Disability Biography

Shock. That was Darla's first reaction when her carefree childhood was disrupted by cancer. Her life became a roller coaster of intense emotions. Sadly, she lost her leg and, ultimately, faced death. During her illness, we shared difficult times, but also great times celebrating life as Darla grew in faith and joy. She lived in the present (not worrying about her past or future) and was very positive. Darla was a joy to be with because she was joyful!

From childhood stutterer to inspirational speaker! The Courage to Shine is a powerful and inspirational memoir by Eileen Forrestal, a former anesthesiologist who transformed her life. After a lifetime of "putting people to sleep", Eileen is now in the business of "waking people up" as a writer, speaker, and coach. In The Courage to Shine, Eileen retraces her journey. She shares her childhood trauma of an accidental overdose of junior aspirin that led to her subsequent speech impediment, the embarrassment of which caused her to hide her voice in silent shame.

Je m'appelle Mason Cyrille Elong Ewing. J'avais à peine 4 ans lorsque ma mère Marie est décédée, laissant derrière elle un petit bout d'homme. Au Cameroun, on m'appelait Toro, j'étais l'enfant au destin fragile. Puis je suis arrivé en France chez mon oncle et ma tante, pour une meilleure vie. On m'avait promis un fabuleux voyage, mais personne ne m'avait précisé que c'était pour l'enfer. J'étais devenu, Lucien, l'esclave.

Annie and Rolf Lulloff were entering an exciting stage of life in 1976 when the first signs of health issues that lie ahead for Annie began to emerge. A sudden loss of sense of smell, severe anxiety attacks, vision issues, and other neurological challenges piled up, eventually culminating in a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease on New Year’s Eve, 1989. But the Lulloffs were not about to let Parkinson’s get the best of them.

Cancer is cancer. Chemo is chemo. Right? That's what Mel thought before she received her diagnosis. But she quickly found out she had a lot to learn! From bird poo to shingles, Aunt Sally to burnt boob, and too many other "special joys" to mention: Who knew?

Johann König verliert als Kind durch einen Unfall fast vollständig seine Sehkraft. Wie kann man sich Kunst erschließen, wenn man sich auf seine Augen nicht verlassen kann? Was ist Sehen überhaupt, wenn die Welt um einen herum verschwimmt? In seinem Buch "Blinder Galerist" beschreibt Johann König, wie es ihm gelang, die Welt und die Kunst neu wahrzunehmen. "Die Bilder, die im Kopf entstehen, sind genauso wichtig wie die Bilder an der Wand".

Like many of us, James Lindsay is no stranger to stress and anxiety. But in his case, leaving those struggles untreated led to a full psychotic episode that hospitalized him for the better part of a month. With the help of medication and therapy, he has now overcome this dark period and is currently living a much happier life.

What do you do when your reality slips away? If you're Sky Yardley and Jane Dwinell, you accept each new challenge, reshape your life, and write. When Sky was diagnosed with "probable early stage Alzheimer's" at age 66, he was determined to live as fully as possible. He researched dementia, talked about dementia, connected with other people with the disease, and wrote about it.

An inspiring story of hope, strength and courage. After doctors said there was no hope for her newborn daughter, this mother refused to give up. Despite her daughter’s severe disabilities, Lucy went on to touch many lives with her presence and became her mother’s greatest teacher.

Kimberly Crowe was back for the second year in a row with a world-renowned event in honor of International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 celebrates the tremendous efforts of women and girls around the world in shaping the future. This summit was an epic, fun, connecting, and delightful one-day virtual event in celebration of International Women’s Day, March 8, 2022. Our speakers are an amazing array of women bringing their brilliance to serve the greater good and contribute their zone of genius to the world.

I discover a "lost" aunt, separated from our family due to racism and discrimination against the disabled. She had a mental disability due to childhood meningitis. She was taken away in 1942 when all Japanese Americans were considered the enemy and imprisoned. She then became a "ward" of the state. We believed she had died but 70 years later found her alive and living a few miles from our family farm. How did she survive? Why was she kept hidden? How did both shame and resilience empower my family to forge forward in a land that did not want them?

See? is an inspirational autobiography that describes how God's grace and the firm, loving support from family, friends, neighbors, an exceptional teacher, and caring supervisors guided the author through life's challenges. It also debunks common myths of blindness and discusses adaptive equipment used by the author on her journey.

Steph Hammerman has been motivating herself and others her entire life. Since defying the odds by surviving as a one-pound, fifteen-ounce baby and weeks later being diagnosed with cerebral palsy, to beating Hodgkin's lymphoma stage 3B cancer in 2016, Steph has been a living example of overcoming seemingly insurmountable objects in order to achieve the impossible.

Sarah’s story is one for any parent; it is not just about the highs and lows of having a child with additional needs, but also simply as a mum of three. She talks candidly about coming to terms with the decision to move Oscar to a SEN (Special Educational Needs) school, another big milestone in Oscar’s young life. Whilst Sarah may have found herself on a different path to the one she’d imagined for herself, it has not been a bad one. There is sadness, certainly; and there have been struggles along the way; but there has been so much laughter and happiness, too.

Do you like sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll? Do you know what jails, institutions, and death are all about? I don't want to be controlled, but can I control myself? Who says I have to live by society's rules?

At age 54, Chris Monnette is diagnosed with neovascular macular degeneration, an incurable retinal disease that slowly robs him of his eyesight. As each cell in his macula dies and his vision diminishes, he is forced, literally and figuratively, to see the world through different eyes. Raised in the shadow of an emotionally stifled father, Chris learns early on to mirror the belief that vulnerability equals weakness. A piercingly honest meditation on the emotional legacy of stoicism, Seeing Clearly is much-needed proof that being a man and being vulnerable are one and the same.

Have you ever wondered how a blind person pours a cup of coffee? Or how they and their guide dog know when it's safe to cross a busy road? When Lois Strachan lost her sight at the age of 21 years, she had to learn the answers to these and countless other questions of how to live as a blind person in a sighted world. In this delightfully quirky and entertaining book, Lois shares some of the secrets she discovered about how to live an “ordinary” life in an extraordinary way despite her disability.

私たちは本当に「見て」いるのか?触れて、聴いて、初めてわかる、この社会のかたち。時に鋭く、そしてあたたかく。ユーモアに満ちた随想集。

Negli ultimi decenni si è verificata una profonda rivoluzione nella cura della sclerosi multipla, una disfunzione del sistema immunitario che colpisce 122.000 italiani e 2,5 milioni di persone nel mondo. Grazie allo sviluppo di nuovi farmaci sempre più efficaci e a fondamentali scoperte, dai fattori di rischio genetici e ambientali al ruolo rigenerativo delle cellule staminali nel cervello, ora, finalmente, la vita delle persone che soffrono di questa malattia è sempre più vicina alla normalità.

In January 2016, life took an unexpected turn for Marilyn Miller Lowry when a stroke abruptly had her asking those questions—and more. In the years since, Lowry examined her life and made dramatic changes that opened up more possibilities than she ever imagined. Grateful to be able to author A Stroke of Magic, Lowry uses her background as a counselor to share candid observations of the trauma that comes with unexpected physical disability.