Youth With Disabilities in Chinese Society—Now and Then

Encouraged by the advance of the post-WWII disability rights movements, disability studies have become a promising field in the English-speaking academic world over the last three decades. Ranging from non-white disability rights activism to the reckoning of women with disabilities from the perspective of feminism and "crip studies," various intersectional subjects have been well examined. However, the distinctions between young people (proposed here as aged between 15 and 25) with disabilities as a specific age group and their able-bodied counterparts in an ableist world have not been so well studied. Given the importance of this stage in the life cycle and socialization process, it remains unclear how disabled youth and young adults confront discrimination when completing school or college, entering the workplace, or transitioning into adulthood.

In particular, owing to the persistent predominance of Eurocentrism over both youth and disabilities studies, there are few studies regarding youths with disabilities in Chinese society, which will be the focus of this issue. Contrary to their Western counterparts, the shortage of accessibility facilities in infrastructure and the persistent discrimination against disabled Chinse youth today remains palpable. For example, young wheelchair users in China commonly encounter discrimination due to mobility challenges. Meanwhile, Chinese high school graduates with hearing or visual impairments still face rejection in college applications, not due to academic shortcomings, but because their disabilities disqualify them under current admissions policies.

The medical model of disability remains the predominant perception in mainstream society, where disabilities are still described in official and legal documents as "illnesses" or "diseases" rather than as a social construct based on impairment. Furthermore, traditional East Asian family values shape the care of youth with severe disabilities in China, often leaving the responsibility solely to families, while the state rarely takes their needs into account. Taking into account the diverse perceptions of disability and the lived experiences of disabled populations with “Chinese characteristics,” this thematic issue takes an intersectional approach to specific issues of the everyday life of Chinese youth with disabilities and their encounters with ableism from ancient times to the post-socialist period.

Concerned about diversity and inclusiveness, we encourage able-bodied and disabled scholars from across the world and disciplines to take a transnational and comparative approach to the study and analysis of youth with disabilities in Chinese society. We particularly welcome submissions on the following topics:

• What difficulties do Chinese youth with disabilities encounter in secondary and higher education? How do these educational challenges—such as lack of accessible infrastructure, specialized support, or inclusive pedagogies—compare to those faced by their Western counterparts?
• How do Chinese youth with disabilities navigate the transition through puberty and into adulthood? What are the emotional, physical, and institutional challenges during this life stage for them?
• What difficulties do Chinese youth with disabilities face in maintaining relationships with their parents and peers? How are these shaped by stigma, dependency, or social isolation?  In what ways do these interpersonal experiences differ from those of able-bodied youth?
• In what ways do the experiences of disabled youth in China diverge from those of disabled youth in Western countries, especially in terms of institutional support, societal expectations, and cultural narratives around independence and success?

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Social Inclusion is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.