ABSTRACT
Disability is a multi-dimensional concept, which should be understood in terms of a continuum. Like most social movements, the disability movement comprised a range of voices and perspectives. At the global level, in 2006 the United Nations General Assembly agreed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a new treaty to promote, protect and ensure the human rights of the billion disabled people in the world. This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of both the evidence and the arguments about disability, in an accessible way. It focuses on the United Kingdom and also provides an international comparisons and examples from developing countries, to show how disability depends on the context. The book describes the whole disability experience, albeit at a very basic level. It looks more closely at issues around bioethics, and in particular genetics.
