Towards the Integration of Critical Disability Studies in Rehabilitation Sciences Curricula

The aim of this chapter is to historicize the status quo of rehabilitation in South Africa and make an argument for Southern Critical Disability Studies to be integrated and embedded in the curricula of rehabilitation sciences (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Audiology). Three case studies to support the argument anchor the discussion to motivate the logic and demonstrate the mechanics though not exhaustively but with an immensely generative potential in constructive insights for the future of these fields. The central question centers around the productive tension that emerges in a sincere engagement between Critical Disability Studies and Rehabilitation Studies and the implications therein for the overall praxis of rehabilitation sciences. Integrating and embedding critical disability studies that accounts for the hegemonic effects of marginalizing disability as a total social system of oppression may facilitate re-imagining a critical rehabilitation science.