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The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal
By Jonathan Mooney. 2019
"What makes this journey so inspiring is Mooney's transcendent humor; the self he has become does not turn away from…
old pain but can laugh at it, make fun of it, make it into something beautiful."-Los Angeles Times This program is read by the author. A young man once called unteachable journeys across America to investigate the lives of those, like himself, who are forced to create new ways of living in order to survive Labeled "dyslexic and profoundly learning disabled with attention and behavior problems," Jonathan Mooney was a short bus rider-a derogatory term used for kids in special education and a distinction that told the world he wasn't "normal." Along with other kids with special challenges, he grew up hearing himself denigrated daily. Ultimately, Mooney surprised skeptics by graduating with honors from Brown University. But he could never escape his past, so he hit the road. To free himself and to learn how others had moved beyond labels, he created an epic journey. He would buy his own short bus and set out cross-country, looking for kids who had dreamed up magical, beautiful ways to overcome the obstacles that separated them from the so-called normal world. In The Short Bus, his humorous, irreverent, and poignant record of this odyssey, Mooney describes his four-month, 35,000-mile journey across borders that most people never see. He meets thirteen people in thirteen states, including an eight-year-old deaf and blind girl who likes to curse out her teachers in sign language. Then there's Butch Anthony, who grew up severely learning disabled but who is now the proud owner of the Museum of Wonder. These people teach Mooney that there's no such thing as normal and that to really live, every person must find their own special ways of keeping on. The Short Bus is a unique gem, propelled by Mooney's heart, humor, and outrageous rebellions.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.Look up for yes
By Julia Tavalaro, Richard Tayson. 1997
Now sixty, Julia Tavalaro relates how her life changed dramatically when she was thirty-two and awoke from a stroke-induced coma…
paralyzed and without speech. Julia endured six years of neglect and abuse from attendants who considered her a vegetable before she was finally taught to communicate using a letter board and eye movements. Some strong language. 1997.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 TalkVictoria's day
By Maria de Fatima Campos. 2007
Follows a day in the life of a child who has Down's syndrome, showing her with family and friends in…
day-to-day situations, including eating breakfast, going to school, and cooking. Grades K-3. 2007.Sitting 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.One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all…
are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people. From original pieces by up-and-coming authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma, to blog posts, manifestos, eulogies, Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites listeners to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and lovePrecious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077
By Craig Davidson. 2018
NATIONAL BESTSELLERFor readers of Kristine Barnett's The Spark, Andrew Solomon's Far From the Tree and Ian Brown's The Boy in…
the Moon, here is a heartfelt, funny and surprising memoir about one year spent driving a bus full of children with special needs.With his last novel, Cataract City, Craig Davidson established himself as one of our most talented novelists. But before writing that novel and before his previous work, Rust and Bone, was made into a Golden Globe-nominated film, Davidson experienced a period of poverty, apparent failure and despair. In this new work of riveting and timely non-fiction, Davidson tells the unvarnished story of one transformative year in his life and of his unlikely relationships with a handful of unique and vibrant children who were, to his initial astonishment and bewilderment, and eventual delight, placed in his care for a couple of hours each day--the kids on school bus 3077. One morning in 2008, desperate and impoverished while trying unsuccessfully to write, Davidson plucked a flyer out of his mailbox that read, "Bus Drivers Wanted." That was the first step towards an unlikely new career: driving a school bus full of special-needs kids for a year. Armed only with a sense of humour akin to that of his charges, a creative approach to the challenge of driving a large, awkward vehicle while corralling a rowdy gang of kids, and unexpected reserves of empathy, Davidson takes us along for the ride. He shows us how his evolving relationship with the kids on that bus, each of them struggling physically as well as emotionally and socially, slowly but surely changed his life along with the lives of the "precious cargo" in his care. This is the extraordinary story of that year and those relationships. It is also a moving, important and universal story about how we see and treat people with special needs in our society.An inspiring story of beating the odds and learning to overcome--no matter what life hands you.After starting a family and…
flourishing in his career, Tim Hague was struck by misfortune. The irritating tremor in his foot turned out to be early onset Parkinson's disease. He was only 46 years old. But what seemed to be an end became a new beginning. Just three years later, Hague won the inaugural The Amazing Race Canada (with his son, Tim Jr., as his teammate). His remarkable life story shows that perseverance is not just a matter of willpower: it is a skill that can be learned and honed. And perseverance is the theme of his life. From the day he was born, Hague has gone from one struggle to another. Yet, remarkably, he doesn't have a trace of self-pity. In fact, he feels blessed. From his tough start in life as an unwanted mixed-race baby born in Texas in 1964, to his eventual move to the unforgiving climate of Winnipeg, Canada, to start a family under difficult circumstances, and his continuing battle with Parkinson's--Hague's life is a roadmap of perseverance. Parkinson's has forced him to retire early from the work he loves as a registered nurse. But as a healthcare professional, and now suffering from a challenging disease himself, Hague discusses living with Parkinson's like no one else could. He now works with charities to help promote Parkinson's awareness and his "Live Your Best" message. Drawing on his experience winning The Amazing Race, and referencing cutting-edge research and studies, Hague weaves a moving story of failure and success, outlining the elements of his philosophy that anyone can apply to their own lives, including: * The nature of luck: Luck comes to those who keep trying until the end--never stop until the race is over. * Find community: As a nurse, a husband and father, and a man living with Parkinson's, Hague knows better than most that we all need to ask for help sometimes, and that's a good thing. * Accept limits: By focusing on what we can do, we accomplish more than we ever thought possible. * Cease striving: We think of striving as a positive attribute, but all we end up doing is banging our heads against the wall. Have goals, but have fun. Do not create anxiety out of nothing and maintain perspective. * Live Your Best: No such thing as giving 110%--can only do your best. Inspirational and entertaining, Hague's message is both simple and profound: perseverance isn't just something a person has, or a trait we admire in others. Hague's book, like his life, is a guide to how we can all learn to persevere in the face of daily struggles--or even life-changing illness.Haben: The deafblind woman who conquered harvard law
By Haben Girma. 2019
This is the incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing…
journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harrowing experiences during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging. She explored numerous fascinating places, including Mali, where she helped build a school under the scorching Saharan sun. Her many adventures over the years range from the hair-raising to the hilarious. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned nonvisual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated from Harvard Law School, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. Haben takes listeners through a thrilling game of blind hide-and-seek in Louisiana, a treacherous climb up an iceberg in Alaska, and a magical moment with President Obama at the White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating memoir is a testament to one woman's determination to find the keys to connectionTout est possible!: André Leclerc, fondateur de Kéroul
By René Kirouac. 2020
À la suite d’une erreur médicale, André Leclerc naît avec une paralysie cérébrale. Jeune adulte, André ambitionne de travailler «…
comme tout le monde », de se marier et de fonder une famille, mais on le traite de rêveur et on s’efforce de le convaincre que ce n’est pas pour lui. Pourtant, il réussira! Il aura deux enfants et, contre vents et marées, il fondera Kéroul, une organisation aujourd’hui reconnue au Québec et ailleurs dans le monde. Son but : rendre le tourisme et la culture accessibles aux personnes à capacité physique restreinte. Découvrez comment, grâce à sa détermination hors du commun, André Leclerc a transformé son combat individuel en service collectif, et comment il a su s’entourer de gens formidables pour mener à bien ses projets.A sporting chance: how Ludwig Guttmann created the paralympic games
By Lori Alexander. 2020
Telling the inspiring human story behind the creation of the Paralympics, this young listener's biography showcases a riveting narrative to…
honor the life of Ludwig Guttmann, whose work profoundly changed so many lives. Dedicating his life to helping patients labeled incurables, Ludwig Guttmann fought for the rights of paraplegics to live a full life. The young doctor believed-and eventually proved-that physical movement is key to healing, a discovery that led him to create the first Paralympic Games. Told with moving text, and featuring the life stories of athletes from the Paralympic Games Ludwig helped create, this story of the man who saved lives through sports will inspire listeners of all backgroundsSuch a pretty girl: a story of struggle, empowerment, and disability pride
By Nadina LaSpina. 2020
This is Nadina LaSpina's story-from her early years in her native Sicily, where she contracts polio as a baby, a…
fact that makes her the object of well-meaning pity and the target of messages of hopelessness, to her adolescence and youth in America, spent almost entirely in hospitals where she is tortured in the quest for a cure and made to feel that her body no longer belongs to her and to her rebellion and her activism in the disability-rights movement. LaSpina's personal growth parallels the movement's political development-from coming together, organizing, and fighting against exclusion from public and social life to the forging of a common identity, the blossoming of disability arts and culture, and the embracing of disability pride. While unique, LaSpina's journey is also one with which many disabled people can identify. It is the journey to find one's place in an ableist world-a world not made for disabled people, where disability is only seen in negative terms. LaSpina refutes all stereotypical narratives of disability. Through the telling of her life's story, without editorializing, she shows the harm that the overwhelming focus on pity and on a cure that remains elusive has done to disabled people. Her story exposes the disability prejudice ingrained in our sociopolitical system and denounces the oppressive standards of normalcy in a society that devalues those who are different and denies them basic rightsItalian folk magic: rue's kitchen witchery
By Mary-Grace Fahrun. 2021
Italian folk magic is a beautiful, powerful, and effective magical tradition that is accessible to anyone who wants to learn…
it, including Italians who want to regain their magical heritage. Containing magical and religious rituals and prayers, this book explores divination techniques, crafting, blessing rituals, witchcraft, and, of course, the evil eye, which is known as malocchio in Italian and which the author thoroughly explains, including what it is, where it comes from, and, crucially, how to get rid of it. Such insights will help listeners learn unique methods of magical protection, divination, and spells for love, sex, control, revenge, and moreMy Own Blood: A Memoir
By Ashley Bristowe. 2021
Mothering under normal circumstances takes all you have to give. But what happens when your child is disabled, and sacrificing…
all you've got and more is the only hope for a decent future? Full of rage and resilience, duty and love, Ashley Bristowe delivers a mother's voice like no other we've heard. When their second child, Alexander, is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, doctors tell Ashley Bristowe and her husband that the boy won't walk, or even talk--that he is profoundly disabled. Stunned and reeling, Ashley researches a disorder so new it's just been named--Kleefstra Syndrome--and she finds little hope and a maze of obstacles. Then she comes across the US-based "Institutes," which have been working to improve the lives of brain-injured children for decades. Recruiting volunteers, organizing therapy, juggling a million tests and appointments, even fundraising as the family falls deep into debt, Ashley devotes years of 24/7 effort to running an impossibly rigorous diet and therapy programme for their son with the hope of saving his life, and her own. The ending is happy: he will never be a "normal" boy, but Alexander talks, he walks, he swims, he plays the piano (badly) and he goes to school.This victory isn't clean and it's far from pretty; the personal toll on Ashley is devastating. "It takes a village," people say, but too much of their village is uncomfortable with her son's difference, the therapy regimen's demands and the family's bottomless need. The health and provincial services bureaucracy set them a maddening set of hoops to jump through, showing how disabled children and their families languish because of criminally low expectations about what can be done to help.My Own Blood is an uplifting story, but it never shies away from the devastating impact of a baby that science couldn't predict and medicine couldn't help. It's the story of a woman who lost everything she'd once been--a professional, an optimist, a joker, a capable adult--in sacrifice to her son. An honest account of a woman's life turned upside down.Sitting 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 storyDancing After TEN
By Vivian Chong, Georgia Webber. 2020
In late 2004, Vivian Chong’s life was changed forever when a rare skin disease, TEN (Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis), left her…
with scar tissue that would eventually blind her. As she was losing her sight, she put down as many drawings on paper as she could to document the experience. In Dancing After TEN, Chong teams up with cartoonist Georgia Webber — whose graphic autobiography, Dumb, chronicled her own disability — to trace her journey out of the darkness and into the spotlight. Chong now expresses her art through singing, stand-up, drumming, running, and dancing. This graphic novel is an inspirational tale and a powerful work of graphic medicine.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.Soaring into greatness: a blind woman's vision to live her dreams and fly
By Gail L. Hamilton. 2015
Born ten weeks premature and requiring oxygen to survive, Gail Hamilton's first six weeks of life began in an incubator.…
Six months later, doctors discovered that Gail had retrolental fibroplasia (RLF), an eye condition caused by the infusion of 100% pure oxygen. By age eleven, she was completely blind. This book follows Gail's story as her outer visual world merged with her inner vision, forcing her to listen with her inner voice, to follow her heart and tune into her intuition. Subjected to physical and emotional abuse, ostracized and often feeling alone, Gail's journey is one of courage and perseverance. Contains some violence and some descriptions of sex