Tímarit um menntarannsóknir - 01.01.2011, Page 155

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Social Policy and Social Capital: Parents and
Exceptionality 1974–2007 focuses on the ex-
periences of the parents of disabled chil-
dren in Iceland. The emphasis is on, as the
author puts it, the “waves“ of municipal
and state policy that underpin services
concerning disabled children and their
parents over the last 30 years, but issues of
medicine, education, gender and the fam-
ily, among others, also receive a fair share
of attention. There is food for thought to
be found within these pages for academ-
ics, educators and practitioners in a wide
range of disciplines to be sure, but special-
ists within particular fields of study may
not be satisfied. From the perspective of
Icelandic disability studies, there are some
curious omissions in the references cited.
Those who focus on the development of
Icelandic disability policy may find little
that has not already been covered in the
Icelandic language literature. Those work-
ing in education or social work in Iceland
may have similar opinions. Given these
factors, as well as its publication in Eng-
lish, it is not entirely clear who is the in-
tended audience. Yet this is offset by the
fact that there is some striking material
within these pages that span a long and
noted research career.
The 33-year span for a study that aims
to analyse policy as well as present a social
history is indeed ambitious. The timeframe
that the work is placed within (1974–2007)
seems to coincide with the author’s own
research experience and personal engage-
ment with disability issues. However, the
author’s method of examining policy de-
velopments over these three decades is
intriguing and in my opinion successful.
This is done though a cohort model. The
parents of children born in the period of
1974–1983 are referred to as the “Explor-
ers“ as they encountered a heavily medi-
calised environment in which the birth of a
disabled child was perceived by practitio-
ners as a ‘tragedy,’ and the services on offer
tended towards exclusion and segregation.
The author illustrates quite well that the
gains in policy advances and service pro-
Exceptional waves: Parents of disabled
children negotiating 30 years of Icelandic
social policy
Social Policy and Social Capital: Parents and Exceptionality
1974–2007 by Dóra S. Bjarnason
James G. Rice, University of Iceland, Centre for Disability Studies
Tímarit um menntarannsóknir /
Journal of Educational Research (Iceland) 8, 2011, 155.-157.