Disability Memoir

Jon Sadler was four when he had his first seizure following an episode of high fever. That made him the object of constant concern to his family and dictated almost every decision he made. With medication, Jon was deemed seizure-free for several years, though his speech was permanently affected. After a college sailing accident, he had his first grand mal seizure (loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions).

The spoiler is that Platinum, the shiny precious metal we may associate with glamour and wealth, was an ingredient in one of the chemo compounds. In this context, it functioned as a poison, carrying out the bizarre miracle of chemotherapy where death and life meet. Tracing through the paradoxical tensions of treatment, healing from treatment, succumbing to medicine and claiming autonomy, Hannah Kate guides us through essential components of the journey. There are material resources that will support you—yet much of what is needed requires connecting with the fundamental elements of life.

Rachel Kolb was born profoundly deaf the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, and she grew up as part of the first generation of deaf people with legal rights to accessibility services. Still, from a young age, she contorted herself to expectations set by a world that prioritizes hearing people. So even while she found clarity and meaning in American Sign Language (ASL) and written literature, she learned to speak through speech therapy and to piece together missing sounds through lipreading and an eventual cochlear implant.

Before she was two years old, a serious illness destroyed Helen Keller's sight and hearing. At seven, alone and withdrawn, she was rescued by Ann Sullivan, her teacher and friend. By the time she was 16, Helen could speak well enough to attend preparatory school. Later she went to Radcliffe, from which she graduated with honors in 1904.

I never planned to write about my life with cerebral palsy (CP), but after years of absurd, frustrating, and hilarious experiences, I had to share them. This book is part memoir, part guide to navigating an able-bodied world when your body has its own agenda. From my mom almost being mistaken for a prostitute to a first date disaster in a movie theater, my life is full of bizarre encounters. Doctors talk over me, cops have been afraid of me, and strangers treat me like a sideshow.

You are more than your limits. Choosing to see herself as more than a person with a disability and wheelchair user, Lolo chooses to live a bold and courageous life now because representation matters. She created this intersectional guide to provide tools for people with disabilities to thrive in personal growth, independence, and community building. Add this guide to your list of inclusion books!

Do you like sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll? Do you know what jails, institutions, and death are all about? I don't want to be controlled, but can I control myself? Who says I have to live by society's rules?

My name is Joseph A. Peragine. I am a paranoid schizophrenic. On October 22, 2000, I tried to kill myself in a severely hallucinogenic state due to undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia. I was suffering from this illness for many years leading up to that day. Every October since I started my recovery in 2000, I reflect on my life and am extremely thankful that I was fortunate enough to have been given a second chance.

On Boxing Day 2022, in Rome, Hanif Kureishi had a fall. When he came to, in a pool of blood, he was horrified to realise he had lost the use of his limbs. He could no longer walk, write or wash himself. He could do nothing without the help of others, and required constant care in a hospital. So began an odyssey of a year through the medical systems of Rome and Italy, with the hope of somehow being able to return home, to his house in London.

Nineteen people from across the globe, ranging in age from 20 to 70-plus, tell their stories of living and thriving in diverse fields - in sport, the arts, medicine, business, and more. With refreshing frankness, they share their successes along with their struggles - grit is the one characteristic they all have in common. These are not stories of people overcoming disability - they’re stories of people accommodating disability while pursuing their dreams. Pure Grit shines a light on boundless possibility whatever the individual challenge.

Despite a childhood affliction that left James Cabezas with the grim knowledge that he might one day go blind, he led a courageous career in law enforcement for more than four decades. With his vision intact, Jim proudly wore a police uniform, tracking drug dealers, thieves, and an armed robber in the precarious days before Baltimore cops wore bullet proof vests. He performed his duty relentlessly, despite interference from corrupt, racist and inept cops.While the world’s finest eye doctors kept him from going blind, Jim worked as a deep covert, driving a cab in Baltimore’s notorious ...

As a stroke survivor who has seen every obstacle imaginable, giving up would have been easy, but "where there's a Bill, there's a way." Along with the support of his family, stroke buddies, countless friends, faith, hope and perseverance he has beaten all odds. Born and raised in South Texas, an athlete his entire life, with a root in faith and family, Bill was well on his way to writing a book about coaching and basketball when a severe stroke stopped him in his tracks.

At twenty-four, Arnold Beisser was a recent medical school graduate and a nationally ranked tennis player. But overnight a devastating bout of polio left him permanently paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on an iron lung to draw his next breath. Polio robbed Arnold Beisser of his strength, his athletic ability, and almost his life. Yet he discovered in this unthinkable trap not only the expected sadness and despair, but wonder, delight, and the pleasure of everyday living.

Everything happens for a reason; I truly believe writing these words was one of the primary purposes of my life. Father God gave me this disability - I’m just trying to make the most out of it. This is not your typical autobiography or memoir. I’m sharing my life experiences as more of a commentary on humanity as a whole. I do my best to sprinkle bits of comedy throughout the composition so it feels more like a conversation between friends than me just talking at you.

Meet Lionel, Caroline’s older brother. Born in the 1950s, when little was known about autism, Lionel was considered a peculiarity. From the beginning, he was a silent child, oblivious to the people around him and intent only on playing with his toy trucks. By the time he turned four, doctors declared him ineducable and advised that he be institutionalised – a shockingly standard practise at the time. Looking After is both a portrait of one autistic man's remarkable life, and a heart-rending story of how one family learnt to care for each other.

Have you ever wondered how a blind person pours a cup of coffee? Or how they and their guide dog know when it's safe to cross a busy road? When Lois Strachan lost her sight at the age of 21 years, she had to learn the answers to these and countless other questions of how to live as a blind person in a sighted world. In this delightfully quirky and entertaining book, Lois shares some of the secrets she discovered about how to live an “ordinary” life in an extraordinary way despite her disability.

Here is the inspiring story of a man who overcame childhood polio to live an adventure-filled life as captain of Maine's most famous windjammer, the schooner Adventure, now a national historic landmark in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Captain Jim shares his adventures afloat, his battles with bureaucracy, and even how he created one of Maine's most unusual restaurants.

In this intimate story of relationship resilience, marine biologist Beth Mathews’s adventurous life as a professor and mother in Alaska is upended when her healthy husband is slammed by a rare type of stroke. Jim’s radical approach to recovery clashes with Beth’s instinct to keep him safe at home and sets them on a collision course as he insists on ambitious sailing expeditions with Beth and their young son in Alaska’s magnificent yet unforgiving waters.

Lionheart is an inspiring story of love, forgiveness, and the power of music. On April 27, 2016, while riding his bicycle in Nashville, Tennessee, David was hit by a distracted driver. Doctors told him he would never walk again. His life had changed forever. Lionheart is the richly detailed and intimate account of David's crash, recovery, and return to music: From thinking he lost everything, to appearing on national television (twice), to marrying his soulmate, Kristi - to finding a life and purpose beyond his wildest imagination.

Running Dreams is a memoir of a man raised in a humble, hard-working family, outside Lima, Peru, at a time of great national political, economic, and social instability. Listeners glimpse into the author’s formative years to discover the values and life lessons impressed on him by his family. In an instant, a grenade explosion severs his right hand and blinds him.