Disability Memoir

Throughout our life, we all have different challenges, how can we allow these obstacles to facilitate growth and expansion, not contraction or fear? Cyrina Bullard PharmD, the author, will take you on a journey that begins with a lightning strike, jolting her to the ground. This was the first of the trilogy of nearly fatal episodes in her life. Personally revealing, authentic, and vulnerable, Cyrina shares some challenging details of her life, with the intention of inspiring you to enjoy your moments.

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.

The word conquer has changed meaning for Bryan Anderson. As a U.S. army sergeant in Iraq, it meant taking down the enemy. After becoming Iraq’s fourth triple amputee from a roadside explosive, what he had to conquer got a bit more personal. On October 23, 2005, the moment Bryan looked down and realized he no longer had legs, he cracked a joke. It was a tragedy that could break many, but Bryan transformed it into something positive, something that propelled him forward.

Rheumatoid arthritis was taking over my life. I could barely walk, dress myself, and perform simple daily tasks. I did everything I could to find healing. I tried all of the special diets; I was on all of the medications. Something wasn't right, and I was just getting sicker. This audiobook is about healing from the inside out. Your body is your greatest gift, dearest friend. The only difference between having a body that is your enemy and a body that is your friend is learning to speak its language. You can overcome chronic pain! You are worthy of a great life full of health and happiness!

The power of communication is essential; some say a necessity. We all do it, humans, insects, birds, cats, dogs, etc. No matter which species we belong to, we all communicate. Unfortunately, some people struggle to do so. Damian was one of them. Developmental Language Disorder, a speech and language disability, which Damian has had from birth, causes sentences to come out muddled and slow, even though all Damian's ideas are there. Here Damian talks about how DLD has affected his life, and how the charity Afasic has been there to support him throughout.

You'll relate, you'll cry, and you'll want to learn more. A story of triumph over tragedy, again. In this moving tale, you'll follow Cristi Bundukamara's life as a blissful newlywed who hopes to give back to the world. Her family grows quickly in the form of both biological and adopted children. Cristi has all that she hoped for and more when a senseless drowning rocks her family. While struggling to pick up the pieces, more tragedy ensues and Cristi has to dig deep to keep moving forward.

The autobiography of Nymphus Coridon (N. C.) Hanks with notes by John Hanks, great nephew; Joseph E. (Jay) Hanks, brother; and Lori K. Hanks Hill, grandniece. Cory tells how he rose from the depths of hell to the pinnacle of human experience, sharing his victory with the world. You will never look at your troubles the same way again.

Kathleen O’Neill courageously chronicles her journey through the turbulent realms of bipolar disorder, addiction, and recovery. With raw honesty and resilience, Kathleen shares the battles she fought within herself and against social stigmas, laying bare her struggles, triumphs, and the moments of grace that shaped her healing. This memoir offers a compelling look at the complex layers of mental health , the strength of the human spirit, and the transformative power of hope.

How I Became a Human Being is Mark O'Brien’s account of his struggles to lead an independent life despite a lifelong disability. In 1955 he contracted polio and became permanently paralyzed from the neck down. O'Brien describes growing up without the use of his limbs, his adolescence struggling with physical rehabilitation and suffering the bureaucracy of hospitals and institutions, and his adult life as an independent student and writer. Despite his physical limitations, O'Brien crafts a narrative that is as rich and vivid as the life he led.

Poetic Madman showcases and celebrates the creativity and the ability to express my innermost thoughts, ideas, emotions, philosophies, and raw experiences that come with having paranoid schizophrenic disorder. Poetic Madman is sure to open the minds of those who don't understand mental illness and hopefully help to dispel some of the stigmas. The purpose is to give the listener a different take on what they understand to be true about the illness. You may even identify with some of the experiences expressed throughout this work of art.

See? is an inspirational autobiography that describes how God's grace and the firm, loving support from family, friends, neighbors, an exceptional teacher, and caring supervisors guided the author through life's challenges. It also debunks common myths of blindness and discusses adaptive equipment used by the author on her journey.

After contracting polio as a child, Sandra Gail Lambert progressed from braces and crutches to a manual wheelchair to a power wheelchair - but loneliness has remained a constant, from the wild claustrophobia of a child in body casts to just yesterday, trapped at home, gasping from pain. A Certain Loneliness is a meditative and engaging memoir-in-essays that explores the intersection of disability, queerness, and female desire with frankness and humor.

In God’s Got Jokes, author Neosho C. Ponder, allows the listener into the most personal and vulnerable parts of her life. As she battled the hardships of cancer, she learned that some of those who supported her succumbed to their own battles of cancer. You will hear stories such as: Being evicted during chemotherapy, which finally led to her seeing the humor and not choosing to give up. The financial adversity that affects cancer patients too sick to work, those undergoing treatments, and multiple surgeries.

In this inspiring memoir, Emily Falcon chronicles her lifelong journey with a congenital cardiac condition. In 1982, at seven weeks old, she had a heart attack that destroyed 40 percent of the left side of her heart. This was her entry into a world of multiple cardiac procedures, surgeries, hospitalizations, and a later diagnosis of glaucoma. Balancing these serious conditions defined her life.

Adventurous international teacher, Amy Bovaird, is diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease that will blind her. In spite of that, she manages to continue teaching overseas. Then her father's final illness brings her back home for good. There, friends and acquaintances begin to notice that she doesn't always recognize them and sometimes stumbles as if drunk! Insensitive students ridicule her in the classroom.

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.

A fourteen-year-old teen’s life takes an unexpected turn. Will she be able to overcome the obstacles that life throws at her time and time again? Will she be able to battle her demons and not lose herself, or her life, due to the life-altering diagnosis and the darkness that seems to be lurking around every corner that she turns and overcome? Will she be able to live a life of brighter days ahead of her?

Raymond Antrobus was first diagnosed as deaf at the age of six. He discovered he had missing sounds—bird calls, whistles, kettles, alarms. Teachers thought he was slow and disruptive, some didn’t believe he was deaf at all. The Quiet Ear tells the story of Antrobus’s upbringing at the intersection of race and disability. Growing up in East London to an English mother and Jamaican father, educated in both mainstream and deaf schooling systems, Antrobus explores the shame of miscommunication, the joy of finding community, and shines a light on deaf education.

Monday, March 11, 2024, was remarkably uneventful—indeed, frankly dull—until around 5 p.m. that evening when Carl Davies collapsed in a heap. It was a day that would change his life forever. Stroke Me! Recounts the story of his recovery from a near-catastrophic brain haemorrhage. The author details, in often graphic detail, every step of his journey, from the stroke itself to the pain of physical and occupational therapy. He leaves no stone unturned as he describes the impact his illness has had on him and his family. Stroke Me!

"Dandelion Roots Run Deep" is the true story of three generations of tenacious Midwestern women, one in Illinois and two in Michigan. Merry is the third generation, and her mother Merrill, fought for organic agriculture and Michigan's environment from 1967 - 2009. Merrill developed Alzheimer's before finishing her book, so Merry took her story to fruition.