Best of
Disability

2009

A Cousin's Promise


Wanda E. Brunstetter - 2009
    Will he sacrifice his happiness to give her a better life? Having already been jilted once, Loraine is terrified of yet another rejection. But does she love Wayne enough to marry him, for better or worse? When her old boyfriend Jake Beechy returns from exploring the English world, he hopes Loraine will give him another chance. Will she renew their love or wed Wayne as promised? How will God work to give Loraine the desires of her heart?

Just Don't Fall: How I Grew Up, Conquered Illness, and Made It Down the Mountain


Josh Sundquist - 2009
    One moment Josh Sundquist was your typical energetic and inquisitive nine year- old boy. The next, his entire life changed when he was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a particularly virulent cancer strain that would eventually claim Josh's left leg. Told in a wide-eyed, winning, heartbreaking voice, Just Don't Fall is the story of the boy Josh was and of the young man he became. His story begins in a small, close-knit Southern town, where his father-an aspiring pastor questioning his faith, and his mother-- homeschooling an ever- growing brood of children-struggle to make ends meet. Josh journeys through a dizzying array of hospitals and eventually lands at a pivotal place: the nearby mountain, where he makes his first attempt to ski. It is on the slopes, and later, on the race course, that Josh's world bursts wide open in a way no one could have ever anticipated. The inspiration to ski, however, and to become a champion, is not all that Josh has to contend with- there is adolescence to navigate, the transition from homeschool to public high school, and girls. There is an increasingly turbulent and difficult home life, with another cancer scare, a wayward brother, and dwindling finances to pay for training. Finally, there is the wild, bumpy road to the Paralympics in Turin, with a misanthropic coach, training in the Rockies, and a timeless friendship with a charismatic, imposing Brooklyn homeboy named Ralph. Through it all, Josh is forced to question his abilities, his sanity, his will, his faith in himself, and his faith in God. Because of, not despite, these myriad obstacles in his path, Josh is able to achieve a genuine grace: the grace to risk failure and to succeed. It is the grace of a young boy becoming a man and of a champion realizing his greatest dream. Josh Sundquist shows us with charm, humility and remarkable strength that even if we fall, this inner grace can lift us up and carry us over the many mountains we all must face.

A Lifetime of Wisdom: Embracing the Way God Heals You


Joni Eareckson Tada - 2009
    It’s what I’ve found.I was only seventeen, just a girl, when God asked me for everything I had … my health, my hopes, my independence, my dreams, my freedom, and my mobility. He took it all. I was so angry with Him that I tried to push Him away. God relentlessly held me more closely.Looking back, forty years later, I understand that God has changed and healed me—my heart and my mind—in the most unexpected ways, giving me rubies of His wisdom about an unbending faith and an experience of His mercy I can now tell you about.Was it a fair exchange, my freedom and no wheelchair for the rubies of wisdom I’ve been given? Absolutely. In this I have learned at the feet of the Lord Jesus, embracing the way that God heals us, even when we rage at Him in anger, fear, and despair.This book is not about what I lost in that diving accident so long ago. It’s about the wisdom He’s given me to live life victoriously in the face of disappointments and challenges that we all face.

Falling Laughing: The Restoration of Edwyn Collins


Grace Maxwell - 2009
    He should have died. Doctors advised that if he did survive, there would be little of him left. If that wasn't enough, he went on to contract MRSA as a result of an operation to his skull and spent six months in hospital. Initially, Edwyn couldn't speak, read, write, walk, sit up, or feed himself. He had lost all movement in his right side and was suffering from aphasia—an inability to use or understand language. When he initially recovered consciousness the only words he could say were 'Grace,' 'Maxwell,' 'yes,' and 'no.' But with the help of his partner Grace and their 18-year-old son Will, Edwyn fought back. Slowly, and with monumental effort, he began to teach his brain to read and speak all over again—with some areas of his mind it was if he had been a slate wiped literally clean. Through a long and arduous road of therapy he began to re-inhabit his body until he could walk again. Grace's story is an intimate and inspiring account of what you do to survive when your husband is all but taken away without warning by a stroke.

Drawing Autism


Jill Mullin - 2009
    Add Drawing Autism to your wish list, tell your friends about it, and show it to your kids on the spectrum."-- Autism/Asperger's Digest "Mullin, a behavior analyst, brings together fascinating works by 40 artists on the spectrum with their answers to her questions about their process."-- The Boston Globe "Editor Jill Mullin has collected artwork from a host of painters and other graphic artists who are all somewhere on the spectrum. The fascinating and often lovely reprints in Drawing Autism help provide another perspective on the capabilities of people with autism."-- Time Out New York "Mullin's clinical background in Applied Behavior Analysis, combined with more than a decade helping individuals with ASD, serve her well as the book’s curator."-- The Portland Phoenix "[Editor Jill Mullin] has put together a beautiful and stimulating exhibition-in-a-book."--Story Circle Book Reviews"Drawing Autism is absolutely wonderful in its entirety."--Brain Pickings"Jill Mullin embraces the full range and spectrum of autism and artistic expression...Rich and varied images."--BookTrib"This book is like a key to opening doors across educational and medical landscapes. But perhaps even more importantly, the fact that many of the artists are able to explain what they were feeling at the time of their drawings will surely help this book find solid footing among parents, caregivers, and extended family members who have, up to this point, struggled to understand the inner workings of their precious loved one’s autistic mind."--New York Journal of Books"A book of astonishing beauty."-- BOOKS (France)"What is the actual experience of living with autism in a deep-felt sense, beyond the social stereotypes and headline-worthy superskills? Drawing Autism, a celebration of the artistry and self-expression found in artwork by people diagnosed with autism, explores just that. The stunning volume features works by more fifty international contributors, from children to established artists, that illustrate the rich multiplicity of the condition."-- The Atlantic Over the last decade autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become an international topic of conversation, knowing no racial, ethnic, or social barriers. Behavior analyst and educator Jill Mullin has assembled a staggering array of work from established artists like Gregory Blackstock and Jessica Park to the unknown but no less talented. Their creations, coupled with artist interviews, comprise a fascinating and compelling book that serves to educate and inspire anyone who knows someone diagnosed with ASD. Mullin's introduction and the foreword by best-selling author Temple Grandin provide an overview of autism and advocate for nurturing the talents, artistic and otherwise, of autistic individuals.

My Sister, Alicia May


Nancy Tupper Ling - 2009
    In many ways, Rachel and Alicia are like any sisters, but Rachel knows her sister is very different and very special because she has Down syndrome. Though Rachel occasionally feels frustrations and resentment about having to help watch over her special sister, she most often feels love, acceptance, and pride for her. Exquisitely written with humor and compassion, this story focuses on the sisters' relationship and their respective places in the family.

Silent Sorority: A Barren Woman Gets Busy, Angry, Lost and Found


Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos - 2009
    But where are the voices of those who are unable to have children? In relating what happens when nature and science find their limits, Silent Sorority examines a seldom acknowledged outcome and raises provocative, often uncomfortable questions usually reserved for late night reflection or anonymous blogging. Outside of the physical reckoning there lies the challenge of moving forward in a society that doesn't know how to handle the awkwardness of infertility. With no Emily Post-like guidelines for supporting couples who can't conceive, most well-intentioned "fertile" people miss the mark. Silent Sorority offers an unflinching and insightful look at what it's like to be barren in an era of designer babies and helicopter parents. Silent Sorority received the 2010 Team RESOLVE Choice Award for Best Book.

Design Meets Disability


Graham Pullin - 2009
    This revolution has come about through embracing the design culture of the fashion industry. Why shouldn't design sensibilities also be applied to hearing aids, prosthetic limbs, and communication aids? In return, disability can provoke radical new directions in mainstream design. Charles and Ray Eames's iconic furniture was inspired by a molded plywood leg splint that they designed for injured and disabled servicemen. Designers today could be similarly inspired by disability.In Design Meets Disability, Graham Pullin shows us how design and disability can inspire each other. In the Eameses' work there was a healthy tension between cut-to-the-chase problem solving and more playful explorations. Pullin offers examples of how design can meet disability today. Why, he asks, shouldn't hearing aids be as fashionable as eyewear? What new forms of braille signage might proliferate if designers kept both sighted and visually impaired people in mind? Can simple designs avoid the need for complicated accessibility features? Can such emerging design methods as "experience prototyping" and "critical design" complement clinical trials?Pullin also presents a series of interviews with leading designers about specific disability design projects, including stepstools for people with restricted growth, prosthetic legs (and whether they can be both honest and beautifully designed), and text-to-speech technology with tone of voice. When design meets disability, the diversity of complementary, even contradictory, approaches can enrich each field.

My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities


Yantra Bertelli - 2009
    Featuring works by so-called alternative parents who have attempted to move away from mainstream thought, this anthology carefully considers the implications of raising children with disabilities. From professional writers to novice storytellers, including original essays by Robert Rummel-Hudson, Ayun Halliday, and Kerry Cohen, this assortment of authentic, shared experiences from parents in the know is a partial antidote to the stories that misrepresent, ridicule, and objectify disabled children and their parents.

A Friend Like Simon Autism / Asd (Moonbeam Childrens Book Award Winner 2009) Special Stories Series 2


Kate Gaynor - 2009
    This story encourages other children to be mindful and patient of the differences that exist and to also appreciate the positive contribution that an autistic child can make to the group

Looking Through the Eyes of Trauma and Dissociation: An Illustrated Guide for EMDR Therapists and Clients


Sandra L. Paulsen - 2009
    Recent advances in the fields of trauma and dissociation have revolutionized treatment. In this book, Dr Paulsen uses over 100 of her original cartoons and an approachable format to telegraph key concepts. The book assists therapists and clients to collaborate about client symptoms and therapy. As an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) practitioner since 1991, and an instructor of popular workshops about ego state therapy and dissociation for 15 years, Dr Paulsen offers proven metaphors, discussion and case examples. The highly visual format accommodates two audiences. Readers who want a light approach can focus on cartoons and cases. Those who want technical details and references will find them too. In a non-triggering style, the book describes a safe approach to stabilizing emotions and, later, a procedure that may include EMDR to detoxify traumatic memories.

Healing Companions: Ordinary Dogs and Their Extraordinary Power to Transform Lives


Jane Miller - 2009
    They are wonderful teachers, therapists and role models for us all. Read Healing Companions and learn about their ability to guide and heal us all."--Bernie Siegel, MD, author of Smudge Bunny As the more than 65 million dog owners in America will attest, there's something about the presence of a dog that inspires confidence, nurtures emotional well-being, and brings out the best in ourselves. But for some people, the presence of a dog can do even more. Written by the leading expert in an emerging new field of therapy, Healing Companions is the first book to detail how dogs are increasingly benefiting those who suffer from a range of emotional ills, from eating disorders and anxiety to agoraphobia, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Healing Companions will teach you: * What criteria to consider when choosing the right dog for you. * What kind of training service dogs require. * What to expect and how to respond when you take a service dog out in public. * How a dog can compliment other forms of therapy. * How to navigate the procedural regulations that apply to a service dog. * How to recognize the dog's needs and provide it with proper care. * And much more.

Visible: A Femmethology, Volume One


Jennifer Clare Burke - 2009
    Award-winning authors, spoken-word artists, and new voices come together to challenge conventional ideas of how disability, class, nationality, race, aesthetics, sexual orientation, gender identity and body type intersect with each contributor's concrete notion of femmedom.

I See Without My Eyes


Mark Brauner Hayward - 2009
    The story teaches children about Braille, senses, guide dogs, and more.

Gifts: No. 2: How People with Down Syndrome Enrich the World


Kathryn Lynard Soper - 2009
    2 Presents a broader perspective on Down syndrome and life by including passionate stories by siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, as well as mothers of older children. This title helps us see that the hopes and dreams family and friends have for a child with Down syndrome are similar to the ones we have for any child. Full description

the woman you write poems about


danielle (dani) montgomery - 2009
    Sheas right. Tales of fugitive relatives, destitute swindlers and dangerous families populate her work. Writing bad checks and using denuded credit cards, Montgomery shows us what happens when the second paycheck in apaycheck-to-paychecka goes missing. She shows us the effects when basic needs are denied. And her poems insist on reminding us that this too, is America, not American literature and that the line drawn between ausa and athema is a fiction, a lie we tell ourselves to keep ourselves safe. But none of us, as Montgomeryas work shows us, can ever be truly safe as long as we are human.a aDaphne Gottlieb, from the introduction

Just One Breath 'Verse


kee (AO3) - 2009
    56,000Summary: Following a horrific event on set, Jensen's life hangs in the balance and Jared figures out what's really important. Alternate Summary: Jensen sacrifices like Dean. Jared angsts like Sam.WonderlandRating: PG-13Word Count: Approx. 2,400Summary: Jensen falls down the rabbit hole. Timestamp one year before the main story.Method to the MadnessRating: RWord Count: Approx. 1,400Summary: Some days, Jensen has a hard time being Dean. Some days, Jared has a hard time watching Jensen struggle. Timestamp one year before the main story.Pop PsychologyRating: RWord Count: Approx. 4,000Summary: This is how Jensen copes. Timestamp, covering the period from Wonderland to the main story.Just Because I Want It (Doesn't Mean I'm Gonna to Get It)Rating: RWord Count: Approx. 8,500Summary: Jared may be falling in love, but Jensen fell a long time ago. A glimpse inside of Jensen's head during the events of JOB.You've Already Got Me Coming UndoneRating: NC-17Word Count: Approx. 1,500Summary: It's the morning after the night before. And Jensen is freaking the hell out. Missing scene/interlude for the main story.Just a NumberRating: PG-13Word Count: Approx. 1,375Summary: Jensen turns thirty-five. Timestamp five years on.You'll Start My Heart AgainRating: NC-17Word Count: Approx. 2,600Summary: Some things you never get over. Jared's having a bad day. Timestamp ten years on.GoldenRating: NC-17Word Count: Approx. 1,800Summary: It's a love for a lifetime. Timestamp ten years on.

Staring: How We Look


Rosemarie Garland-Thomson - 2009
    In the first book of its kind, Garland-Thomson defines staring, explores the factors that motivate it, and considers the targets and the effects of the stare. While borrowing from psychology and biology to help explain why the impulse to stare is so powerful, she also enlarges and complicates these formulations with examples from the realm of imaginative culture. Featuring over forty illustrations, Staring captures the stimulating combination of symbolic, material and emotional factors that make staring so irresistible while endeavoring to shift the usual response to staring, shame, into an engaged self-consideration. Elegant and provocative, this unique study advances new ways of thinking about visuality and the body that will appeal to readers who are interested in the overlap between the humanities and human behaviors.

Cross Country Chaos


Lesli Richardson - 2009
    Her younger son, Denny, who uses a wheelchair because of spina bifida, wants to participate in sports like his big brother. Then Kelly learns about the Junior National Disability Games but they’re being held in Spokane, Washington, literally on the other end of the continent from their Florida home. She’s clueless about her next steps to help him fulfill his dreams to compete.Enter Mart Rawlings. The handsome, single athlete and coach also happens to use a wheelchair. He volunteers to help Denny qualify for Nationals, falling hard for Kelly in the process. Winning over Denny and his brother–and Kelly’s mom–is the easy part. Kelly’s past heartache because of her cheating ex left deep scars in her soul and fuels her reluctance to get romantically involved. She fears Denny will lose his coach should things head south between her and Mart.Besides, getting Denny qualified is only half the battle. Now Kelly must survive a grueling cross country drive with her sons and mother to get Denny to Spokane. But, more importantly, can she overcome her fears and take a chance on love with Mart?(This book was originally published through BookStrand. It has been heavily revised and expanded for re-release.)

Iron Heart: The True Story of How I Came Back from the Dead


Brian Boyle - 2009
    On the way home from swim practice, eighteen-year old Brian Boyle’s future changed in an instant when a dump truck plowed into his Camaro. He was airlifted to a shock-trauma hospital. He had lost sixty percent of his blood, his heart had moved across his chest, and his organs and pelvis were pulverized. He was placed in a medically-induced coma. When Brian finally emerged from the coma two months later, he had no memory of the accident. He could see and hear, but not move or talk. Unable to communicate to his doctors, nurses, or frantic parents, he heard words like “vegetable” and “nursing home.” If he lived, doctors predicted he might not be able to walk again, and certainly not swim. Then, miraculously, Brian clawed his way back to the living. First blinking his eyelids, then squeezing a hand, then smiling, he gradually emerged from his locked-in state. The former swimmer and bodybuilder had lost one hundred pounds. Iron Heart is the first-person account of his ordeal and his miraculous comeback. With enormous fortitude he learned to walk, then run, and eventually, to swim. With his dream of competing in the Ironman Triathlon spurring him on, Brian defied all odds, and three-and-a-half years after his accident, crossed the finish line in Kona, Hawaii. Brian’s inspiring journey from coma to Kona is brought to life in this memoir.

Attention, Girls!: A Guide to Learn All about Your AD/HD


Patricia O. Quinn - 2009
    It includes useful lessons that are simple to apply.

Deaf American Poetry: An Anthology


John Lee Clark - 2009
    The 95 poems by 35 Deaf American poets in this volume more than confirm his point. From James Nack’s early metered narrative poem “The Minstrel Boy” to the free association of Kristi Merriweather’s contemporary “It Was His Movin’ Hands Be Tellin’ Me,” these Deaf poets display mastery of all forms prevalent during the past two centuries. Beyond that, E. Lynn Jacobowitz’s “In Memoriam: Stephen Michael Ryan” exemplifies a form unique to Deaf American poets, the transliteration of verse originally created in American Sign Language.This anthology showcases for the first time the best works of Deaf poets throughout the nation’s history — John R. Burnet, Laura C. Redden, George M. Teegarden, Agatha Tiegel Hanson, Loy E. Golladay, Robert F. Panara, Mervin D. Garretson, Clayton Valli, Willy Conley, Raymond Luczak, Christopher Jon Heuer, Pamela Wright-Meinhardt, and many others. Each of their poems reflects the sensibilities of their times, and the progression of their work marks the changes that deaf Americans have witnessed through the years. In “The Mute’s Lament,” John Carlin mourns the wonderful things that he cannot hear, and looks forward to heaven where “replete with purest joys/My ears shall be unsealed, and I shall hear.” In sharp contrast, Mary Toles Peet, who benefitted from being taught by Deaf teachers, wrote “Thoughts on Music” with an entirely different attitude. She concludes her account of the purported beauty of music with the realization that “the music of my inward ear/Brings joy far more intense.”Clark tracks these subtle shifts in awareness through telling, brief biographies of each poet. By doing so, he reveals in Deaf American Poetry how “the work of Deaf poets serves as a prism through which Deaf people can know themselves better and through which the rest of the world can see life in a new light.”

The Paraprofessional's Handbook for Effective Support in Inclusive Classrooms


Julie Causton-Theoharis - 2009
    Packed with friendly guidance, practical tips, and relatable first-person stories, this book reveals the best ways to provide effective, respectful services to students in inclusive classrooms.Julie Causton-Theoharis, a teacher, professor, and educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience as a paraprofessional instructor, knows exactly how to help readers stop feeling overwhelmed so they can start making a difference. She answers all the urgent questions paraprofessionals have as they navigate their complex job in the inclusive classroom, showing readers how to:provide skillful and subtle support to students while encouraging their independenceresolve challenging behavior in gentle and positive waysfind students' strengths and match support practices to themfade their supportmake informed decisions about content-specific accommodations, modifications, and adaptationspresume competence and keep expectations highfacilitate peer supports and friendshipspartner with teachers, SLPs, psychologists, families, and other members of the educational teamrelieve their own stress and avoid burnoutTo help them master the daily ups and downs of the inclusive classroom, paraprofessionals will get ready-to-use practical content: tips for supporting students with specific disabilities, helpful question-and-answer sections, examples of successful problem-solving, a quick-guide to acronyms in education, easy ideas for improving teamwork, and more.The essential guide for every paraprofessional—and a must-have for the educators and other professionals who support them—this empowering book takes the guesswork out of a critical classroom role and helps students with disabilities reach their full potential.Get more from Julie Causton:Click here to watch a recording of Dr. Causton's webinar - The Role of the Paraprofessional in the Inclusive ClassClick here to read her blog at inclusiveschooling.com!

Sick: A Compilation Zine on Physical Illness


Ben Holtzman - 2009
    The zine is meant to be a resource for those who are living with illness as well as those who have not directly experienced it themselves. Contributors discuss personal experiences as well as topics such as receiving support, providing support, and being an informed patient. These writings are meant to increase understandings of illness and further discussion as well as action towards building communities of care.

The Faces of Intellectual Disability: Philosophical Reflections


Licia Carlson - 2009
    Reassessing philosophical views of intellectual disability, Licia Carlson shows how we can affirm the dignity and worth of intellectually disabled people first by ending comparisons to nonhuman animals and then by confronting our fears and discomforts. Carlson presents the complex history of ideas about cognitive disability, the treatment of intellectually disabled people, and social and cultural reactions to them. Sensitive and clearly argued, this book offers new insights on recent trends in disability studies and philosophy.

Breaking the Sound Barriers: 9 Deaf Success Stories


Julie Postance - 2009
    Each story offers a candid insight into the world of deafness - the highs and lows. Five parents describe their experiences in dealing with the diagnosis and embracing the challenges of raising a deaf child in a hearing world. Five deaf adults describe their own journey with hearing loss and paint an honest picture of the struggles and barriers they have encountered being deaf in a hearing world. Each story illustrates that deaf people can BE, DO and HAVE anything they want in this world and that nothing is impossible. All provide specific strategies they have used to tackle barriers related to early intervention services, education, or issues within the family and community, employment and adulthood. An invaluable resource for families of deaf and hard of hearing children and professionals working in the deafness field.

The Patient: One Man's Journey Through the Australian Health-Care System


Mohamed Khadra - 2009
    Urologist Mohamed Khadra meets Brewster as the patient enters a maze of diagnosis and treatment for what turns out to be bladder cancer. For Dr. Khadra, Jonathan goes from being just another patient—albeit a young one to be suffering from this particular disease—to something much more after Khadra experiences his own health crisis. In being confronted with their own mortality, both Jonathan and Dr. Khadra develop a heightened awareness of the lives they have lived.

Signifying Bodies: Disability in Contemporary Life Writing


G. Thomas Couser - 2009
    Couser's work engages these debates by exploring the extensive number of personal narratives by or about persons with disabilities. As Couser brilliantly demonstrates through synoptic readings, these works challenge the 'preferred rhetorics' by which such narratives are usually written (triumphalist, gothic, nostalgic) while making visible the variegated nature of embodied life."---Michael Davidson, University of California, San Diego"Signifying Bodies shows us that life writing about disability is . . . everywhere. . . . From obituary to documentary film to ethnography to literary memoir to the law, the book casts a wide net, detailing how various written and filmed responses to disability both enact and resist conventional narrative patterns. [This] not only broadens our idea about where to look for life writing, but also demonstrates how thoroughly stereotypes about disability mediate our social and artistic languages---even when an author has (so-called) the best intentions."---Susannah B. Mintz, Skidmore CollegeMemoirs have enjoyed great popularity in recent years, experiencing significant sales, prominent reviews, and diverse readerships. Signifying Bodies shows that at the heart of the memoir phenomenon is our fascination with writing that focuses on what it means to live in, or be, an anomalous body---in other words, what it means to be disabled. Previous literary accounts of the disabled body have often portrayed it as a stable entity possibly signifying moral deviance or divine disfavor, but contemporary writers with disabilities are defining themselves and depicting their bodies in new ways. Using the insights of disability studies and source material ranging from the Old and New Testaments to the works of authors like Lucy Grealy and Simi Linton and including contemporary films such as Million Dollar Baby, G. Thomas Couser sheds light on a broader cultural phenomenon, exploring topics such as the ethical issues involved in disability memoirs, the rhetorical patterns they frequently employ, and the complex relationship between disability narrative and disability law.G. Thomas Couser is Professor of English at Hofstra University.

Tom's Special Talent - Dyslexia (Moonbeam book award winner 2009) - Special Stories Series 2


Kate Gaynor - 2009
    But a school competition soon helps him to find his own very special talent ! Children with Dyslexia or a learning difficulty often find school a daunting and sometimes terrifying daily task. In an environment where certain skills, like writing and reading, are praised and highlighted more than others, it is important for children to recognise that everyone has a 'special talent' of their own. It encourages other children to be mindful of the differences that exist between their friends and classmates and to be aware that all children, regardless of their talents, learn differently.