Relatives of People with Disabilities

The impairment of an individual nearly always affects the lives of other people, directly or indirectly. These individuals often adapt to the impairment and change their lifestyles accordingly. They seem to fit into neither of the categories of "abled" or "disabled." As relatives, they are closely connected to the person with a disability, yet as members of society, they may subconsciously reject disability due to ingrained biases. This intermediate position can be deeply challenging. To date, neither Literary nor Cultural Disability Studies has systematically explored the significance of relatives in fostering disability awareness in society. They do not systematically address the social inequalities faced by co-disabled relatives. The symbolic representation of relatives and the power of these representations to perpetuate or challenge stereotypes of disability remain underexplored. Therefore, it is time to move beyond anecdotal accounts toward more systematic analyses and conceptual frameworks regarding relatives, complementing medical and educational perspectives. This volume aims to demonstrate that analyzing the portrayal of relatives in fictional or factual texts is relevant to Disability Studies. Relatives play a decisive role in shaping the images and concepts of disability.