Autopathography and identity in Head Above Water: reflections on illness by Shahd Alshammari

Disability/illness is an enigma that we experience but whose implications we have not fully fathomed. One's sense of self is impacted by disability/ illness. Autopathographies gave people with disability/ chronic illness a chance to share their life with a disability or a chronic illness, which also reflects on identity. Moreover, identity is influenced by social stigma as well as gender. This paper examines the impact of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) on the life and sense of self of the Kuwaiti writer and scholar, Shahd Alshammari's The paper also analyzes the relation between disability, gender and race drawing attention to the impact of narration in helping in the process of self-discovery after being inflicted with MS.