Disability History Month content list

20 November - 20 December 2025

20 Nov 2025

This month, we're spotlighting disabled nurses' stories, disability rights, and inclusive practice.

We warmly invite you to explore our online resources list and book display covering key issues related to disability and neurodiversity.

Read on to learn more about delivering accessible healthcare, experiences of disabled nurses, and this year’s national theme, 'Disability, Life and Death'.

Find out more about Disability History Month UK

How to access the resources

To access online texts, you will need to log in using your membership number and password when you are prompted.

If you have any problems accessing these resources, please get in touch by emailing us at rcn.library@rcn.org.uk, calling at 0345 337 3368, or starting a webchat via the green icon in the bottom right of an RCN Library webpage.

If you're in London, you will find our book display on the Lower Ground Floor of the RCN Library and Museum.

📍 20 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0RN

Books

Black disability politics. Shalk, S. D. 2022.

Delivering quality healthcare for people with disability. Smeltzer, S. C. 2021. (Print and eBook)

Disability and the good human life. Bickenbach, J. E. 2014. (Print) Recommended: Chapter 4, 'Nasty, brutish and short?'.

Disability on equal terms. Swain, J. and French, S. 2008. (Print) Recommended: Chapter 15, 'In practice from the viewpoint of a disabled nurse'.

Disabled people and the right to life : the protection and violation of disabled people's most basic human rights. Clements, L. J. and Read, J. 2008. (Print)

Divergent mind : thriving in a world that wasn't designed for you. Nerenberg, J. 2021. (Print)

Exploring disability : a sociological introduction. Barnes, C. and Mercer, G. 2010, 2^nd ed. (Print) Recommended: Chapter 9, 'Disability and the right to life'.

Intellectual disabilities : toward inclusion. Atherton, H. and Crickmore, D. J. 2022, 7^th ed. (Print)

Keywords for disability studies. Adams, R., Reiss, B. and Serlin, D. 2015. (Print)

Lived experiences of ableism in academia : strategies for inclusion in higher education. Brown, N. 2021. (Print and eBook)

Nurses with Disabilities : Professional Issues and Job Retention, Neal-Boylan, L. 2013. (Print)

The neurodiverse workplace : an employer's guide to managing and working with neurodivergent employees, clients and customers. Honeybourne, V. 2020. (eBook)

Women, disability and mental distress. Smith, J.L.T. 2016. (Print and eBook)