Empowerment In Spite of Disability and Poverty

Empowerment In Spite of Disability and Poverty

• Adina Karten
• 2018
• 3:40

I wasn’t always disabled. I was originally sick, stuck between alive and dead, in a metaphorical hospital bed. I learned through studying other disabled people and meeting disabled friends that disability could be positive, so junior year of college I shed my metaphorical hospital gown and planned my escape from the west, from the medical model, from the trap between alive and dead. I went to India to study abroad. My experiences in India, which I discuss in this video, led me to publish my research on disability and poverty. Now, I am continuing my research on how capitalism interacts with the social ability of disabled people in rural areas of low-income countries. Sussex University provides me with a unique opportunity. They are one of the few programs that unite disability studies with development and poverty studies. They not only have resources to help me, they also have accommodations for me to thrive in an academic environment.