Disability Memoir

Quadriplegics simply do not walk again - yet millions watched as Chris Norton defied incredible odds and took step by impossible step across his graduation stage. With his fiancée, Emily, by his side, those unbelievable steps became the start of an extraordinary journey for them both. Told from both of their unique perspectives, this moving story invites you to find, as Chris and Emily have, that God can transform our lowest points into life's greatest gifts.

For many years, Jeffrey Demitrack searched for a meaningful and fulfilling relationship and, most of all, hoped that one day he would find a significant other who understood and unconditionally accepted his struggles with epilepsy. People have their insecurities, and relationships already are hard without throwing seizures into the mix, so his search has been a challenging one.

The author describes in detail all the insanity, disturbing behaviors, oppressive symptoms, and various feeling associated with the mental battles within her own mind. The author suffers from clinical depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and borderline personality disorder. She struggles with suicidal thoughts and attempts, self-mutilating behaviors, mania, paranoia, anxiety, and psychosis with intense hallucinations of all five of her senses, and multiple delusions, including the belief that she is the "second-coming of Christ".

In April of 2004, the long downward spiraling of Amy Bingaman's mental illness could no longer be hidden or ignored much less written off as a side-product of a colorful and quirky character. With no family able to help and no resources, she was involuntarily locked up in the draconian, archaic labyrinth that is the Wyoming Mental Health System. Armed with only a pocket dictionary and any paper she could find to write on, Amy wrote not only as a journal but at times as her only coping mechanism to salvage what was left of a breaking mind in a love/hate relationship with her alter-ego.

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.

This is my story. After a lifetime of trying to help everyone else get their lives together, I have finally figured out how to get mine together. I am now 72 years old, semi-retired from a business I created to help young adults with autism function in the world. I live in Mexico with my loving partner. I have fulfilling relationships with my adult children and grandchildren.

Nineteen people from across the globe, ranging in age from 20 to 70-plus, tell their stories of living and thriving in diverse fields - in sport, the arts, medicine, business, and more. With refreshing frankness, they share their successes along with their struggles - grit is the one characteristic they all have in common. These are not stories of people overcoming disability - they’re stories of people accommodating disability while pursuing their dreams. Pure Grit shines a light on boundless possibility whatever the individual challenge.

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).

In 2018, Joe Hammond, wrote a piece for the Guardian about the 33 birthday cards he was writing for his two sons. It was shared by thousands. In A Short History of Falling he tells the story behind that piece, about the experience of living with - and dying of - motor neurone disease (ALS). A Short History of Falling is not a lament. It is a deeply imaginative meditation on what it feels like to confront the fact that your family will persist through time without you.

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.

Uncommon Vision by Matt Hendrick is a deeply moving memoir that captures the essence of human resilience. After a devastating accident leaves him paralyzed, Matt embarks on a life-changing journey that challenges both his physical limits and his perceptions of the world. From the depths of despair in a hospital bed to his adventures in the digital and supernatural realms, Matt's story is a riveting exploration of recovery, self-discovery, and the relentless pursuit of one's dreams despite the odds.

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 candid, humorous, and insightful book, author, political science lecturer, and “Dudeist Priest” Arch Grieve provides listeners with a first-hand account of the many lessons he has learned (often the hard way) as a person living with bipolar disorder. This guidebook is a must-listen for anyone who has recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or knows someone who has.

Written as a narrative short story, CallyRae shares her candid insights as she journeys through surviving with autoimmune diseases. Suffering from chronic daily pain, infections, and extreme fatigue, her outlook was one of frustration and hopelessness. As her life journey down the autoimmune highway took twists and turns, she learned to read the signs and listen to her body, mind, and spirit. She continues on the journey but has replaced pain with vitality, infections with health, and extreme fatigue with immense energy.

An ambulance rushed her away to the emergency room at a local hospital. Her life was forever changed in that moment. In this powerful memoir and inspirational self-help book, Kimberly Muka Powers shares her triumphant story of living with bipolar type one disorder with psychotic features. Humbled by this life-altering mental health diagnosis, she learns to rise above the setbacks of her illness and empowers others to do the same.

Ellen Keane spent most of her teens uncomfortable with her limb difference and battling to hide her insecurities. It was only when she embraced her difference that she found her superpower. She started to believe in her unique abilities and gradually find the success that she had never dreamed possible. Perfectly Imperfect is for anyone struggling to accept who they are. With anecdotes from her own life, practical advice and good-natured humour, Keane challenges you to let go of waiting until everything is perfect and instead embrace your imperfections and accept who you are, flaws and all.

On October 3, 2005, Kapacziewski and his soldiers were coming to the end of their tour in Northern Iraq when their convoy was attacked by enemy fighters. A grenade fell through the gunner’s hatch and exploded, shattering Kapacziewski’s right leg below the knee, damaging his right hip, and severing a nerve and artery in his right arm. He endured more than forty surgeries, but his right leg still wasn’t healing as he had hoped, so in March 2007, Kapacziewski chose to have it amputated.

Recycled Human is a continuation of my first book, Damaged Goods, but Recycled Human is aimed more at the re-entry into the general public. A big part of that shift involves various "transitional services" which are in fact not helping people. In fact, the services meant to help a person like me develop can be yet another oppressive system. When a person wants to change and truly is ready to face change, it can be challenging to find genuine resources. So here it is...this is my testimony of what I saw in myself and the system that needed changing.

Already facing a wretched cancer diagnosis, a young man’s prospects for survival dim as he learns his treatments have not worked. Writing against the clock, he feverishly authors a story of profound joy and sadness exploring the life he could have lived. Desperately told, his story takes you through poignant memories, intimate relationships, and fantastical triumphs in a quest to make sense of it all and leave a legacy behind.

Stroke of Love is the life story of a young stroke survivor from Texas named Hether Flanigan. It is a story of resilience, determination, strength, and love. A story about the human spirit, the will to live life to the fullest, the power of the human mind, and the love that surrounds us.