On Bluesky ( https://bsky.app/profile/yvonnezlam.bsky.social/post/3m2z53e3ee226 ), Yvonne Lam ‪@yvonnezlam.bsky.social‬ asks:

Is there someone who writes about systems thinking and disability that you’d recommend I read? Consider this a wide net; I don’t know quite what I’m looking for, so I can’t ask a more focused question…

If you have any answers, respond to her direct here: https://bsky.app/profile/yvonnezlam.bsky.social/post/3m2z53e3ee226

I said

It’s a good question! I was seized when I heard https://stream.syscoi.com/2024/04/01/history-of-philosophy-without-any-gaps-442-scott-williams-on-disability-and-the-new-world/ that there is a strong overlap but I don’t know and can’t find a ‘canonical thinker’ in this space. Perhaps because much disabilty work is inherently systems related?

I fought with ChatGPT to get the below but I think my quote holds!

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## Recommended thinkers & links

**M. Battle-Fisher**
Uses systems science, complexity, public health and ethics to frame health, inequality and structural forces as entangled systems.

• Personal / professional homepage: [https://www.mbattlefisher.com/](https://www.mbattlefisher.com/) ([Battle-Fisher][1])
• Google Scholar / publications: [https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=F41BXiYAAAAJ](https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=F41BXiYAAAAJ) ([Google Scholar][2])
• Key article: *“Complex Health Inequality”* — frames health disparities as structurally complex systems. [https://aquila.usm.edu/ojhe/vol17/iss1/3/](https://aquila.usm.edu/ojhe/vol17/iss1/3/) ([aquila.usm.edu][3])
• TEDx talk: *“Can a systems thinking curriculum improve health outcomes?”* → [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULhx22mjjM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULhx22mjjM) ([YouTube][4])

**Dan Goodley**
A central figure in critical disability studies. His work helps supply the language of exclusion, normativity, relationality, and social justice that any rigorous system must absorb.

• University of Sheffield profile: [https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/education/people/academic/edu/dan-goodley](https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/education/people/academic/edu/dan-goodley) ([University of Sheffield][5])
• *Disability Studies: An Interdisciplinary Introduction* (survey / foundational text): [https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/disability-studies/book286769](https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/disability-studies/book286769) ([SAGE Publications][6])
• *Dis/ability Studies: Theorising Disablism and Ableism*: [https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203366974/dis-ability-studies-dan-goodley](https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203366974/dis-ability-studies-dan-goodley) ([Taylor & Francis][7])
• Podcast interview (“Disability, Social Models, Technology”): [https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2021/11/1/dan-goodley-disability-social-models-technology-interdependece-on-being-human-podcast](https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2021/11/1/dan-goodley-disability-social-models-technology-interdependece-on-being-human-podcast) ([Then Do Better][8])

**Rod Michalko**
Writes from lived experience (blindness) and offers philosophical, narrative, sensory, ontological insight. Less about system equations, more about internal / relational systems.

• Wikipedia / overview: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Michalko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Michalko) ([Wikipedia][9])

**Tanya Titchkosky**
Focuses on space, access, meaning, embodiment, and how environments / infrastructures become exclusionary.

• Wikipedia summary: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanya_Titchkosky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanya_Titchkosky) ([Wikipedia][10])
• *The Question of Access: Disability, Space, Meaning* (PDF / excerpt): [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tanya-Titchkosky/publication/303419533_The_Question_of_Access_Disability_Space_Meaning/links/5b9a694245851574f7c3d216/The-Question-of-Access-Disability-Space-Meaning.pdf](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tanya-Titchkosky/publication/303419533_The_Question_of_Access_Disability_Space_Meaning/links/5b9a694245851574f7c3d216/The-Question-of-Access-Disability-Space-Meaning.pdf) ([ResearchGate][11])

**Fiona Kumari Campbell, Shelley Lynn Tremain**
They don’t always work in explicit systems thinking, but their structural, normative and critical work is essential for quality modelling of disability systems.

• Campbell’s *Contours of Ableism* is often cited in disability theory bibliographies (see disability studies bibliographies) ([Academia][12])
• These names appear frequently in disability studies bibliographies linking power, normativity, technology and exclusion. ([Academia][12])

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## How to use this set

• Start with **Battle-Fisher** if you want someone closest to systems thinking and equity in the health / institutional domain.
• Use **Goodley** to ensure your systems approach includes critical theory: power, exclusion, relationality etc.
• Use **Michalko**, **Titchkosky**, **Campbell**, **Tremain** to ground models in lived experience, space, embodiment, and normative critique.
• When you build a systems map (agents, feedback loops, flows) overlay the language from disability studies (ableism, exclusion, voice) so your model doesn’t flatten those dimensions.
• Always check whose voice is excluded by your model (e.g. marginalized populations, minoritized groups) and iterate.

If you like, I can format this into a polished one-page PDF with clickable links. Do you want me to produce that now?

[1]: https://www.mbattlefisher.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Battle-Fisher”
[2]: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=F41BXiYAAAAJ&utm_source=chatgpt.com “Michele Battle-Fisher”
[3]: https://aquila.usm.edu/ojhe/vol17/iss1/3/?utm_source=chatgpt.com “\”Complex Health Inequality\” by Michele Battle-Fisher”
[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULhx22mjjM&utm_source=chatgpt.com “Can a systems thinking curriculum improve health outcomes …”
[5]: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/education/people/academic/edu/dan-goodley?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Professor Dan Goodley | Education | The University of Sheffield”
[6]: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/disability-studies/book286769?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Disability Studies: An interdisciplinary introduction. – Sage Publishing”
[7]: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203366974/dis-ability-studies-dan-goodley?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Dis/ability Studies | Theorising disablism and ableism | Dan Goodley |”
[8]: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2021/11/1/dan-goodley-disability-social-models-technology-interdependece-on-being-human-podcast?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Dan Goodley: disability, social models, technology … – Then Do Better”
[9]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Michalko?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Rod Michalko”
[10]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanya_Titchkosky?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Tanya Titchkosky”
[11]: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tanya-Titchkosky/publication/303419533_The_Question_of_Access_Disability_Space_Meaning/links/5b9a694245851574f7c3d216/The-Question-of-Access-Disability-Space-Meaning.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com “The QuesTion of Access: DisAbiliTy, spAce, MeAning”
[12]: https://www.academia.edu/70507458/Disability_Studies_A_Bibliography?utm_source=chatgpt.com “(PDF) Disability Studies: A Bibliography”