The Spiral Cage. Animal, Vegetable, Human! or Mineral. (Al Davison – a Life) - ACE212.2

Dave Gibbons, Melinda Gabbie and Alan Moore talking about Al Davison and his comic book. Drawings from the book. Walking sticks being broken and burned. Davison in France; his VO talking about events of 1990. Images from The Spiral Cage (1990). Caption: "Birth pains!" X-ray photographs. Davison talks about having been born with such severe Spina Bifida that he was not expected to live long, or, at best, would be totally paralysed. Sandra Wheatley, Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, talking about the ignorance that surrounds the disease which can contribute to misunderstanding of a child’s capabilities, and thus become an additional handicap. Images from The Spiral Cage. Davison talks about his early attempts to walk. Wheatley suggests that Davison’s ignorance of the severity of his condition meant that he was not discouraged. Davison. Caption: "School." Davison talking about attending a school for the disabled without ever having been told he was "disabled". He believed that disabled children would grow up to be normal but learned at school that this was not the case. Images from the book. Davison talks about suffering physical attacks and verbal abuse to the extent that he nearly committed suicide.