Disability Biography

I know this sounds a bit cliche, but life truly is a journey. It evidences as a unique sojourn for every individual person. This is the story of a child born seventy years ago. It is a story of triumph and setbacks, of joy and sorrow, of weakness and strength. But most of all, it is a story of courage. Brian J. Woznicki was born with cerebral palsy. He was dealt a very difficult hand in life.

We treat the body as an afterthought, until it no longer can be. Until the pain or the pleasure is too great. Sinéad Gleeson's life has been marked by terrible illness, including leukemia and debilitating arthritis. As a child, she bathed in the springs of Lourdes, ever hopeful that her body would cooperate, ever looking forward to the day when she could take her body for granted. But just as she turns inward to explore her own pain, and then the marvel of recovery, and then the arrival of her greatest joys—falling in love, becoming a mother—she turns her gaze outward.

At the age of four, Joshua Miele was blinded and badly burned when a delusional neighbor poured sulfuric acid over his head in a crime that shocked New York. It could have ended his life, but instead, Miele—naturally curious, and a born problem solver—not only recovered, but thrived. Throughout his life, Miele has found increasingly inventive ways to succeed in a world built for the sighted, and to help others to do the same. At first reluctant to even think of himself as blind, he eventually embraced his blindness and became a committed advocate for disability and accessibility

Left partially paralysed below the rib cage by polio, Anne Wafula Strike was forced to flee her native Kenyan village, moving across the country with her family. After overcoming additional adversity, including the loss of her mother and ableist prejudice, Anne moved to the UK, where she discovered her talent for wheelchair racing. The first East African to compete in her sport, representing Kenya in the 2004 Paralympics before joining Paralympics GB, Anne is now a fierce advocate for the promotion of the games around the world, and a champion of disabled rights.

In the depths of despair, contemplating suicide, I gazed out a rain-streaked window in Maryland, where blurred colors in a parking lot mirrored my shattered soul. The shame of being sexually abused haunted me with recurring nightmares and PTSD, leading to a life cloaked in a complex facade of military titles and untold secrets. In this powerful memoir, published poet and author Adam Volant shares his raw and inspiring testimony of overcoming unimaginable brokenness to achieve success.

Wie können wir Inklusion endlich umsetzen? Eine so persönliche wie politische Geschichte. 2016 wird Hadija Haruna-Oelker Mutter eines behinderten Kindes. Immer wieder trifft sie auf Barrieren und trennende Systeme, die seit Jahrzehnten bekannt sind: Bürokratie, pseudoinklusive Schulen oder unhinterfragte Diskriminierungen und Abwertungen im Alltag.

Carla Sosenko was born with Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome, a rare vascular disorder that resulted in legs of different sizes, a mass of flesh on her back,­­ a hunched posture, and other idiosyncrasies big and small. She spent years trying to hide under layers of clothing, and then experimented with the opposite: wearing tiny dresses and short shorts, daring people to stare so she could make them regret it. No matter what she did, she was worried that she didn’t measure up.

I Kept Walking opens in 1940s Tehran when a misguided prank leaves three- year-old Minou frozen in fear. Days later, a doctor breaks the news to her mother: "Your daughter has polio." To understand why nothing is as it seems-the cause of her polio or why her dutiful Jewish mother, who was married off at 13, thwarted her dream of marriage, Minou must flee Iran and confront the psychological toll of her polio. I Kept Walking is the audacious account of a bold young woman who was unwilling to be crushed by polio or the prohibitions of a conservative society.

Ruth's tribe are her lively children and her filmmaker husband, Simon, who has motor neurone disease and can communicate only with his eyes. Ruth's other tribe are the friends who gather at the cove in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, and regularly throw themselves into the freezing cold water just for kicks. The Tragic Wives' Swimming Club, as they jokingly call themselves, meet to cope with the extreme challenges life puts in their way, not to mention the monster waves rolling over the horizon.

In this heartwarming and candid memoir, Tim Howard does something he would never do on a soccer field: he drops his guard. As fiercely protective about his privacy as he is guarding the goal for the US national team and for Everton in the English Premier League, Howard opens up for the first time about how a hyperactive kid from New Jersey with Tourette's syndrome defied the odds to become one of the world’s premier goalkeepers.

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.

In 2004, Mindy begins hearing a voice in her head, someone she calls "Joe," and sees signs everywhere that hold mysterious clues only for her. What she doesn't know at the time is that she is experiencing her first schizophrenic episode. For the next decade, she oscillates between two worlds -- a normal life and a secret voice-filled one -- until she begins the journey of merging her two worlds back into one. Becoming Whole documents her onset of schizophrenia and the subsequent years spent learning about it and how to live with it. It is her journey to find solace.

With aspirations of being a successful lawyer, Jonathan embarks on a path to make his dreams come true, but is ultimately, unable to do so due to his schizoaffective disorder. In this candid and unflinching memoir, Jonathan reveals his story in all its rawness: the ups, the downs, the wins, the losses, the highs and the darkest of lows.

Alle hören auf "Daffy", nur Daffy nicht: Abenteuer Blindenführhündin - von Jennifer Mai, gesprochen von der Autorin. Alle hören auf "Daffy", nur Daffy nicht. Vor allem wenn die ansonsten so zuverlässige Blindenführhündin gerade etwas Schmackhaftes im Freilauf entdeckt hat, kostet dies Jenny, ihrer Arbeitgeberin, viel Geduld. Die hohen Erwartungen der Passanten sind bald noch schlimmer als Daffys Dickkopf. Denn die Leute vergessen eines nur allzu gern: Ein Blindenführhund macht einen verantwortungsvollen Job, allerdings ist und bleibt er immer noch ein Tier.

Elaine, What Happened? A History follows the thirty year life of Elaine who was born without eyes and had other deformities. Besides trying to find out what caused her defects, it is a history of the changes that took place in the medical field, in public education and most notably in society's customs and attitudes regarding people with disabilities.

At the age of sixty, and having lived with Parkinson’s disease for over ten years, Guy Deacon CBE set out on one last adventure: to drive solo from his home in the UK 18,000 miles and through twenty-five countries to Cape Town on the southern tip of Africa. This incredible journey, across Europe and down the full length of Africa, took the former British Army officer over twelve months. Along the way, he broke down five times, underwent one emergency evacuation, and took 3,650 prescription pills.

Martin Hibbert was left paralysed from the waist down by the Manchester Arena bombing which killed twenty-two people on 22 May 2017. Martin’s teenage daughter Eve was one of the 940 injured, in Eve’s case, gravely. The dad from Bolton has since become a leading campaigner both for victims of the atrocity and those with spinal cord injuries. Determined to make a difference he took on the ultimate challenge, scaling Kilimanjaro in a wheelchair, becoming the second paraplegic to do so, and raising a million pounds for charity.

"Dandelion Roots Run Deep" is the true story of three generations of tenacious Midwestern women, one in Illinois and two in Michigan. Merry is the third generation, and her mother Merrill, fought for organic agriculture and Michigan's environment from 1967 - 2009. Merrill developed Alzheimer's before finishing her book, so Merry took her story to fruition.

A unique self-help memoir subliminally written from the perspective of a first time mom with undiagnosed Adhd, raised in Saint Louis, Missouri. She studied her experiences and those around her to recognize and identify, unhealthy patterns in society. Motherhood illuminated the struggles and weight that women have been thanklessly carrying for centuries. Producing emotionally unstable and traumatized children that become adults and spread their pain and grief among society.

Tommy Jessop is a multi-award winning actor, theatre performer, and campaigner. Tommy has been at the vanguard of bringing awareness of the potential of people living with Down syndrome to the media, and to government. A Life Worth Living will be Tommy's story - from his journey into acting and campaigning while showing his unstoppable determination, charisma, and love for life.