title: Walking the en-abling/dis-abling symbolic tightrope: toward a constitutive, dialectical view of disability symbolism.
abstract: In his essay, 'From handicap to disability: language use and cultural meaning in the United States', Patrick J. Devlieger raises some important and intriguing claims about the symbolic nature of the terms 'handicap' and 'disability'. As communication scholars, we applaud the attention Devlieger devotes to issues that fit comfortably under the general heading of the symbolic construction of health. In this response, we wish to highlight some contributions Devlieger makes and, hopefully, advance this conversation by offering some important extensions of the issues raised in his essay.
authors.affiliation: The University of Memphis, Department of Communication, TN 38152-3150, USA. lfrey@memphis.edu
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Upchurch
mesh_terms: D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013561:Symbolism; D009626:Terminology as Topic