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Falling for myself: a memoir /
By Dorothy Ellen Palmer. 2019
Born with congenital anomalies in both feet, then called birth defects, Dorothy Ellen Palmer was adopted as a toddler by…
a wounded 1950s family who had no idea how to handle the tangled complexities of adoption and disability. From repeated childhood surgeries to an activist awakening at university to decades as a feminist teacher, mom, improv coach and unionist, she tried to hide being different. But now, standing proud with her walker, she's sharing her journey. Navigating abandonment, abuse and ableism, she finds her birth parents and a new chosen family in the disability community. 2019.Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space
By Amanda Leduc. 2020
Fairy tales shape how we see the world, so what happens when you identify more with the Beast than Beauty?…
If every disabled character is mocked and mistreated, how does the Beast ever imagine a happily-ever-after? Amanda Leduc looks at fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm to Disney, showing us how they influence our expectations and behaviour and linking the quest for disability rights to new kinds of stories that celebrate difference. ‘Leduc peels the flesh from the fairy tales we grew up loving and strips them down to their skeletons to skilfully reveal how they influence the way we think about disability. She contrasts the stories we have with the ones we wish we had, incorporating her own life. Her wisdom lands like a punch in the heart, leaving a sizable dent that reshapes how we see tales we’ve been telling for centuries. She also – and this is the best part – suggests how we might tell new fairy tales, how we can forge new stories.’ – Adam Pottle, author of Voice ‘A unique and dazzling study … a revolutionary approach to understanding why we are drawn to fairy tales and how they shape our lives.’ – Jack Zipes, author of Grimm Legacies ‘Each chapter is a gem, but the kind of gem that turns into a knife, into a mirror, into a portal. Leduc’s real magic? That she transforms her readers as surely as any world.’ – Mira Jacob, author of Good TalkSitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body
By Rebekah Taussig. 2020
A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to…
paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life. Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.Westray: Mon passage des ténèbres à la lumière
By Vernon Theriault. 2019
Dans ce livre, Theriault décrit son expérience dans la mine du comté de Pictou, ses combats personnels à la suite…
du désastre et la façon dont il a donné un sens nouveau à sa vie en participant à la campagne de lobbying de longue haleine du Syndicat des Métallos, qui a mené à l’adoption de la Loi Westray en 2004.Mrs. Beaton's Question: My Nine Years at the Halifax School for the Blind
By Robert Mercer. 2020
?Robert Mercer's life could have been very different. He was born with very low vision and, as a youngster, struggled…
in school. But through the intervention of a caring teacher and the support of his family, he found his way to the Halifax School for the Blind and into the classroom of Mrs. Beaton. It was there that he discovered his voice, a voice he uses to recount his remarkable journey from a shy little boy to a community leader.This Strange Visible Air: Essays on Aging and the Writing Life
By Sharon Butala. 2021
A collection of essays on women and aging from Canadian legend Sharon Butala "What I didn't have a clue about…
was that I was soon to be old, or what being old would mean to my dreams and desires. While dreading old age with every fibre, I was at the same time in full denial that it would ever happen to me, and so, was shocked down to the soles of my feet when it did." In this incisive collection, Sharon Butala reflects on the ways her life has changed as she's grown old. She knows that society fails the elderly massively, and so she tackles ageism and loneliness, friendship and companionship. She writes with pointed wit and acerbic humour about dinner parties and health challenges and forgetfulness and complicated family relationships and the pandemic -- and lettuce. And she tells her story with the tremendous skill and beauty of a writer who has masterfully honed her craft over the course of her storied four-decade career. Butala gives us a book to be cherished -- an elegant and expansive look at the complexities and desires of aging and the aged, standing in stark contrast to the stereotyped, simplistic portrayals of the elderly in our culture. This Strange Visible Air is a true gift.Life's Not over, It Just Looks Different
By Christopher Warner. 2016
Life happens, and sometimes it changes in ways that we never expected.After experiencing a surgical complication that rendered me legally…
blind, I decided there were two choices ahead of me: roll over and die, essentially giving in to the fact that life wasn't going to be the same as before, or get on with life and figure out how to move forward with reduced eyesight.This book shares a personal story of trying to bounce back from a life changing event. There were lots of good days and even some funny moments along the way. But no recovery is ever all smooth sailing. There were also bad days, and times when self-doubt and despair took over.Beryl: The Making of a Disability Activist
By Dustin Galer. 2023
The story of a mid-century working-class housewife whose extraordinary physical transformation empowered her to become a dynamic social activist who…
fueled a movement to create a more inclusive future for people with disabilities."I lost everything that mattered in my life because I went Deaf and Blind. It was then, in the depths…
of challenges, that I found salvations. It took my disabilities to help me realize what an incredible life I could lead. Sport. Philanthropy. Storytelling. This book is about reaffirming that anyone and everyone needs to know anything is possible and no matter how tough things get, there is always going to be another tomorrow." -- cover.Beryl: The Making of a Disability Activist
By Dustin Galer. 2023
The story of a mid-century working-class housewife whose extraordinary physical transformation empowered her to become a dynamic social activist who…
fueled a movement to create a more inclusive future for people with disabilities.The Fountain of Age
By Betty Friedan. 1993
Betty Friedan launches a new revolution with this powerful, bestselling book breaking through the American mystique of aging as decline.…
Through hundreds of interviews, Friedan confronts our denial and demolishes society's compassionate contempt -- to offer a vision of what can be embraced.Wheelchair Warrior: Gangs, Disability, and Basketball
By Melvin Juette, Ronald Berger. 2008
The Hourglass Solution: A Boomer's Guide to the Rest of Your Life
By Jeff Johnson, Paula Forman. 2009
Seventy-five million baby boomers are finding themselves bound by habits and pursuits instigated many years agoand for a large percentage…
of those boomers, significant aspects of their lives no longer satisfy. But by joining revolutionary insight to highly proprietary prescriptive advice, The Hourglass Solution provides a proactive and pragmatic way to lead a better life after 50. Johnson and Forman evaluate the life narrative through the lens of an hourglassproposing that those in early adulthood are at the top of the hourglass, able to select from many options, while those in middle age are in the hourglass’s neck, constrained by the choices they made earlier in their lives. The Hourglass Solution explains how those approaching their fifties (and beyond) can still find a wealth of opportunity by recognizing and pursuing new directions, free from the restrictions imposed by an earlier choice. Like Gail Sheehy’s Passages before it, The Hourglass Solution will enlighten and inspire a generation of readers to regain control over their lives and well-being.What's that pig outdoors?
By Henry Kisor. 2010
Henry Kisor lost his hearing at age three to meningitis and encephalitis but went on to excel in the most…
verbal of professions as a literary journalist. This new and expanded edition of Kisor's engrossing memoir recounts his life as a deaf person in a hearing world and addresses heartening changes over the last two decades due to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and advancements in cochlear implants and modes of communication. _x000B_Kisor tells of his parents' drive to raise him as a member of the hearing and speaking world by teaching him effective lip-reading skills at a young age and encouraging him to communicate with his hearing peers. _x000B_Kisor updates the continuing disagreements between those who advocate sign language and those who practice speech and lip-reading, discusses the increased acceptance of deaf people's abilities and idiosyncrasies, and considers technological advancements that have enabled deaf people to communicate with the hearing world on its own terms.Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement And Transform America
By Marc Freedman. 1999
Over the next three decades, the number of Americans over fifty will double, swelling to more than a quarter of…
the population. Already we are living thirty years longer than a century ago, with further gains expected in the coming years. The end result is a new stage of life, one as long or longer than childhood or middle age in duration, and one spent in unprecedented good health. Yet, as individuals, and as a society, we've shown little imagination or wisdom in using this great gift of a third age. Marc Freedman identifies the new longevity as not a problem to be solved, but an opportunity to be seized-provided we can engage the experience, talent, and idealism of older Americans. At a juncture when the middle-generation faces a time-famine, struggling to simultaneously raise kids and work long hours on the job, the older generation is awash in free time, poised to succeed women as the trustees of civic life in this country. In the process they stand to find new meaning and purpose in their lives, and abandon the limbo-like state unfulfilling for so many older individuals. Freedman argues that the aging phenomenon, the massive transformation that many portray as our downfall, may in fact be our best hope for renewal as a nation.The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain
By Gene D. Cohen. 2005
The Mature Mind delivers good news for those in the second half of life, with an extraordinary account of cutting-edge…
neuroscience, groundbreaking psychology, fascinating vignettes from history and case studies, and practical advice for personal growth strategies. Gene Cohen, a renowned psychiatrist and gerontologist, draws from more than thirty years of research to show that surprising positive changes in our brains have the powerful potential to enhance, not diminish, our lives after fifty.Keeping Mum: Caring for Someone with Dementia
By Marianne Talbot. 2011
At 3am I was startled awake by the opening of the stairgate Leaping out of bed I found Mum…
clothes on over her pyjamas grumbling she was fed up of being moved from pillar to post and was going home When her mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer s disease Marianne Talbot decided she couldn t put her into a care home Instead for five years she looked after her mum in her own home For nearly three of those years she chronicled for the readers of Saga Magazine Online the fears and frustrations the love and the laughter and the tears and the traumas of caring Now in this heart warming book you too can meet Marianne Mum and the appalling Fatcat You will also find plenty of practical tips for caring for someone with dementia and on staying sane whilst doing so a resources and useful contacts section and Marianne s reflections on caring from a distance and on when caring comes to an end Written for anyone anywhere who has anything to do with dementia or with caring in reading it you will know you are not aloneThe Caregivers
By Nell Lake. 2014
A moving, intimate, and compassionate book that chronicles the experiences of a group of long-term caregivers and illuminates critical issues…
of old age, end-of-life care, medical reform, and social policy In 2010, journalist Nell Lake began sitting in on the weekly meetings of a local hospital's caregivers support group. Soon members invited her into their lives. For two years, she brought empathy, insight, and an eye for detail to understanding Penny, a fifty-year-old botanist caring for her aging mother; Daniel, a survivor of Nazi Germany who tends his ailing wife; William, whose wife suffers from Alzheimer's; and others with whom all caregivers will identify. Witnessing acts of devotion and frustration, lessons in patience and in letting go, Lake illuminates the intimate exchanges of caregiving and carereceiving. Her work considers important and timely social issues with humanity, warmth, and concern: How can we care for the aging, ill, and dying with skill and compassion, even as the costs and labors of care increase? How might the medical profession take into account the needs of caregivers as well as patients? Nell Lake understands that broad policy questions are experienced personally, in the daily, difficult but rewarding lives of caregivers everywhere. The Caregivers is a thoughtful and tenderly reported depiction of the real-life predicaments that evoke these crucial questions. With more and more people spending their late years ill and frail, and 43 million Americans caring for family members over age fifty, The Caregivers is an important chronicle of a widely shared experience and a public concern. It offers a humane, realistic, and life-affirming portrait of what it means to give and receive love.AARP Meditations for Caregivers: Practical, Emotional, and Spiritual Support for You and Your Family
By Barry J. Jacobs, Julia L. Mayer. 2016
Family caregiving has its challenges: emotional overload, time constraints, anxiety, burnout, missed work, adult sibling conflicts, and marital issues. AARP…
Meditations for Caregivers blends emotional and spiritual motivation to minimize the strains while helping caregivers view their work as a mission from the heart. Chapters are organized by theme, including topics such as accepting your feelings, knowing your limits, seeking support, and managing stress. Each reading offers a poignant meditation, an anecdote drawn from the author's personal or clinical experience, and hands-on or psychological advice to foster coping skills and a sense of fulfillment.The meditations in this dispensable book will provide you with solutions to typical caregiving challenges, offer relief and renewal through mindfulness, and inspire you to find meaning and value in the work you do.Edmund Booth: Deaf Pioneer
By Harry G. Lang. 2004
Edmund Booth was born in 1810 and died in 1905, and during the 94 years of his life, he epitomized…
virtually everything that characterized an American legend of that century. In his prime, Booth stood 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighed in at 210 pounds, and wore a long, full beard. He taught school in Hartford, CT, then followed his wife-to-be Mary Ann Walworth west to Anamosa, Iowa, where in 1840, he built the area's first frame house. He pulled up stakes nine years later to travel the Overland Trail on his way to join the California Gold Rush. After he returned to Iowa in 1854, he became the editor of the Anamosa Eureka, the local newspaper. Edmund Booth fit perfectly the mold of the ingenious pioneer of 19th-century America, except for one unusual difference -- he was deaf. Edmund Booth: Deaf Pioneer follows the amazing career of this American original and his equally amazing wife in fascinating detail. Author Harry G. Lang vividly portrays Booth and his wife by drawing from a remarkable array of original material. A prolific writer, Booth corresponded with his fiancé from the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, and he kept a journal during his days on the California trail, parts of which have been reproduced here. He also wrote an autobiographical essay when he was 75, and his many newspaper articles through the years bore first-hand witness to the history of his times, from the Civil War to the advent of the 20th century. Edmund Booth depicts a larger-than-life man in larger-than-life times, but perhaps its greatest contribution derives from its narrative about pioneer days as seen through Deaf eyes. Booth became a respected senior statesman of the American Deaf community, and blended with his stories of the era's events are anecdotes and issues vital to Deaf people and their families. His story proves again that extraordinary people vary in many ways, but they often possess a common motive in acting to enhance their own communities.