Disability Memoir

The life of Dr. Scott Hollier is not what you'd call typical. He is well-educated, has a good job, is a husband and father, is legally blind, loves computers and gadgets, goes to church, and enjoys travel, spending time with friends and following his favorite football team. For most people, the atypical part of this description will be "legally blind", but from Scott's perspective, it's his traitorous support of a football team outside his home state of Western Australia that makes him stand out from the crowd.

Discover how a woman wheelchair user with cerebral palsy found purpose in librarianship and in ordained Christian ministry. Glean hints on how to live with purpose as a person with a physical disability. Gain clues on practical everyday living with a physical disability. Gather insights as friends and health professionals on how to relate to people with a physical disability. Appreciate how Christian faith can inform and strengthen motivation in the experience of physical disability.

This is a story in Victorian England of how in 1884 Frederick Treves, Surgeon and Lecturer in Anatomy at the London Hospital arranged for the "Elephant Man" (whose distorted grotesque face and deformed body made him a "freak") to visit the medical college next to the hospital for the purpose of a lecture. They would later become friends and Treves the savior of the man named John Merrick. This is Treves' memoir.

This is a very real and bloody look at the journey I made from 19 to 29. I will walk you through the icy halls of drug addiction and dealing, college in Santa Barbara (specifically Isla Vista), depression, suicide, and overdoses. The second part of the book I could only write just recently, as I was, by the Grace of God, able to live the life I knew I always should. Please come with me through the very real and honest look at what it was like to be a young man in the 2010s and how through a million close calls, I finally found life.

Blind Vision is a fascinating account of a unique and inspiring career in open-water swimming. But more than that, it is a story for anyone that’s ever been told they can’t. James Pittar is living proof that no matter what the odds, with dedication, passion, and the right people around you, you can.

In this unique and exhilarating autobiography, Allan Jones - Canada’s first blind diplomat - vividly describes how an untreatable eye disease slowly decimated his visual world, most challengingly during his postings in Tokyo and New Delhi, and how he discovered and took to heart the revelatory Indian philosophy that changed his life.

Speaking My Truth is about a young man named Abdulahi Hassan who is born with a physical disability called Cerebral Palsy and tries to live a normal life. Regardless of his daily struggles he faces physically and mentally he is slowly learning to speak his truth and taking control of his own narrative one step at a time with a single beautiful smile.

She's never taught a class in her life. But when the City of Chicago calls on blind writer Beth Finke to teach a memoir-writing class for older adults, she reluctantly agrees. What she learns about her students, their stories, and herself will move and inspire you. Written the way Beth hears life, you will come to know and love Minerva, Wanda, Hannelore, and the whole colorful cast of characters who build a community around Beth's classes. Generously sprinkled with excerpts in her students' own voices, Beth's book will convince you to get your own stories down on paper.

Il tempo ha un suono diverso quando sai che sta per finire. Una mamma lo sa, lo sente. Gli ultimi mesi sono volati, scanditi da visite mediche, nuove sfide e momenti preziosi: Cesare ascolta in loop le sue canzoni preferite, esprime desideri. Vuole andare al parco, fare un giro in moto, poi in barca a vela. E mentre Valentina cerca un modo per restare aggrappata all’amore, ai ricordi di ogni risata, il suo Cece si sta spegnendo.

In this deeply moving memoir, Dr. Bhaskar Bora recounts his life-changing journey through a spinal cord injury and a battle with cancer. I Died Standing Still is a raw and powerful story of resilience, courage, and transformation. More than a personal narrative, it is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to rise from adversity and find meaning, creativity, and hope in the darkest times.

Lorenzo Amurri non nasce come scrittore, lo diventa in seguito a un tragico incidente di sci che, a soli 26 anni, frantuma la strada artistica sulla quale viaggiava sin da giovanissimo: chitarrista rock, produttore musicale. Un ragazzo dinamico e trasgressivo senza mezze misure. Dall'incidente e dalla sua nuova condizione segnata dalla tetraplegia e dall'impossibilità di stringere ancora tra le braccia la sua chitarra, Lorenzo rinasce. Nel 2008 decide di affidare al suo blog Tracce di ruote "riflessioni, denunce e cronaca della sua seconda vita".

Stoney McGurrin, in his debut book, brings us on the adventure of his lifetime. Having spent months in the hospital as a four-year-old, where he almost lost his arm, only to have it saved by a famous French surgeon Dr. Chance, he left Leitrim as a teenager on ship across the Atlantic to New York City. The stories are exciting, sad, happy, and true; from 1941 to the present, from pencil to paper.

The book is an exciting true story filled with adventure and humorous anecdotes. The narrative starts by providing a background from earlier ancestors - through four generations. The author gives a unique account, beginning in Chipinge, located in Zimbabwe's eastern highlands. The villagers are confused by the ambiguous nature of how their ancestral land changed ownership.

In the mid-1970s, brothers Buddy and Jimmy Miley were close, both on the verge of impressive athletic careers. A promising high school quarterback, Buddy's potential was cut short by an injury that left him quadriplegic. Immobile and imprisoned in his body for decades, Buddy would watch life pass by from his wheelchair, living at home under his mother's and brother's care and wondering what his life could have been.

After a normal, healthy, full-term pregnancy, Margaret Moore's parents Anne and Terrence were shocked as a prolapsed umbilical cord left their daughter unable to breathe on her own. Margaret, nicknamed Meg, was not expected to live through the night and began to breathe on her own by the next day—a phenomenon that medical personnel deemed a miraculous recovery. Meg came home with a physical disability Cerebral Palsy and permanent dependence on others for help with feeding, dressing, hygiene, and transfers to and from her wheelchair and walker.

Ben Mattlin lives a normal, independent life. Why is that interesting? Because Mattlin was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a congenital weakness from which he was expected to die in childhood. Not only did Mattlin live through childhood, he became one of the first students in a wheelchair to attend Harvard, from which he graduated and became a professional writer. His advantage?

Helen Adams Keller was an American author, handicap rights champ, political activist, and speaker who lived from June 27, 1880 to June 1, 1968. She was born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, and following a bout of health problem at the age of 19 months, she lost both her sight and hearing. Keller used home signals till she was seven years of age, when she met Anne Sullivan, her first instructor and long-lasting partner, who taught her language, and that includes reading and writing.

Waste no day to achieve the impossible! When Pennsylvania started testing newborns for metabolic diseases, Adam Settle was one of the first to be diagnosed with Cobalamin-C Deficiency. Legally blind and mentally delayed, Adam never let his limitations hold him back from accomplishing his dreams. His love for people and his desire to help others comes through the sections of this audiobook. Whatever has been holding you back, this audiobook will help you charge through the obstacles you face to achieve the impossible. Adam’s story will inspire, encourage, and give you hope.

Jon Sadler was four when he had his first seizure following an episode of high fever. That made him the object of constant concern to his family and dictated almost every decision he made. With medication, Jon was deemed seizure-free for several years, though his speech was permanently affected. After a college sailing accident, he had his first grand mal seizure (loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions).

Jordan’s traumatic birth caused brain damage, whose limits he refused to accept. He embraced every struggle, learned to work through his weaknesses, and ultimately, redefined himself despite his learning disability label. All thanks to his dedicated cheer squad - family, friends, and God - he knows his potential has no limits, except those he puts on himself. But that doesn’t mean he’s escaped significant hiccups and challenges along the way.