Disability Biography

"Jeg er autist" er Hildur Grauslund Nielsens rørende, poetiske, til tider triste, men også underholdende fortælling om at leve sit liv på kanten af samfundet. Hun ser sig selv og andre autister som katte i en verden af hunde. Mellem 1 og 2 procent af verdens befolkning har autisme, og 30 procent af alle mennesker har et eller flere autistiske træk. At forstå autistens verden er for mange mennesker det samme som at forstå sig selv bedre - eller den anderledes kollega, elev eller ens eget barn. Hildur Grauslund Nielsen har Aspergers syndrom, som er en profil på autismespektret. Som mange andre autister har hun særinteresser.

In Inseparable, much more than a sports memoir, Shaquem and Shaquill Griffin share the previously untold details of the powerful and inspiring story behind the modern NFL’s first one-handed player and his twin brother’s unrelenting devotion, sacrifice, and love. It’s the story of Shaquem’s understanding of God’s purpose for his life - to inspire others to stop being afraid and to stop making excuses - and his family’s unwavering support in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

After three long years, Johnny’s young son, Sam, experiences a breakthrough. But even as calm comes to Sam's body, the illness makes off with his mind. Violent outbursts, strange obsessions - what has happened to his sweet boy? Cinematically weaving three generations of fatherhood, Remember, You’re the Greatest is a memoir of hard questions. Of unexpected joy in the ache of mystery. And the power of a special needs child to teach a father what greatness truly looks like.

Life is never easy, but there are times when it feels like everything is against you. Tyra Hodge grew up feeling the world's weight pressing down on her. A nagging feeling awakened, whispering how she would never amount to anything the older she got. Daunted by the increasing demands of education and her private struggles, Tyra turned away.

After contracting polio as a child, Sandra Gail Lambert progressed from braces and crutches to a manual wheelchair to a power wheelchair - but loneliness has remained a constant, from the wild claustrophobia of a child in body casts to just yesterday, trapped at home, gasping from pain. A Certain Loneliness is a meditative and engaging memoir-in-essays that explores the intersection of disability, queerness, and female desire with frankness and humor.

Diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a child, Kyle Pease had grown up supporting his athlete brothers Brent and Evan from the sidelines. While his condition limited his ability to play sports, it didn't dampen Kyle's passion for them, nor did it stop the Pease family from including Kyle in various excursions. From rolling his wheelchair up Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite National Park to zipping down Colorado snow slopes, there was never a dull moment with the Pease brothers. Where there was a wheel, there was a way to adventure.

Emily Owen was a highly intelligent teenager who was also athletic and a skilled musician. Tragically, in her late teens she was diagnosed as suffering from Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2). Since then, Emily has survived many complicated surgical procedures, been close to death, and seen the gradual erosion of all the abilities that defined her personality including the total loss of her hearing. Despite this, she has a remarkable sense of humor and has coped with everything she has been through due to her strong Christian faith, her supportive family, and indomitable personality.

I am a woman living with cerebral palsy (CP) since birth. When I was prepping for graduation and finishing my final honors essay for school, I had a realization that based on experience, most of the world does not think or experience life the way I do. Despite my CP, the world still didn't seem to process experiences, feelings, or ideas the same way I've learned to be my normal way of functioning.

The Invictus Games change lives and save lives. Created and spearheaded by Prince Harry, for whom this is a very personal cause, the games are for current and former servicemen and women who have been wounded, injured or sick. Most races are about who gets to the finish line first. At the Invictus Games, even making the start line is an achievement beyond measure. Triple amputees, cancer survivors, multiple sclerosis patients, PTSD sufferers and many more all compete.

In the spring of 1974, as the last American troops were being pulled out of Vietnam, Ron Kovic and a small group of other severely injured veterans in a California VA hospital launched the American Veterans Movement. In a phenomenal feat of political organizing, Kovic corralled his fellow AVM members into staging a sit-in, and then a hunger strike, in the Los Angeles office of Senator Alan Cranston, demanding better treatment of injured and disabled veterans.

In a series of beautifully textured stories, the author takes the listener on a fascinating journey as she travels with Teela, her lively "golden dog", through airports, city streets, and southwest desert landscapes, exploring these surroundings with changed sight. This unusual account of travel will inspire the sighted as well as the blind, offering pointed observations on processes of learning to work with a service animal and on coming to terms with a disability.

"Ich bin einer derer, die die Jahreskarte gezogen haben. Wenn ich abrutsche oder hochfliege, dann für eine lange Zeit. Dann bin ich nicht mehr zu halten, ob im Flug oder im Fall." Die fesselnde Chronik einer manisch-depressiven Erkrankung: ein autobiografisch radikales Werk von höchster literarischer Kraft.

Published in 1996, Life as We Know It introduced Jamie Bérubé to the world as a sweet, bright, gregarious little boy who loves The Beatles, pizza, and making lists. At four he is like many young people his age, but his Down syndrome leads most people to see him only in terms of his disability. Twenty years later Michael Bérubé chronicles his son's growth and his growing love of the world, writing as both a disability studies scholar and as a father.

After a diagnosis of a degenerative eye disease, John Samuel’s life—and his chance at success—started to vanish. In a world systemically unequipped for accessibility, disability inclusion is often left out of conversations about diversity. For people with disabilities, it can feel impossible to adapt and thrive when you’re already set up for failure.

Es ist Nicoles zweiunddreißigster Geburtstag, als sie unter der Dusche steht und sich auf die Feier mit ihren zwei kleinen Kindern und ihrem liebevollen Mann freut. Abrupt wird sie aus ihren Gedanken gerissen, als sie einen Knoten in ihrer Brust ertastet. Eine Welt bricht für sie zusammen. Später stellen die Ärzte die Diagnose, dass in Nicoles Körper nicht nur ein hochaggressiver Tumor wächst, sondern dass sie außerdem dieselbe genetische Vorbelastung wie Angelina Jolie hat. Selbst nach erfolgreicher Therapie, bleibt die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer erneuten Erkrankung enorm hoch.

It only takes a second to change your life. At age 21, Ryan Atkins had everything going for him: A full-ride scholarship in a prestigious business program, a well-paying internship, an opportunity to pitch a business plan to venture capitalists in New York City. He was living his dreams and preparing for a future of success. But the day before leaving for New York, Ryan was in a life-altering car accident that robbed him of the use of his arms and legs. Paralyzed from the shoulders down, he found himself struggling to grasp just how fundamentally his life had changed.

Rachel Kolb was born profoundly deaf the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, and she grew up as part of the first generation of deaf people with legal rights to accessibility services. Still, from a young age, she contorted herself to expectations set by a world that prioritizes hearing people. Now in Articulate, Kolb blends personal narrative with cultural commentary to explore the different layers of deafness, language, and voice.

Here is the inspiring story of a man who overcame childhood polio to live an adventure-filled life as captain of Maine's most famous windjammer, the schooner Adventure, now a national historic landmark in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Captain Jim shares his adventures afloat, his battles with bureaucracy, and even how he created one of Maine's most unusual restaurants.

In the face of a mysterious and terrifying illness, this is the story of a family trying to maintain some kind of togetherness. Torn between his commitment to keep Clarisa a part of Janir’s life and the threat she poses to that life, John acknowledges that he can care for his son in ways he never could for Clarisa. All who have experienced the wrench of mental illness in the family will recognize their own journey in this heartfelt story of fatherhood.

In October of 2008, I was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, TN, after a head-on collision with an SUV while riding a motorcycle. When I woke up, I was told I would never walk again or have full use of my hands. Seventy-eight screws, 13 plates, 25 units of blood, and more than 400 stitches and staples later, I became very familiar with physical pain and haven’t had a pain-free day since. That physical battle was harder than I could even begin to explain, but it doesn’t really come close to the one that I went through inside of myself over the years that followed.