Disability Biography

Sumérgete en la extraordinaria vida de Gerardo Schmedling, un hombre cuyo poder espiritual inquebrantable desafió las adversidades de la parálisis de Guillain-Barré en su juventud y las secuelas que afectaron su movilidad de por vida. Este relato, narrado por su prima María Mercedes Olivares Schmedling, conocida como Mechas, quien compartió con él desde su infancia, revela cómo Gerardo se convirtió en el arquitecto de un movimiento global de transformación personal y social.

My life has been nothing short of a miracle. A true triumph, even in the midst of adversity. In Deaf Blind Champion, I give you a front-row seat into how my life changed when I heard my diagnosis, and what I did to get through the depression that engulfed me to become an accomplished sportsman, a dad, life partner, son, brother, teammate, and activist.

This narrative nonfiction novel chronicles my son’s twenty-year journey to get his Cushing’s disease diagnosed—a journey that took far too long. Throughout the book, I highlight opportunities for testing that could have been done according to endocrinologist guidelines. The core message is clear: early diagnosis is crucial for people to live vibrant lives.

Klim's journey to greatness began behind the Iron Curtain, in communist-era Poland. His family made a bid for freedom in the 1980s and immigrated to Australia, where swimming became his passport into a new culture and eventually led him to become one of his adopted country's great sporting heroes. His crowning moment came at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he captured the hearts of millions with his gold medal performances and world record-breaking swims. But being a champion athlete does not come without personal challenges.

Due to horrible physical deformities, he spent much of his life as a fairground freak. He was hounded, persecuted, and starving, until his fortune changed and he was rescued, housed, and fed by the distinguished surgeon, Frederick Treves. The subject of several books, a Broadway hit, and a film, Joseph Merrick has become part of popular mythology. Here, in this fully revised edition containing much fresh information, are the true and un-romanticized facts of his life.

Macular degeneration affects over eight million people in the United States. Patients lose central vision, the ability to read fine print and recognize faces. A diagnosis doesn't mean surrendering to these challenges. Instead, understanding this medical condition will help pave the way toward a better future-for yourself or loved one.

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 (immediately), what the hell do you do if you're, gasp... disabled? Whatever body you’re born into, the pressure to be normal is everywhere. But have you ever met a normal person? What do they look like? Where do they live? What do they eat for breakfast? And what the **** does normal mean anyway?

This English professor grew up spacey and overweight. Drowning in the unrealistic demands of motherhood, Livingston steals her son's ADHD medication and watches it transform her life—for good and bad. She grows weary of subjective diagnoses and chemical treatments from traditional psychology experts, and experiments with functional medicine—brain mapping and nutritional supplements—as a way to understand her brain's potential, bio-hacking her way to a healthy body and mind.

Born without arms or legs below his elbows and knees, Kyle Maynard excels as a champion athlete, inspirational speaker, college student, and male model. No Excuses is his inspirational autobiography that shows how a positive, can-do attitude gives someone we might see as disadvantaged the advantage over life.

Whether you’re facing your own hip replacement surgery or want to train for something like a triathlon, or you simply find yourself facing extreme challenges in your own life, this book is your guide to putting steel in your bones and doing what you may never have thought was possible.

When Valerie Maidment was a baby, doctors diagnosed her with hydrocephalus, a condition that causes excess fluid to build in the brain. After the second surgery at age 9, she was declared healthy; she lived a happy, normal life, graduating from high school and college, having children, and buying and managing her own convenience store. Until one day, when everything changed. Fluid began to build once again in Valerie’s brain, causing immense pressure that—due to misdiagnosis on the part of multiple doctors—caused her optic nerves to break down.

Featured in The Advocate, New York Times, Literary Hub, Autostraddle, and New York magazine's The Cut This is a vital exploration of the ways society overlooks—and fails—young women with disabilities and chronic illnesses Miriam’s doctor didn’t believe she had breast cancer. She did...

A “raw, vulnerable, and utterly hilarious” (Harper’s Bazaar) memoir about one woman’s experience living with a deformity, and her quest to find freedom and joy in her body “Sosenko’s experience with body shame and judgment, from herself and others, is universal. She shows us her...

As a boy, severely disabled after contracting polio as a baby in working class Liverpool, Bert Massie found himself wondering why disabled people were expected to adapt to the world around them, and not the other way round. In his teens, he began to campaign for rights for disabled people, and having battled his way through prejudice and the education system to become a Bachelor of Arts and a qualified social worker, he became a prominent figure in the fight for fair treatment for disabled people leading to the ground breaking Disability Discrimination Act.

In 1959, the year Terry Galloway turned nine, the voices of everyone she loved began to disappear. No one yet knew that an experimental antibiotic given to her mother had wreaked havoc on her fetal nervous system, eventually causing her to go deaf. As a self-proclaimed "child freak," she acted...

Finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction "Talusan sails past the conventions of trans and immigrant memoirs." --The New York Times Book Review "A ball of light hurled into the dark undertow of migration and survival." --Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We're...

Having gone from standing atop high mountain peaks to becoming a martial art and close-quarter combat specialist, and surviving 18 years of brutal special operations involvement, White Wolf's life took a turn that led him to face his most challenging adversary. His development of chronic illness sent his life tumbling headlong into an abyss where a maelstrom awaited. Invisible combatants threw his body into chaos.

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.

This is the true story of a very special man whose life was suddenly and forever changed by a rare disease. Dealing with a severe backache for three days, he was taken to an emergency room. For five grueling months, his dignity, as well as his very self was stripped away. Trapped in a system that all too often is not healthcare, but Healthcareless.

In Rolling in Grace: Volume 1 – A Foundation of Faith and Imagination, author Brooke Brown shares her deeply inspiring life story — one defined not by limitation, but by extraordinary faith, resilience, and a radiant imagination. Narrated with warmth and authenticity by Kaylee Oro, this audiobook invites listeners into Brooke’s world, where hope triumphs over hardship and God’s grace lights every path.