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For the last 20 years commentators have begun to question the validity of the “Social Model of Disability”, and there is now space to develop a new model for those with hidden/invisible disabilities, who in fact out number those with visible disabilities.

This book develops the “Bi-ability Model” (Valeras, 2010) to better understand it’s viability to challenge the “Social Model of disability” (1972), as an outdated concept describing all those with disabilities. It is argued that the Social Model is too focussed on physical impairments/physical environmental barriers, and does not truly describe the barriers faced by those with hidden/invisible impairments in modern society (at school, at university, in the workplace, and socially).

The author has interviewed many very successful individuals with a range of hidden/invisible disabilities (e.g. dyslexia, Type 1 diabetes, Autism, ADHD, Epilepsy, Profoundly deaf, ME, bipolar depression and fibromyalgia), some having more than two disabilities, to develop greater understanding of their lives, and their keys for success.

This book will look at the “Bi-ability Model’ and how it offers a better way to understand their ability to develop highly successful careers through a range of strategies (e.g. passing) whilst rejecting a disability identity.

Surviving School as a Dyslexic Teenager is an easy to read book looking at the coping/defence strategies used by teenagers both in and outside school.

Understanding where these coping/defence strategies have come from (home influences, primary school, peer relationships, parent’s own diagnosed/undiagnosed dyslexia) and giving help, common sense, tips, and career/college/university advice.

This book is aimed at parents, educators, and dyslexic teenagers themselves.

Reviews

This is an interesting book that successfully replaces the deficit view of disability with a more promising and optimistic perspective, through the use of inspirational shared personal stories from successful people who have invisible differences. In doing so, it champions changes that are need in schools and the workplace that would lead to a more inclusive society. As such, this is a book that I will use with my undergraduate psychology students to enable them to see difference in a more positive way. It is also a book that I would recommend for professionals who work with people that society defines as being different from the norm.

Professor Garry Squires, Professor in Educational Psychology, University of Manchester, UK

In this revealing book, the author Neil Alexander Passe, explores the impact of hidden handicaps on successful adults, including in this book the usual range of learning difficulties, plus a number of medical conditions which inevitably make it more challenging to achieve success. 
The voice of the successful adult, their trials, tribulations and triumphs come through very clearly, building on the structured interview the author has devised. The format, a scholarly explanation of each condition, accompanied by the manifestations at each stage in life, is particularly effective. 

This mixture of hardship, rejection, uncertainty, resilience, and strategy use, in order to find success through the appropriate niche in life, will be familiar to all those with hidden disabilities, and here that rich understanding can be shared with every reader.  The bi-ability model provides a novel explanation for these patterns of processing that lead to both strengths and weaknesses. This is another tour de force from Neil, bringing an insider's eye to understanding the complexity of hidden handicaps, in a compelling series of vignettes that will grab the readers' attention throughout.  

Professor Angela Fawcett, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Sheffield University, UK

Invisible Differences, Visible Success is an insightful book that presents the biographical life stories of 13 people with a range of hidden disabilities. Neil Alexander-Passe positions himself as an insider, a scholar with dyslexia and a stammer/speech impediment, in an attempt to empathise with the experiences of his research participants. This book adds to existing literature that demonstrates the importance of disabled people conducting and coproducing research on the topic of disability. The book presents a clear and accessible text which will be particularly useful to practitioners, parents, and disabled activists. Alexander-Passe should be commended for bringing to life the lived experiences of people with hidden disabilities. The book presents the life stories of participants that have a range of hidden ‘impairments’ including, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), autism/Asperger’s syndrome, bipolar, epilepsy and diabetes. Participants were selected because of their lifetime achievements and successes in the fields of medicine, technology, education, law, public services, and entrepreneurship. Each chapter presents an accessible breakdown of each condition before continuing into the life stories of every participant.  

The book moves beyond a deficit approach of hidden disabilities and rather than predominantly focusing on discrimination, exclusion, and failure, Alexander-Passe presents stories of achievement, success, and resilience. This book offers a refreshing take on hidden disabilities by changing the dominant narrative of failure to that of success.

The book offers insights into understanding the unique aspects of having a hidden disability in the 21st-century and what impact this has on people’s life journeys and their identities. I think this is a must-read for any parent or adult who has recently been diagnosed with a hidden disability as this book offers a perceptive account of success and celebration rather than a deficit interpretation of struggle and failure which unfortunately still prevails in many professional practices.

Professor Stephen J Macdonald, Department of Sociology, Durham University, UK

This is another tour de force from Neil, bringing an insider's eye to understanding the complexity of hidden handicaps, in a compelling series of vignettes that will grab the readers' attention throughout.  

Professor Angela Fawcett, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Sheffield University, UK

The book presents a clear and accessible text which will be particularly useful to practitioners, parents, and disabled activists. Alexander-Passe should be commended for bringing to life the lived experiences of people with hidden disabilities.

Professor Stephen J Macdonald, Department of Sociology, Durham University, UK

This is an interesting book that successfully replaces the deficit view of disability with a more promising and optimistic perspective, through the use of inspirational shared personal stories from successful people who have invisible differences.

Professor Garry Squires, Professor in Educational Psychology, University of Manchester, UK