This book examines the science and practice of character strengths as the backbone for understanding, studying, and applying positive interventions across a wide range of disabilities. It explores character strengths as positive personality qualities most central to an individual’s identity that create positive outcomes for building well-being and managing adversities and contribute to the collective good. The book recognizes disability as a part of the human experience that can emerge for anyone and the necessity for examining and applying strengths-based approaches. It explores what is known about character strengths and various disabilities from a science and practice perspective. The book reviews research on the assessment, correlations, concepts, populations, and applications of character strengths across disabilities. It disseminates disparate research and little-known best practices and hypothetical practices, along with multiple case examples, in the effort to advance the science and practice, bring a balanced approach to the field, and contribute to human flourishing.

Key topics of coverage include:

• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and character strengths.


• Intellectual and physical disabilities, medical illness and character strengths.


• Mental and emotional disorders (e.g., trauma) and character strengths.


• Character strengths and disability across special issues including justice, inclusion, dual-diagnosis, and spirituality.


• Understanding character strengths as internal capacities and abilities across disabilities, problems, and suffering.

Character Strengths - the Abilities Within Disabilities is an essential and valuable resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, practitioners, and therapists as well as graduate students in the fields of developmental and positive psychology, rehabilitation, social work, special education, occupational, speech and language therapy, public health, and healthcare policy.