People with Disabilities

Amit Patel is working as a trauma doctor when a rare condition causes him to lose his sight within 36 hours.... 

Freya Lewis was just three metres away from the terrorist who detonated the bomb at the Manchester arena on the night of 22nd May 2017.... 

This intimate memoir reveals the woman inside one of autism’s most prominent figures, Jennifer O'Toole. At the age of 35, Jennifer was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, and for the first time in her life, things made sense....

One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent - but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture....

What do you do when you wake up in your mid-40s and realize you've been living a lie your whole life? Do you tell? Or do you keep it to yourself? Laura James found out that she was autistic....

Shortly after his daughter, Leontine, was born, Christian Donlan's world shifted an inch to the left. He started to miss light switches and door handles when reaching for them....

Diagnosed with pathological demand avoidance (PDA) in his teenage years, Harry Thompson looks back with wit and humour at the ups and downs of family and romantic relationships, school, work and mental health, as well as his teenage struggle with drugs and alcohol.... 

A powerful journey from star athlete to sudden paralysis to creative awakening, award-winning science-fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor shows that what we think are our limitations have the potential to become our greatest strengths....

The story of Ben Parkinson, MBE, the most injured soldier to have survived Afghanistan....

If you grow up in a world where wrinkles are practically illegal, going bald is cause for a mental breakdown, and women over size zero are encouraged to shoot themselves....

In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism....

Pascuala Herrera, a Mexican immigrant woman with a physical disability resulting from childhood polio, had the odds against her, yet she conquered simply by working hard, having unfailing faith, and finding her own life purpose....

The Christian classic detailing the remarkable events surrounding the 1967 diving accident that left Joni Eareckson Tada paralyzed. This special 45th anniversary edition of Joni commemorates the worldwide impact of her life story to people living with disabilities....

Abdel Sellou and Philippe Pozzo di Borgo were two people marginalised by society: Sellou a wisecracking, unemployed immigrant, just out on parole; Pozzo a man born to wealth and privilege, recently paralysed from the neck down after a paragliding accident....

One September day in 1955, Rita’s life changed forever when polio struck her family. She was five years old. Rita became totally paralyzed; her brother was partially affected, and she lost her mother to the virus....

Thousands have been wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Five have survived quadruple-amputee injuries. This is one soldier's story....

Before becoming the actor, producer, advocate, and model that people know today, Nyle DiMarco was half of a pair of Deaf twins born to a multigenerational Deaf family in Queens, New York. At the hospital one day after he was born, Nyle “failed” his first test—a hearing test....

Fairy tales shape how we see the world, so what happens when you identify more with the Beast than Beauty? Amanda Leduc looks at fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm to Disney, showing us how they influence our expectations and behaviour....

Steel shutters were clanging down in my head: I dared not even think about my son, just emerging from his teenage years, or of my sorry future....

As a child, Molly Burke was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa and became completely sightless as a teenager. Now an award-winning YouTube star and global influencer, Molly shares what it’s like to be a purple-haired, pink-obsessed fashion and makeup lover in a seeing world.... 

A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most....

A searing account of a mother’s late-diagnosis of Asperger's - and its reaching effects on a whole family....

A late bloomer’s coming-of-age memoir asks how does one accept and free themselves from visible and invisible disabilities and still retain their sense of connection and humor? Nothing Special is a disarmingly candid tale of two sisters growing up in the 1970s in rural Connecticut....

A mother's memoir tells the story of her son's premature death while in NHS care, and her subsequent campaign for justice and for the rights of people with learning disabilities....

In 2018, Joe Hammond, wrote a piece for the Guardian about the 33 birthday cards he was writing for his two sons....

Pascuala Herrera tells her life’s narrative with honest, painful stories, simple yet joyous triumphs, and humor that will lead all listeners to embrace their own struggles and realize that life is not always a valley of tears. From being a child crawling in the streets of her pueblo in Mexico to becoming a successful educator in the United States, she proved that everything is possible. This autobiography covers many facets of the human experience—race, health, disability, religion, poverty, immigration, access to medical care, education, disability rights, and much more.

A late bloomer’s coming-of-age memoir asks how does one accept and free themselves from visible and invisible disabilities and still retain their sense of connection and humor? Nothing Special is a disarmingly candid tale of two sisters growing up in the 1970s in rural Connecticut. Older sister Chris, who has Down syndrome, is an extrovert, while the author, her younger, typically developing sister, shoulders the burdens and grief of her parents.

Kicking ASSpergers is the triumphant memoir of one man’s journey with autism and his quest for happiness and self-empowerment despite the many challenges life throws at him. Detailing his struggles with acute anxiety, depression, OCD, psychosis, and suicidal ideation, as well as social stigma and medical bias, Jeremy Tolmie moves through his childhood and into adulthood. Over time, Jeremy starts to alienate the people in his life with his erratic and dangerous behavior. When he meets Dave Ray, a home share provider, Jeremy starts to learn how not to let autism rule his life.

Just when life seemed rosy and the sun was shining, Dr. Bhaskar Bora sustained a severe spinal cord injury in July 2019 following an operation, which left him with paralysis of both legs, a nonfunctioning right hand, and a long stay in the hospital, eventually leading to a forced medical retirement from his medical career and a wheelchair in place of a sports car. Poorer financially but richer in experiences of life, he is now a voice for the disabled and has written the book The Second Chance in Life as an honest reflection of his life experiences.

A little over a year of living with bipolar type one. I ended a year off of medications deeply in love and with a stay in jail for joy-riding and fleeing and eluding. My family suffered, my friends suffered, and I suffered. This is a journal starting after my stay in jail. I respond to the journal entries all the following year, surprised mostly by the degree of my mental illness. This is not a self-help audiobook, and I struggle most of the time, not really coming up with many good solutions to my issues. Nothing about the past couple years has been easy. 

On Halloween day 1990, Sterling Krysler—husband, father, pilot, newly arrived in Hawai'i—suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury while body surfing at a local beach. Ever the optimist, Sterling accepted the life-changing injury becoming advocate and inspiration to many in the "disability community." This is a family-centered story brimming with love, joy, and humor. This is his story—before and after. 

Before becoming the actor, producer, advocate, and model that people know today, Nyle DiMarco was half of a pair of Deaf twins born to a multigenerational Deaf family in Queens, New York. At the hospital one day after he was born, Nyle “failed” his first test—a hearing test—to the joy and excitement of his parents. In this engrossing memoir, Nyle shares stories, both heartbreaking and humorous, of what it means to navigate a world built for hearing people.

We were walking this journey together, yet alone. Two siblings from a close-knit, boisterous family of six. There is nothing like the camaraderie of family to give you the determination to persevere in spite of any obstacle. We were overwhelmed by the disease of multiple sclerosis as well as other autoimmune diseases. Our outward appearance of healthiness was deceiving. Unbeknownst to us, the disease of multiple sclerosis would eventually consume mobility, sight, memory, fine motor skills, speech, and so much more.

They say if you want to make God smile, tell him you have a plan. Dwight’s plan was to live his dream, teach math, coach football, and build a comfortable life for himself. Fate had other things in store for him. The story of Dwight’s physical and emotional journey from life as an able-bodied young man chasing his dreams only to have his world turned upside down by the thoughtless act of a 71-year-old drunk driver.

In No Bad Days, JT details the incredible story of how he overcame what seemed like insurmountable odds and shares the many invaluable lessons he has learned throughout his life in the hope that others might reach their full potential. These lessons include how to: find your tribe, pull off the label, stretch yourself, listen to others, and learn to fall. JT’s improbable life story is evidence that regardless of the mental and physical challenges you might face, you can defy the odds to create the life you want and accomplish the things you’ve only dreamed about. 

Look at It This Way answers questions we all may have been reluctant to ask, it gives us a glimpse into what blind people experience living in a sighted world, and it breaks through barriers that may cause people to think that differences equate to superiority or inferiority.

 Raising Teresa: My Extraordinary Journey with My Deaf Daughter takes the listener on an emotional roller coaster as a dad tells the story of raising his deaf daughter in a hearing world. From learning to communicate with her to teaching her to drive, he is there for every peak and every valley. Now, 37 years later, Terry shares his story with the world, hoping that others, who may find themselves on a similar path with only questions and fears to keep them company, may take comfort in knowing they are not alone 

As a result of complications during the birthing process, Amanda was born with cerebral palsy. This book recounts the trauma she experienced as a child, enduring physical, mental, sexual, and emotional abuse from her family, and having a mother who cannot tolerate her cerebral palsy. Amanda found comfort and solace in her grandmother, her '"Gragwa", throughout her childhood. Amanda exposes the naked truth of life with cerebral palsy as she deals with growing up and various relationship issues, friendship issues, loss, and many other things. 

Love for a Deaf Rebel introduces listeners to a vivacious Canadian woman who was born into a silent world and with the foundation for schizophrenia. With pathos and nostalgia, the author recounts his roller-coaster ride with Pearl, a vivacious deaf maverick, who, unknown to him, had paranoid schizophrenia. We follow their encounters through actual notes written before Derrick learns sign language; we go on their motorcycle ride to Mexico and Guatemala; we watch as the happy couple moves to Bowen Island, a British Columbia community with just three paved roads. 

Bill Rush lived with a significant disability of quadriplegic cerebral palsy. He did not have use of his arms, hands, or voice. Society’s prejudices proved to be a greater obstacle than his disability in attaining his first life goal of completing college. Rush chronicled his extraordinary life from childhood until graduation from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in Journey Out of Silence, first published in 1986. This second edition brings back into print Bill's original chronicle. It also contains an introduction to Our Life Our Way, the sequel.