Studies of disability have been rare in human geography until a recent
blossoming of interest, in this article we review the expanding liter
ature on disability, charting the process by which such studies have b
ecome newly significant in the field. Our initial focus is on physical
disability after which we move on to issues around mental health and
intellectual disability. In the concluding section we evaluate the sig
nificance of recent work on disability within human geography as a who
le and suggest possible links to the growing Literature on rights, soc
ial justice and ethics.