Walking the en-abling/dis-abling symbolic tightrope: toward a constitutive, dialectical view of disability symbolism.

In his essay, 'From handicap to disability: language use and cultural meaning in the United States', Patrick J. Devlieger raises some important and intriguing claims about the symbolic nature of the terms 'handicap' and 'disability'. As communication scholars, we applaud the attention Devlieger devotes to issues that fit comfortably under the general heading of the symbolic construction of health. In this response, we wish to highlight some contributions Devlieger makes and, hopefully, advance this conversation by offering some important extensions of the issues raised in his essay.

Weaving meanings together in an AIDS residence: communicative practices, perceived health outcomes, and the symbolic construction of community.

This study examines the role of communicative practices in the symbolic construction of health and community among residents living in a residential facility for people with AIDS. Questionnaire results show that two types of communicative practices--governance/support and everyday/special--are significantly related to residents' perceived physical and emotional health outcomes, their perceptions of the residence as a community (as opposed to a facility or institution), and their satisfaction with living there. Everyday/special practices reveal the communicative means by which perceived health is socially constructed, while governance/support practices reveal the importance of meta-communication for massaging the issues and tensions that pervade community life, and both sets of communicative practices help explain members' perceptions of the residence as a community and their satisfaction with living there. The study provides additional evidence regarding the constitutive nature of communication as a connecting thread that weaves together individual and collective meanings to help create and sustain such concepts as health and community.

Communication practices in the social construction of health in an AIDS kesidence.

Physical illness and well-being, while grounded in bodily and psychological experiences, are also constructed socially through communication practices. Significant symbols, rituals and myths, among other forms, converge to create shared meanings that help define the health/illness experience. This article first provides a conceptual framework for understanding how communication intertwines physical, psychological and collective worlds. This perspective is then contextualized by illustrating some communication practices within a residential facility for people with AIDS that help residents cope with the 'depression bind' created by the need to 'grieve efficiently' over the loss of fellow residents. In- depth interviews with residents uncover metaphors that describe this bind, the military and journey myths embedded in the language of 'fighting AIDS' and 'passing', and the remembering and 're membering' rituals of bereavement. These communication practices help residents grasp elusive meanings, discharge deep and contradictory feelings and manage the tensions of everyday life.

Keeping the community spirit alive.

The concept of community is often romanticized as emerging magically or naturally among residents within a facility. But, the feeling of community evolves through the philosophy, decisions and everyday communication practices of administrators.