Flash exhibit: Disabilities

The newest of our flash exhibits focuses on disabilities. This is a subject that is in constant flux as our cultural conceptions shift, so we try to keep up with revisions in the DDC as much as we can. Most works about disabilities are classed either in the 610s (medicine) or the 300s (cultural groups, education, or services to people with disabilities).

New works are always being published by disabled people with a wide range of topics. One that I noticed recently was not yet provided for in Dewey was works about sex and disability, so I've added a new built number, 306.7087 People with disabilities—sexual relations. This can be applied to many published works and new works like A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex & Disability (to be published July 2020).

Traditionally we've used the terms "deaf-blind people" or "blind-deaf people" in Dewey. However, most organizations around the world, including the World Federation of the Deafblind, do not use a hyphen in describing deafblind people. I've replaced those variants with the consistent use of the phrase "deafblind" in notes in multiple places. I've kept access to variants like Deaf-blind people and Blind-deaf people at in the Table 1 and interdisciplinary number (T1—0871 People with blindness and visual impairments and 305.9081 People with visual impairments), but in those and other places throughout the schedules, like 371.911 Students with blindness and visual impairments, we've used Deafblind people in the Relative Index terminology.

When works about disabilities are approached from a medical perspective, they should be classed in the 600s. I've added a new Relative Index term, Reading disorders—medicine, to 616.8553 Written language disorders to provide additional keyword and browse access.

I've also added the LCSH Autism spectrum disorders to 616.85882 Autism. In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) replaced terms like Autistic disorder and Asperger syndrome with just one term, Autistic spectrum disorder. Dewey has maintained terminology like Asperger syndrome and  Pervasive developmental disorders because they are still in use by the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), and because works are still being published about those conditions.

While these were all relatively straightforward additions, while reviewing this subject I found one problem that I'd like to address. At 371.94 the caption currently reads Students with emotional disturbances, and there is a note reading "Including attention-deficit-disordered students, autistic students, hyperactive students." I don't think this caption is clear, and I’d like to find a librarian to help me work through a better way to describe these works. If you would be interested in assisting with this important project, please get in touch via email at [email protected].

Comments

[Danica Alexander]

Question, where would culturally Deaf materials fit? What are the differences identified between the medical model of deafness and the cultural model, in Dewey? I appreciate any response and time on this subject.

[Violet Fox]

Hi Danica, thanks for your question. We don't distinguish between the cultural and medical models of deafness in Dewey (yet??), because it would be hard for classifiers to ascertain which model a particular resources is implementing unless the author specifically states it. You can find many cultural and social works by/about Deaf people at 305.9082 and 362.42, both of which would contain works that explore D/deafness from a sociological perspective, as opposed to numbers in the 610 hierarchy.

I'm happy for any thoughts you have for creating more clarity for classifiers; please get in touch at [email protected] if you'd like to continue the conversation!

[Juli Beall]

Sign language is an important aspect of Deaf culture. DDC has provisions for many sign languages at 419.4-419.9 Sign languages used primarily for communication among deaf people or between hearing and deaf people. American Sign Language is found at 419.7 ASL (Sign language).