The disability paradox: high quality of life against all odds

This paper builds on the work of Sol Levine to examine a disability paradox : Why do many people with serious and persistent disabilities report that t hey experience a good or excellent quality of life when to most external ob servers these individuals seem to live an undesirable daily existence? The paper uses a qualitative approach to develop an explanation of this paradox using semi-structured interviews with 153 persons with disabilities. 54.3% of the respondents with moderate to serious disabilities reported having a n excellent or good quality of life confirming the existence of the disabil ity paradox. Analysis of the interviews reveals that for both those who rep ort that they have a good and those who say they have a poor quality of lif e, quality of life is dependent upon finding a balance between body, mind a nd spirit in the self and on establishing and maintaining an harmonious set of relationships within the person's social context and external environme nt. A theoretical framework is developed to express these relationships. Th e findings are discussed for those with and without disabilities and direct ions are given for future research. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.