Disability Biography

Growing up with Autism is hard enough. Growing up with Autism when you're a little gay weirdo is almost impossible. Greatest Hits of my Childhood Trauma is the story of a boy fighting to exist in a world that would rather throw him away. From overly religious mothers to prison sentences, drug overdoses, psychiatric facilities, bizarre sexual encounters, and queer high school romance, this tale of 90s middle America is heartbreaking, hilarious, and hard to put down. Alex Dark takes us through the darkest parts of his life with a charm that will keep you coming back for more.

Layered with physical, emotional, and relational tension, Through Blurred Vision brings forth the life of a young man that was given a diagnosis that appears in 0.0001% of births. As a result, Kurt Pangborn’s life was encompassed in darkness. Yet despite the daunting realty of this diagnosis’ limitations, Pangborn sought the true light of life in his darkness, and found a message that extends past human reason. Kurt Pangborn’s Through Blurred Vision inspires listeners to turn their pain into praise and apply the “Three P’s” of higher living.

With humility and candor, artist activist Mary Fisher inspires us when, in her eighth decade, she creatively takes on disease, poverty, hunger, injustice, racism and the role of women. Uneasy Silence tells her story of speaking truth to power while living with AIDS, journeying through cancer and surviving a near-death experience. Her steady concern for The Other enables her to find the strength to stand up, speak up and make a difference, inspiring us to do the same.

Im August 2015 macht Katherine May sich auf, um den 1014 Kilometer langen South West Coast Path entlang der Küsten von Somerset, Devon und Cornwall nach Dorset zu wandern. Sie will den Kopf freibekommen, endlich verstehen, warum ihr so vieles in ihrem Leben schwerer zu fallen scheint als anderen: Warum hat sie immer wieder das Gefühl, nicht recht zu verstehen, was andere meinen, wenn sie mit ihr sprechen? Warum verspürt sie so oft den Impuls, aus einer Gruppe Menschen in die Einsamkeit zu flüchten? Und warum empfindet sie es als besonders herausfordernd, Mutter zu sein?

Damiano e Margherita sono due fratelli che hanno molte cose in comune: la voglia di mettersi in gioco, la caparbietà e la tenacia nel voler inseguire i propri sogni, e l'autismo. Insieme si sono esibiti in televisione e, mano nella mano sul palcoscenico, sembrano finalmente aver trovato il loro posto nel mondo. Già dalla mattina successiva, però, i due sono obbligati a tornare alla realtà. Damiano vive a Rimini e ha le idee molto chiare sul futuro: una moglie – "l'altra metà della mela" – con cui avere dai dodici ai venti figli, milioni di dischi venduti, concerti in tutto il mondo.

In Raising Eddie, Paul Christodoulou delivers a brutally honest and deeply personal account of parenting a child with severe disabilities. This isn’t the story of a polished hero—it’s the journey of a flawed father wrestling with anger, despair, guilt, and ultimately, unwavering purpose. Paul opens the door to a life few dare to speak about: the sleepless nights, the quiet rage at an unforgiving disease, and the thoughts no parent wants to admit. But he doesn’t just tell his story—he fights. And he challenges you to fight alongside him.

Born with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare and excruciatingly painful condition that makes her skin as fragile as butterfly wings, Emma Fogarty was not expected to survive infancy. Today, at 41 years of age, she is the oldest living Irish person with the condition, continuing to defy the odds with extraordinary strength, resilience and remarkable achievements. However, every accomplishment Emma makes comes with its own set of obstacles.

Damiano è un ragazzo grande, grosso e con pochi amici perché ama passare le sue giornate facendo cose che gli altri ragazzi non capiscono, come fissare il turbinio vorticoso della lavatrice o giocare per ore con i coperchi delle pentole di sua nonna. Ma la sua vera passione è quella per la musica, soprattutto classica, visto che vorrebbe diventare un cantante lirico. Anche se ama pure il jazz, la musica da discoteca, la dance, la techno e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Tranne la musica rock, quella che invece sua sorella minore Margherita ascolta a tutto volume nella stanzetta accanto.

Up All Night not only grips listeners in unrelenting humor, but it offers a fresh voice embracing listeners with graphic injuries, tender recollections, big surprises, and love. Posing nuanced psychological questions while never losing its heart, Up All Night traces the challenges of living with undiagnosed Asperger's syndrome before the social disorder became known in 1992.

Born into a Christian family, author Bill Brack learned the importance of serving the Lord early on. He built his character even further by joining the Marines and serving his country during the Vietnam war years. But everything changed when he suffered a diving accident and found himself completely paralyzed. A long process of healing and restoration began, during which he drew upon his faith to rediscover the joy of living.

Autism is the fastest growing and most common developmental disorder. Imagine the frustration and anxiety over taking your child to a team of medical specialists to be told that they have a lifelong and often debilitating developmental disorder with no cure and limited treatment options? Lauren's parents knew something was different about her from the time she was an infant but as she entered Kindergarten in the fall of 1986 her differences were very obvious to everyone around her as compared to other children her age.

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.

On t'a appris que le handicap était une faiblesse. Qu'il limitait les possibles. Qu'il condamnait à une vie en retrait. Et si c'était tout l'inverse ? Virginie Delalande est née dans le silence. On lui a prédit l'échec. Elle a choisi la vie.

Step into the world of best-selling children's book author Gavin Clifton as his inspirational story takes you on a journey of early battles, trials, achievements, and profound lessons learned along the way. Through his own eyes, Gavin uses his own words and unfiltered narrative to tell you of the many different experiences he's faced while navigating through life with cerebral palsy and a speech impediment.

Damaged is a story of survivor's guilt coupled with resentment tempered by love. It reveals the changing dynamics of a family faced with an injury no one could heal. Nancy Klein was in the first trimester of her second pregnancy when she made headlines as "Coma Mom." This intimate memoir, written by Klein's sister, reveals all that happened to her and her family after the news cycle moved on. The family: a mother who never gave up hope, even when hope was long gone, and a father who couldn't live without his wife's love.

On an island off the coast of Massachusetts, six miles across the cobalt blue Waters of the Nantucket Sound, there is a place where hope flourishes. The island is Martha’s Vineyard. The place is Camp Jabberwocky, a sleepover summer camp for people with a variety of disabilities.

As a new mother to three nonverbal, profoundly autistic children, Christine Slack Roach felt lost and alone. There were resources about autism and about raising children with disabilities. But she couldn’t find anything that resonated with what she was experiencing with her own children. As her three children approach adulthood, Christine feels compelled to share the miracles, joys, pain and unending love she has experienced learning about and raising her kids so that other parents in a similar situation will know that they are not alone, and there are resources out there.

What do you do when multiple sclerosis knocks you on your ass, tells you your rap career is over, and dares you to stay down? You write a new story — and this one’s real as hell. Myelin My Shoes is the raw, unfiltered, punch-in-the-gut memoir from underground hip-hop artist Robert “B-Cide” Cardillo II, who turned pain into power and built something real in a world full of fake. From rocking shows with legends to dodging shady promoters, from touring the country to being forced into a wheelchair by multiple sclerosis — this is the story of a man who refused to tap out. No ghostwriters.

I matti ci incuriosiscono, ci costringono a riflettere, ci cambiano lo sguardo, ci mettono davanti ai nostri fantasmi, non ci lasciano mai indifferenti. La storia dell’uomo è costellata di individui eccentrici, bizzarri, anticonformisti, visionari, in molti casi con disturbi psichici gravi, ma altamente creativi in campo letterario, artistico, scientifico. Partendo da queste considerazioni, è nata l’idea di una sorta di calendario che racconti, al posto del santo del giorno, il matto del giorno.

Against All Odds is a story of an autistic child who, with courage and determination, struggles through life stages, achieving goals. It is a story of taking opportunities and never giving up. It is a story of the lessons learned to help every parent of an autistic child to see the possibilities instead of the challenges. Autism doesn’t have to limit your child’s potential.