Disability Memoir

Told with shocking honesty and in unbelievable detail, Bipolar: A Gift of Thorns is a profoundly insightful memoir that shines a light on one woman’s courageous journey and the stigma of bipolar disorder.

In Queen of Hearts: Born a Lemon, Nova tells on herself; candidly, unapologetically, and often hilariously. She takes you through the surgeries, the setbacks, the sarcastic remarks that got her through, and the signs that kept showing up to remind her that she was never as alone as she felt.

Lauren Windas is one of the estimated 250,000 people suffering with CFS in the UK. Whilst at university in 2012, she fell ill with a viral infection and was later diagnosed with CFS. Since then she has devoted herself to reclaiming her health and being able to live a full life, drawing on the knowledge of experts to help manage her often mysterious and hard-to-manage condition. In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lauren recounts the highs and lows of her own health journey and experiences,.

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.

When Jeremy and Emily Freeman’s teenage son Caleb was in a devastating car accident, doctors gave him a 10 percent chance of survival. Fear of losing a child was all too fresh for the Freemans—their seven-year-old son, Trey, had died just four years earlier from a genetic immunodeficiency. But God. In #butGod Jeremy shares the incredible story of Caleb’s recovery, the darkness that nearly overtook their family in the waiting, and the #butGod movement that captured the prayers of Christians around the world.

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.

Due to horrible physical deformities, he spent much of his life as a fairground freak. He was hounded, persecuted, and starving, until his fortune changed and he was rescued, housed, and fed by the distinguished surgeon, Frederick Treves. The subject of several books, a Broadway hit, and a film, Joseph Merrick has become part of popular mythology. Here, in this fully revised edition containing much fresh information, are the true and un-romanticized facts of his life.

After 30 years of a healthy, rewarding, and exciting life, I wake up in a hospital bed unable to move. The neurosurgeon leans down and breaks the news: You won't regain any function in your body and you will never walk again. My medical insurance sends me home, discontinues my care, and tells me to "adapt to my new life". Little Big Steps is the story of the pivotal moments, interactions, and breakthroughs following the injury that turned my life upside down.

Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for 10 years and, after each stay, would return to a life filled with bullying. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate. But life unraveled. Again.

The Awakening of HK Derryberry is the inspiring story of how one man was willing to step out of his upper-middle-class world into the life of a young, disabled boy with a dismal future but an amazing ability. Little did Jim Bradford know the transformational potential of that friendship - for HK and himself.

Lucy Edwards is a UK-based blind broadcaster, content creator, Pantene Ambassador and disability activist. At only 17 her world went to black. In an instant Lucy lost her eyesight due to a rare condition called Incontinentia Pigmenti. She had to learn how to navigate her life all over again, the beginning of an extraordinary journey to find self-acceptance and happiness. Lucy took to the internet and started to upload her experiences. Through sharing her day-to-day routine in her viral 'How does a blind girl?' video series, Lucy's story gripped the nation.

This audiobook provides insight into the life of a neurodiverse Black girl from the Midlands as she embarks on her journey through the UK school system. This book unveils and highlights the unique experiences of neurodiverse people of color and the many challenges they face. In this book, 24-year-old British-Nigerian Oluseyitan Ojedokun gives an account of her struggles through school. She shares the many dreams and goals she had, despite the feeling of constant dismay.

Backbone is a life-fulfilling message about managing chronic pain and living a life of purpose. For two decades, Karen Duffy, New York Times bestselling author, former MTV VJ, Revlon model, and actress, has managed to live an enriching life despite living in a state of constant pain. In this powerful, inspirational, funny, and important manual for surviving pain, Duffy draws on her experience as a patient advocate, trained recreational therapist, and hospice chaplain to illuminate gratifying methods people can use to cope with chronic pain.

Learning to adapt to life after being diagnosed with chronic pain and illness is extremely difficult. Life as you knew it, along with your hopes and dreams for your life, literally gets turned upside down in an instant. This comes with a lot of deep complicated emotions from grief, sadness, anger, frustration to living in a constant state of uncertainty and stress. Most people assume that if you get sick, a medical professional like Dr. House will work endlessly until they have answers and a cure so you can go back to living the life you used to know.

How does an Unlikely Triathlete continue to exercise during a global pandemic? All this whilst being the Head of Fundraising for an NHS charity? It seems impossible doesn't it? Yet, Deborah continues with her tenacity to keep going as an athlete in the virtual world.

Hiroshima was one of the great tragedies of WWII. But out of the devastation of the first atomic bomb, some survivors emerged, 25 courageous Japanese women who became part of a remarkable humanitarian epic. Victims of the atomic blast that ushered in the Nuclear Age, these women were brought to the United States in 1955, where they underwent reconstructive surgery to repair the ravages of the bomb. Schoolgirls when the bomb destroyed their futures, they began to remake their lives and re-create themselves. This is the compassionate, often bittersweet chronicle of the Hiroshima Maidens.

When Schuyler Rummel-Hudson was 18 months old, a question about her lack of speech by her pediatrician set in motion a journey that continues today. When she was diagnosed with bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (an extremely rare neurological disorder), her parents were given a name for the monster that had been stalking them from doctor to doctor, and from despair to hope, and back again.

What it really feels like to live with type 1 diabetes—true stories inside. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, frustrated, or alone with type 1 diabetes, this book is for you. Written by Neil Greathouse (@thebetes), Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories is a powerful collection of honest, hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking moments from over 30 years of living with T1D.

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.

Born without arms or legs below his elbows and knees, Kyle Maynard excels as a champion athlete, inspirational speaker, college student, and male model. No Excuses is his inspirational autobiography that shows how a positive, can-do attitude gives someone we might see as disadvantaged the advantage over life.