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It is now broadly accepted that disability is a concept infused with both descriptive and evaluative meaning, such that invoking the concept of disability necessarily involves making judgements of moral value as well as describing certain facts about individuals. This paper aims to map the complex terrain that shapes our current understandings of disability by outlining five distinct 'discourses of disability'. It is shown how the similarities and differences between the discourses hinge on different ways of making sense of the descriptive and evaluative dimensions of the concept, and the relationships between these dimensions. The paper concludes by considering the specific implications that these different ways of elucidating the concept of disability might have for the provision of clinical ethics support, both in terms of shaping ethical decision-making relating to people with disabilities and in terms of framing the process of providing clinical ethics support itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at a conference held in June 2010 in Great Britain sponsored by the UK Clinical Ethics Network (UKCEN) on the ethical issues of disability in exercise is presented. Topics include a survey on the different concepts of disability, the ethics-oriented approaches of biomedical and clinical ethics, and the practical realities of living with disability. The conference featured several disabled persons, and campaigners.