Barbara Gibson, Professor, is a physical therapist with a PhD in bioethics. She is a Senior Scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital where she directs the Critical Disability and Rehabilitation Studies unit (CDARS). Barbara holds the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Foundation Chair in Childhood Disability Studies. Her research investigates how social, cultural, and institutional practices intersect in producing health, inclusion/exclusion, and identity with disabled children and youth.
Barbara’s research draws from critical and posthuman theories to examine the social and ethical dimensions of disability, rehabilitation and community care. Her work investigates the intersections of social, cultural, and institutional practices in producing health, inclusion/exclusion, and identity with disabled young people. The aim is to improve the wellbeing of disabled young people through a critical interrogation of key concepts (e.g. disability/normalcy, in/dependence, quality of life) underpinning children’s rehabilitation and societal understandings of disability. The work is interdisciplinary and intersectional; drawing upon sociological studies of health, bioethics, postmodern scholarships, and critical disability studies.
Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural (SPEC) Dimensions of Health and Healthcare - Cross Curricular Theme. Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Dept of Physical Therapy
