The Responaut

The Responaut magazine was first published in December 1963 and ran until 1989. Click here to see the first issue. 

It was conceived and edited by Ann Armstrong, who was herself dependant on a respirator for breathing since she contracted respiratory polio in 1955.

The name “Responaut” draws directly on Ann’s description of the restrictions of being in an iron lung: “….I identified strongly with astronauts. Like them I lived a restricted life in a tiny space and depended totally on machinery for my communications and air supply…”(216 Breath of Life)

Thanks to Arnold Quick and IPC, the magazine was distributed to and therefore filled with contributions from people all over the world that lived with disability every day, and still found time to form a vibrant, interactive, inventive community long before the internet made such things easy.

It regularly featured many progressive disabled people of the time including Megan Du Boisson (founder of the Disabled Income Group), and Paul Hunt (one of the founders of the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation).

There are also articles from noted people of the era, including: Stirling MossCanon W R BirtRobin CavendishRaymond BaxterLord  SnowdonLord WillisAlfred Morris (MP)Lord Aberdare and many more.

By kind permission of Ann Armstrong’s family, we reproduce every single edition from Ann’s own personal library of The Responaut for you to read, enjoy and explore.

They stand as a record of what it was like living with disability, total immobility and dependence on a machine for every breath in the second half of the 20th century. Though much has changed with active groups championing the causes of those living with disability, many of the challenges and experiences described still have resonance today.

You can join the conversation on disability and have your say. You can leave comments on the page for each edition. So if you spot something interesting, post a comment flagging it up for other people. The more comments we get, the better the site will be and the easier it will be to use.