Books

This vivid portrait of contemporary parenting blends memoir and cultural analysis to explore evolving ideas of disability and human difference.​ Released on September 5, 2023. Learn more at the University of California Press

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Reviews

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"Sensitive reflections on human value."

- Kirkus Reviews

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"... [C]ompelling and useful to think with. ... [Provides a] rich combination of personal narrative, history of anthropology, and historical ethnography."

- Aron S. Marie, Medical Anthropology Quarterly

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"An Ordinary Future belongs in the teaching library for both advanced undergraduate and graduate students. [...] It would also 'crip' the history of anthropology, showing how disability studies provides a theoretical lens for recentering and including those who have too-often been radically and violently excluded. In this, a disability perspective also contributes to the ongoing decolonization of our field."

- Rayna Rapp, Anthropological Quarterly

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"An Ordinary Future emerges as an essential read for a diverse readership, illuminating the path toward a more inclusive world and advocating for transformative change. We commend Pearson for his vulnerability and insightfulness, and we highly recommend this book to anyone looking to deepen their comprehension of disability, humanity, and the combined power of empathy and scholarly inquiry."

- Jennifer Lee O'Donnell & Manya Kagan, NEOS

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"Pearson's auto-ethnographical approach ... allows us to see the generative and transformative potential of a life story placed in relation to other stories, helping to illuminate the dominant cultural premises in each context. [...] Reading this book helped me bring into dialogue different parts of myself: that of a scholar of adult learning who is particularly interested in those learning processes that transform the perspectives of meaning with which we usually interpret ourselves and the world; that of a woman, wife, and mother; and that of a professional working in the field of social inclusion services for adults with disabilities in Italy."

- Antonella Cuppari, Public Anthropologist

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An Ordinary Future "is a personal project that will be helpful to other parents; it's also a scholarly reflection on ableism in an academic discipline. [...] Pearson has made an important contribution to the literature on Down
syndrome and on intellectual disability more broadly. I look forward to assigning the book in courses on disability, medicine, and public health."

- Katherine Sorrels, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

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Written with "genuine compassion" . . . "magnificent" and "deeply felt." "Pearson is especially cognizant of how the anthropological machine has functioned historically both to dehumanize people with disabilities and, at other times, to accumulate evidence for their humanity. His sustained engagement with Margaret Mead’s checkered past in the area of disability rights . . . is troubling and inspiring, reminding anthropologists that we have always struggled to overcome ableist and eugenic assumptions while holding forth the possibility that we might ultimately bring a basically decent and expansive attitude to our proximity to disability, as Mead was able to do."

- Brendan H. O’Connor, American Anthropologist​

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Excerpts, Interviews, Talks, & Stories

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"What is Normal?" Hidden Brain, with Shankar Vedantam (4.8.24)

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"Navigating an Ableist Culture" Down Syndrome Association of Central California (1.18.24)

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"A Normal Childhood with Down Syndrome." Constant Wonder, S7 E1, BYU Radio (1.17.24)

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Author Interview. Madison Book Beat, WORT 89.9 Madison, WI (1.8.24)

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"Did Margaret Mead Support Disability Rights?" UC Press Blog (11.7.23)

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Book Launch Presentation. UW-Stout Archives & Area Research Center (10.25.23)

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"Raising My Children in an Ableist World." Sapiens Anthropology Magazine (10.4.23)

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Author Interview. Impact Ethics (10.11.23)

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Author Interview. Up North News Radio (9.7.23)

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"An anthropologist comes to terms with a child born different." Wisconsin Examiner (8.29.23)