Disability Biography

Tony-award winning actress Ali Stroker reads the story of Judy Heumann—one of the most influential disability rights activists in US history A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn’t built for all of us and of one woman’s activism—from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco...

John Cotter was thirty years old when he first began to notice a ringing in his ears. Soon the ringing became a roar inside his head. Next came partial deafness, then dizziness and vertigo that rendered him unable to walk, work, sleep, or even communicate. At a stage of life when he expected to be emerging fully into adulthood, teaching, and writing books, he found himself “crippled and dependent” and in search of care.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER This essay collection from the “bitches gotta eat” blogger, writer on Hulu’s Shrill and HBO's And Just Like That, and “one of our country’s most fierce and foulmouthed authors” (Amber Tamblyn, Vulture) is sure to make you alternately cackle with glee and...

The long-awaited essay collection from one of the most influential voices in disability activism that detonates a bomb in our collective understanding of care and illness, showing us that sickness is a fact of life. In the wake of the 2014 Ferguson riots, and sick with a chronic condition that...

In Take Me Home from the Oscars, Schwab tells for the first time her story of living an amazing life in television while suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Schwab recounts with incredible honesty how on the same day she produced and appeared in a major makeover segment for Live with Regis & Kelly in New York and then raced to Chicago to appear on Oprah!, all while balancing medications to ward off the relentless pain that plagued her on-camera and off.

Jason Dunkerley’s Visions of Hope: Running Towards My Own Truth is the inspiring autobiography of a distinguished Canadian middle-distance runner, who has been blind from birth due to a congenital eye condition. He achieved international acclaim as a five-time Paralympic medalist and world champion.

"Beautiful and razor-sharp…cannot recommend highly enough." —Ann Helen Petersen, Culture Study "Cuts boldly and beautifully through that silence, inviting readers to imagine what our world might look like if we met every family where they are." —Vogue “A beautiful, transformative book...

Until sophomore year of high school, 15-year-old Allison Britz lived a comfortable life in an idyllic town. She was a dedicated student with tons of extracurricular activities, friends, and loving parents at home. But after awakening from a vivid nightmare in which she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she was convinced the dream had been a warning. Allison believed that she must do something to stop the cancer in her dream from becoming a reality.

Discover the untold story behind one of Kathleen Norris's deeply personal relationships in Rebecca Sue. Best known for her insightful and poignant reflections on faith and life, Norris steps into uncharted territory by sharing an intimate memoir exploring the life of her younger sister Becky. Born with perinatal hypoxia, Becky's life was shaped by physical and mental disabilities, yet her spirit and resilience illuminate the hidden power of faith, family, and love.

In her moving account of how she came to understand the world around her despite being blind and deaf since childhood, Helen Keller confirms that no physical obstacle can hinder the achievements of the human mind. Included with Keller's poignant autobiography are her letters, spanning 15 years, which reveal her remarkable intellectual growth and empathic soul. Commentary by her teacher, Anne Sullivan, and the book's original editor is also featured, providing illuminating insight from two of Keller's closest companions.

In The Maniac with No Knees, Tyler Kania takes listeners on a raw, unfiltered ride through his journey with undiagnosed Bipolar I Disorder. From rugby fields to the edge of the Grand Canyon, from building a cryptocurrency start-up to coaching a women’s rugby team to victory, Tyler’s manic adventures push every boundary. Along the way, he uncovers a major tech scandal, survives run-ins with the Boston Mafia, and even attempts the unthinkable—before landing in a mental hospital, where he finally begins to heal.

After you're done listening to Glenna's story, you cannot help but admit she's led a hard life. She's gone through more than her fair share of trouble, in different ways. Some of it she invited; some she did not. To say that she had a troubled childhood would be an understatement. Cutting a long story short, she spent a considerable time working as a prostitute. She was a drug addict. Somewhere along the way, she caught AIDS and Hepatitis C.

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.

Trente-deux ans, c'est le nombre d'années qu'il m'a fallu pour mettre un nom sur ma différence. Comment ai-je pu "passer au travers des mailles du filet" durant tout ce temps ? Je vous révèle, au travers de ce récit parsemé d'anecdotes, comment j'ai grandi dans l'ignorance de mon syndrome. Plongez dans mon quotidien et découvrez chacune des étapes clés de mon évolution ainsi que les moyens mis en œuvre pour survivre dans ce monde parfois difficile à appréhender.

"Je vis avec l'autisme", écrit Josef Schovanec, soulignant ainsi ce qu'il considère plus comme une qualité que comme un handicap. Ce voyageur passionné des civilisations anciennes maîtrise une dizaine de langues, est diplômé de Sciences Po et possède un doctorat en philosophie. Il récuse pourtant les attributs qu'on lui prête - ceux d'un autiste "génial" aux capacités intellectuelles extraordinaires - pour évoquer plutôt, avec beaucoup d'humour et de sensibilité, ces "petits" problèmes qui font le quotidien d'un autiste Asperger.

He Called Me Tin is a story of triumph and perseverance. From childhood distress to an attempt at suicide to being scarred by religion to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis to the strife of racism and discrimination as a government employee to being assaulted and nearly kidnapped abroad, she has overcome in peace....

“Honey, you’ve been very ill and they’ve had to amputate…” His voice cracked. I searched his face, looking for some kind of clue to tell me why I sensed so much pain from him and in me. “…Your hands and feet.” Cyndi tried to grasp the new reality that flesh-eating disease had changed her life forever. Her recent memories of being a successful business manager and new mom seemed oceans away. It just couldn’t be true. I tried to speak, but no words came. Please God—let this be a dream.

Blinded at age three, Mike May defied expectations by breaking world records in downhill speed skiing, joining the CIA, and becoming a successful inventor, entrepreneur, and family man. He had never yearned for vision. Then, in 1999, a chance encounter brought startling news: a revolutionary stem-cell transplant surgery could restore May's vision.

Clem Bastow grew up feeling like she’d missed a key memo on human behaviour. She found the unspoken rules of social engagement confusing, arbitrary and often stressful. Friendships were hard, relationships harder and the office was a fluorescent-lit nightmare of anxiety. It wasn’t until Clem was diagnosed as autistic, at age 36, that things clicked into focus. Clem reflects as an autistic adult on her formative experiences as an undiagnosed young person, from the asphalt playground of St Joseph's Primary School in Melbourne to working as an entertainment journalist in Hollywood.

From being a little girl in a village in China with polio to a tech executive at Apple, Libo Cao Meyers has had quite a journey in life—a journey steeped in rich family legacy and powered by determination, growth, and love. Over the years and the miles, she’s embraced her differences and has allowed no one—including herself—to set limitations on what she’s able to accomplish. But just because she’s been successful doesn’t mean it’s been easy. Not by a long shot.