability is being understood within normative accounts of health and medicine to frame, interpret, and respond to its spread and implications; what are the terms of inclusion and exclusion in altered social life in the COVID crisis; and how people with disabilities fare. We find disturbing indications of disablism and oppressive biopolitics in the 'enforcing of normalcy' that frames and dominates COVID reconstruction of social life - a situation that we suggest needs urgent deciphering, critique, and intervention.

Keywords: COVID-19; accessibility; disability; disability justice; human rights; media.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 / prevention & control*
  • Communication*
  • Disabled Persons*
  • Health Services Accessibility*
  • Humans
  • Physical Distancing
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Sociology*