Think for a moment: how many immediate family members, relatives, friends, and/or other significant people in your life – including yourself – have a disability; that is, who “happen to be blind, deaf, or living with chronic physical, intellectual, or mental health conditions”? How many close friends and relatives with such conditions can you think of? One, two, three, four, five …?

Given that a Gallup poll found most Americans have nine close friends, not counting relatives, let us say there are 20 people with whom you interact in important ways – working with them, attending parties with them, helping or being helped by them, etc. According to the US census, 19% of Americans or 56.7 of roughly 322 million are identified as disabled. Approximately one in five Americans have a disability; in your network of your 20 most important relationships, four members are likely to have a disability. Can you think of those members? I can.

In my own family network, three members have disabilities (autism, manic depression, and dementia) such that they need assisted living or social benefits for individuals with disabilities. One of my most important former mentors has congestive heart disease. I myself am sufficiently hearing impaired that I often ask my wife and others “What did you say?” and use various strategies at work and in noisy social situations to hear people. My point is that most of us, ourselves, have – or at some point in our lives will have – a disability.

Michelle Nario‐Redmond's tour de force book is about ableism, aka disability prejudice, and the experiences of individuals with disability. It builds on decades of social science literature, integrating it in a comprehensive, fresh way. In addition to considering how individuals and macro forces contribute to ableism, Michelle emphasizes a previously neglected intergroup perspective. She writes: “An intergroup perspective on ableism recognizes that while prejudice often occurs between individuals interacting at the interpersonal level, prejudice also represents beliefs and motivations that derive from belonging to particular groups – groups of “us” and “them” – groups often motivated to maintain their status differences.”

The book progresses in three logically organized sections. The first section examines the causes of disability prejudice, starting with evolutionary explanations. Is prejudice against disabled individuals something innate in human nature designed to foster reproduction and the species' successful perpetuation? Another explanation for disability prejudice is rooted in our ideologies such as individualism or the Protestant ethic that get transmitted to us through social influences (e.g. the media, the stories we tell). An analysis of how stereotypes, the thoughts we have in our heads, contribute to our disability prejudices rounds out this section of the book.

The middle section of the book deals with the consequences of disability prejudice. One focus in this section is the emotional reactions, attitudes, and interaction patterns others have with and toward people with disabilities. These can be benevolent and caring, paternalistic, pitying, or hostile. Often they are an ambivalent mixture. Michelle illuminates when various reactions are most likely. The second focus of this section, written with disabled social scientist Arielle Silverman, is how people with disabilities respond, either individually or collectively, to the ableism they experience. Possible reactions include trying to conceal one's disability or endeavoring to improve the status of disabled people. Both approaches have risks and rewards.

The final section of the book introduces interventions to reduce ableism and promote social change. This section opens with three common approaches: encouraging contact between disabled and nondisabled people, various types of training, and the problem with simulations (e.g. using a wheelchair) designed to create aspects of the experience of having a disability. Contact under the right conditions arguably has the strongest record of effectiveness. The final segment of the book considers evidence on the success of the disability rights movement. Michelle writes that “Arguably, among the most enduring, positive impacts on ableist practices have been policy‐based, including structural changes for inclusive integration at school and work, access to the built environment, and anti‐discrimination legislation.” Allies and group coalitions are helpful in bringing about these impacts.

There are many features that make this book special for me, among them are the following:

• It captures the complexity of disability: its varieties, causes, its challenges, the responses it elicits, and how society might combat ableism (aka disability prejudice).
• The attention to both disabled and nondisabled people in the analysis.
• The multiple conceptual perspectives including one's crossing disciplinary boundaries and the impressive body of evidence the author brings to bear on ableism.
• The author's bringing to the fore an intergroup perspective.
• The rich set of research ideas for scholars and students to pursue.

My favorite, reader‐friendly feature is Michelle's including a set of Activist pages in the book. As their name implies, they offer ideas about ways people can address and resist ableism. They provide concrete cases and problems found in everyday life, fascinating topics (e.g. inspirational porn), getting below the surface (implicit ableism), cartoons, the views of individuals with disabilities, informational leads on disability resources and advocacy bodies, and so on. They add richness and immediacy to the phenomena of ableism.

It is the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues' (SPSSI's) honor and privilege to sponsor this volume as part of the Society's Contemporary Social Issues series. Reflecting the Society's traditions and values as a social justice organization, the series consists of authored books addressing a diverse array of social concerns that are amenable to psychological analysis. Grounded in its author's expertise, each volume focuses on an area of psychological inquiry relevant to social issues facing individuals, groups, communities, and/or society at large. Each volume is written for a diverse audience of scholars, students, practitioners, and policy‐makers. Without any doubt, anyone who wants a scholarly informed analysis of a social issue in which they are interested should find the books in this series of interest. This volume will be of particular value to social science and disability scholars as well as professionals occupying various roles. Indeed, despite the sometimes distant or contentious relations between psychologists and disability study scholars, one of the Michelle's goals is to encourage more multidisciplinary cross‐fertilization between camps and within the subdisciplines of social, rehabilitation, and community psychology. I am rooting that it will!

I started with a question. I will end with one. Do you want your family members or friends to be the targets of ableism – a phenomena that assumes the superiority of nondisabled individuals and perpetuates false perceptions of people with disabilities and discrimination against them? My answer is “No!” In its place, I want a socially just society that respects and fosters the well‐being of all its members.

Further Reading

1. Carroll, J. (2004). Americans satisfied with number of friends, closeness of friendships. Gallup News Service. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/10891/americans‐satisfied‐number‐friends‐closeness‐friendships.aspx.
2. Erickson, W., Lee, C., and von Schrader, S. (2017). Disability Statistics from the American Community Survey (ACS). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Yang‐Tan Institute (YTI). Retrieved from Cornell University Disability Statistics website: www.disabilitystatistics.org.