Abstract
The chapter addresses those works in which disability is rendered traumatic by the conditions of institutional life, as well as writings that chart a movement toward independent living. Paddy Doyle’s The God Squad occupies center place and is augmented by David Lane’s Tales from the Institution and the recollections of others who have written short memoir essays or testified before inquiry commissions. Completing the discussion is an analysis of several brief texts that highlight a move from institutional life into independent living. Throughout the chapter, contemporary concepts of privacy, independence, and mobility are reevaluated in light of disability.
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Grubgeld, E. (2020). Disability and Testimony: Survival and Activism. In: Disability and Life Writing in Post-Independence Ireland. Literary Disability Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37246-0_3
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