Abstract: Biography of disabled people is a very special type in life writing that, at times, emerges as inspirational literature. Most of which emphasize people’s indomitable character and the discrimination they face from society. However, with the evolution of the times and social cultural, such biographies are gradually diverging into different types. So, too, have biographies of people with varying physical disabilities, which exhibit certain fixed narrative patterns. This paper discusses the development process in biographies of disabled people in Taiwan, as well as issues related to the narrative from three dimensions: hagiography, the need for a voice, and the therapeutic effect

Key words: disability, biography, voice, writing as therapy

Cheng Tsun-Jen is Associate Professor of Department of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at Ming Chuan University. He is the author of Contemporary Biography in Taiwan. He has published articles both in biography and language-teaching.