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to mother her daughter, Sesha. Sesha is now a grown woman and because of a severe developmental disability and cerebral palsy is completely reliant on others. Kittay weighs in on Sen’s ideas and how they might affect families such as mine. In thinking about equality, she identifies the fact that all people are not alike with the same abilities as a starting point. In her discussion of Sen’s ideas, she explains: “What we want to insure, claims Sen, is not merely that everyone has access to the same goods with fair equality of opportunity, but that we equalize each person’s capability to function freely.” 3 This is true equity wherein individuals are free to convert all the aspects of their lives into good (or bad) living. If Sen’s ideas of freedom, capability and justice had been taken as both a means and an end to disability policy, programs and services, how would Nicholas’ early years have been different?
    More than two years after my first conversation with Susan Hodgett at the University of Ulster, I managed to make contact with Amartya Sen of Trinity College, Cambridge. With the assistance of generous, well-placed friends and a fair amount of tenacity on my part, I had managed to organize the hottest date of my life. I needed to ask Professor Sen if my application of his Capability Approach for disability in a developed world setting was valid. I wondered whether proposing the idea of a maximum capability set (especially in the area of education) was appropriate. After all, this approach was originally conceived in order to understand minimum levels of capability in the case of people living in circumstances of extreme poverty.
    On January 21, 2010, I found myself boarding the train from London to Cambridge. The train was nearly empty, so I spread my papers out on the table opposite my seat. I looked at them and wondered if my meeting with this Nobel Prizewinner would result in my manuscript being left in a Trinity College wastebasket. I arrived early and found what I thought was the correct waiting room. I attempted to compose myself by pretending to read my notes. I moved to the bottom of the stairway that seemed to lead into an upstairs dining room. Suddenly from a lower hall, Professor Sen appeared. We climbed the stairs as he explained the dining arrangements and the menu. Being unfamiliar with academia, let alone casual conversations with Nobel Prizewinners, I wondered if we would have a chance to discuss my book at all. Other academics sat at the long tables and we took our places amongst them. As Professor Sen chatted amicably to others at the table, I smiled nervously and listened. Finally, we finished our dessert and Sen suggested that we retire to the reading room to discuss my project. We found two armchairs by the fire and breathlessly, I asked my questions — was the Capability Approach a valid lens for my family experience? Yes. “It would be a shame if the approach had nothing to offer anyone living above a subsistence level,” he said. Could I apply the approach in an effort to include maximum levels of opportunity and choice? Yes, definitely. I asked his advice on how to present complex ideas in a coherent way for general audiences without losing authenticity. “Ah,” he replied. “Generally I find that readers are generous. If you express a fact or opinion, they will assume you’ve done the work. Don’t worry so much.” I left Trinity that day feeling relieved and resolved. After my conversation with Professor Sen, I was sure that the capability framework would present disability as just one aspect of human complexity in a world where we all interact differently with our physical, economic, social and cultural environments. This was a belief that I considered to be true and a value that I will always hold precious.

CHAPTER THREE
    Beginning to
Think Differently
    I remember being a parent representative on a committee to restructure