Disability Memoir

A child survives the miracle of birth. Regrettably, the doctor discovers an abnormality. Born March 7th, 1973 as the 28th recorded birth to survive with a diagnosis of Eagle-Barrett Syndrome. The rare birth defect involves three triads of urological complications. Continued survival meant multiple surgeries, painful examinations, with tubes inserted into the urethra as the corrective procedures healed. The doctor’s frightening revelations, “a child rarely survives to the age of two.” Each birthday celebration an unknown, "The chance for your survival to the age of sixteen is rare," ...

Life is hard. Add in a disability, and it can be even more challenging. Tait knows. In My Name Is Tait, Tait writes about his successes, challenges, and hard times as he faces a world that doesn’t always accept his disability. In this book, you’ll have a front seat as Tait shares his thoughts on disability, family, education, work experience, and much more.

Rachael Kurgan is a young woman who has already experienced a lifetime's worth of trials and tribulations. From grappling with a disability from birth to the heartbreaking loss of both parents, she has already absorbed some of the most difficult blows that life can throw at a person. But through her faith in God, perseverance, and the support of friends and family, she has not only overcome all of these difficulties, but established a happy and thriving life.

Obsessed with music as a child - listening to everything he could lay his hands on, going to gigs, starting a band, and then pursuing a career in music journalism - John Harris had no idea that he was in fact preparing himself for the greatest challenge of his life. But so it transpired. When his son James was born, and three years later diagnosed with autism, music became their main form of communication, a hugely shared passion and - it is no exaggeration to say - the sound that saved them. John Harris tells the story of how music has opened up the world to James, one song at a time.

The autobiography of Nymphus Coridon (N. C.) Hanks with notes by John Hanks, great nephew; Joseph E. (Jay) Hanks, brother; and Lori K. Hanks Hill, grandniece. Cory tells how he rose from the depths of hell to the pinnacle of human experience, sharing his victory with the world. You will never look at your troubles the same way again.

An unflinching and luminous memoir that explores a father’s philosophical transformation when he must reconsider the questions what makes us human? and whose life is worth living? Before becoming a father, Chris Gabbard was a fast-track academic finishing his doctoral dissertation at Stanford. A disciple of Enlightenment thinkers, he was a devotee of reason, believed in the reliability of science, and lived by the dictum that an unexamined life is not worth living. That is, until his son August was born.

I Kept Walking opens in 1940s Tehran when a misguided prank leaves three- year-old Minou frozen in fear. Days later, a doctor breaks the news to her mother: "Your daughter has polio." To understand why nothing is as it seems-the cause of her polio or why her dutiful Jewish mother, who was married off at 13, thwarted her dream of marriage, Minou must flee Iran and confront the psychological toll of her polio. I Kept Walking is the audacious account of a bold young woman who was unwilling to be crushed by polio or the prohibitions of a conservative society.

Seeing Beyond the Shadows provides a window into the life of a blind individual. Burton addresses some of the obstacles that people with visual impairments encounter, such as the issue of transportation, the low employment problem, and the overall lack of opportunities that impede progress. She provides firsthand accounts of her own experiences navigating these obstacles and relates her faith journey as she has come to rely on God’s guidance.

Linda Olson and her husband, Dave Hodgens, were young doctors whose story had all the makings of a fairy tale. But then, while they were vacationing in Germany, a train hit their van, shattering their lives - and Linda's body. Inspiring and deeply moving, Gone asks listeners to find not only courage, but also laughter in the unexpected challenges we all face. The day of the accident, no one envied Linda and Dave. Today, many do.

Sometimes the best way to understand what’s deep inside requires looking outward. Sometimes the best way to understand the world outside requires a deep dive within. And sometimes, those two things are so intertwined it’s difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends. The Forest of My Youth is a collection of poems and perspectives that probe some of the deepest, most profound and sometimes achingly painful thoughts and questions I’ve had since my spinal cord injury in 1993.

In 1959, at the age of 21, Max Starkloff was in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. His doctors doubted he would live longer than a few days, and, if he survived, the hope for his quality of life would be minimal. How did this young man with barely a high school education become the leader of a powerful disability rights movement and the founder of the Starkloff Disability Institute? This is his remarkable story.

“At the beginning I was only a little mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them.” The Story of My Life, Helen Keller’s autobiography, is the story of that unfolding. It is the story of how, with Anne Sullivan as her guide, Keller developed from “a mass of possibilities” to become one of the most beloved and admired women in American history. With intelligence, humor and wisdom, Keller describes her passage, “from darkness into light, from isolation to friendship, companionship, knowledge, love.”

In Fractured Realities, Ryder Budden shares a deeply personal and raw account of his life with schizophrenia, offering a rare glimpse into the struggle, resilience, and hope that defines his journey. From vivid hallucinations and delusional paranoia to the gradual path toward healing, this memoir explores the highs and lows of navigating a fractured reality. Ryder's story begins with childhood encounters with the impossible, from seeing extra limbs in reflections to vivid visions of God.

Carly-Jay Metcalfe was born with cystic fibrosis, survived a double-lung transplant at the age of 21 and faced a rare cancer at the age of 30. What she has endured should have killed her, but her humour, courage and optimism became her best survival skills. From her hospitalised childhood to her many friendships, loves and losses, Metcalfe shares the fickle nature of life with candour and warmth. She writes with compelling insight about organ donation, opioid addiction and survivor's guilt, while still managing to find joy amongst the wreckage.

Now you can go where no one has been before: deep inside a mind with high-functioning autism. In his roller coaster of a life, Dylan Volk (aka Dielawn) has lived all over the country, tried to fit in with many different crowds, and been in jail a few times. Now he has written a tell-all book to give you all the juicy details. Don't listen to this book before you go to sleep - you may be up all night!

Hall is authentic, transparent, and raw as she shares the many facets of her dynamic life and colorful personality. The chapters are like peeling an onion as Hall deftly delivers the most dismal times of her life. Listeners will experience so many emotions but will ultimately cheer for Hall’s escape, redemption, and power to rebuild a successful life. She credits her beloved 93-year-old grandmother's unconditional love and wisdom for giving her the endurance and strength to overcome all that life has dealt her.

Recycled Human is a continuation of my first book, Damaged Goods, but Recycled Human is aimed more at the re-entry into the general public. A big part of that shift involves various "transitional services" which are in fact not helping people. In fact, the services meant to help a person like me develop can be yet another oppressive system. When a person wants to change and truly is ready to face change, it can be challenging to find genuine resources. So here it is...this is my testimony of what I saw in myself and the system that needed changing.

By the time native Sicilian Mariagrazia Buttitta turned 26, she’d planned out the perfect life. After finishing her residency in Buongiorno Medical School, she’d be primed for a job at the prestigious Roma Hospital, the first step toward becoming an Italian Dr. Oz. Instead, she wakes up to discover a medical diagnosis that leaves her almost completely blind. Her family, frustrated and desperate, seeks medical aid in the US, but it comes with a steep price.

Operated on as an infant, without anesthesia, Wendy P. Williams began life at war with her body. There were tubes everywhere, in and out of every opening, her mother reminded her on every anniversary of her surgery. Autobiography of a Sea Creature takes listeners on Williams’ difficult sensory journey toward healing, as she communes along the way with horseshoe crabs, dolphins, and other marine life that taught her the restorative power of beauty, resilience, and interdependence.

What would you do if it happened to you? If you awoke one day when you were twelve years old to be informed that your life was suddenly over? Well . . . Here is what I did. If you became the wealthiest person you would ever know just three and a half years later? What would that be like? Well, this is what it was like when it happened to me.