Abstract
This chapter presents an autoethnographic account of my experiences living with multiple identities as a disabled adopted woman of color and reflections from my travels to poverty-stricken areas helping to advance disability policies and promoting awareness. The stories presented allow readers to interrogate, or question the world, where we’ve come from, where we are today. The significance of this chapter rests in what Ellis (The ethnographic I: a methodological novel about autoethnography. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, 2004), a well-known autoethnographer, describes as producing survivor tales that open up a moral and ethical conversation. The two stories being told are about my experiences returning to India, my place of birth, and the moment of shifting from being an outsider looking in at the culture to becoming an insider looking out. This story is about the intersection of disability, race, and my perspectives on poverty pertaining to my own identity development. The second story, building on these experiences, is about work I’ve completed in Ghana to help develop opportunities for persons with disabilities in the realm of sport. In this nation, I learned the power sport has to serve as a catalyst for social change in improving the lives and opportunities for persons with disabilities. Key policy makers and decision makers for the country of Ghana interested in disability affairs who had previously never met each other came together to improve lives for persons with disabilities. Collectively, these experiences of oppression and facing stigmas strengthened and enhanced my own identity development, and may serve as a catalyst for others’ reframing of their own experiences.
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Forber-Pratt, A.J. (2017). “Not Everybody Can Take Trips Like This”: A Paralympian’s Perspective on Educating About Disability Around the World. In: Halder, S., Assaf, L. (eds) Inclusion, Disability and Culture. Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55224-8_5
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