Professions that provide services to people with disabilities typically do so from a clinical perspective. Yet in areas such as education and residential policy, clinical judgment is limited by the influences of nonclinical forces, such as economics, bureaucratic exigency, politics, service traditions, and societal prejudice. (Author/BJV)

Proposes a new conceptual framework, based on the fundamental values of personal appearance and individual autonomy, for assessing the "aesthetic" and "existential" anxiety aroused by persons with disabilities. Investigations using this perspective might contribute to determining the attitudinal foundations of the competing…