Showing titles in People with Disabilities

When Molly Burke was four years old, she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare degenerative eye disease that leads to eventual blindness, forcing her to see the world through new eyes—literally. Growing up disabled didn’t stop her from playing sports, becoming a rock-climbing instructor, or winning a beauty pageant, but other people’s narrow perceptions of her held her back. Years of relentless bullying, toxic work environments, a rodent-infested apartment, and life’s lowest moments were juxtaposed with red carpets, first-class flights, and personal and professional achievements.

For years, Emma Carey was a regular young adult who would wake up and go about their day on autopilot, someone who would look at a sunset and feel unaffected, someone who was living, but not really alive. That is, until something happened that enabled her to really see life for the gift it is. Emma was in a skydiving accident that made her a paraplegic. This book is not just about Emma's fall from the sky and how she learned to walk without ever regaining feeling in her legs but also about the beliefs and ideas that helped her survive.

As Harry Potter's stunt double, David Holmes's amazing gymnastic skills saw him earn onscreen immortality. He was the first-ever person to play Quidditch on a broomstick; he dodged dragon's fire and dove deep into the Great Lake, without any gillyweed to protect him. Life on set was an adventure. He and Daniel Radcliffe became like brothers, and the cast and crew a second family. Then tragedy struck. During the making of Deathly Hallows Part 1 a stunt went badly wrong and David's spinal cord snapped. He was only 25 and would never walk again.

Strictly star Chris McCausland was a successful stand-up, actor, TV presenter and panel show favourite long before he danced into the hearts of the nation with his ground-breaking performances on the BBC’s biggest show. After growing up in Liverpool and studying software engineering at Kingston University, Chris lost his sight at the age of twenty-two. Forced to rethink his career plans, he worked in sales before applying for a job as a spy at MI5. But, following an appearance at an open mic night in 2003, he turned his hand to stand-up.

Clem Bastow grew up feeling like she’d missed a key memo on human behaviour. She found the unspoken rules of social engagement confusing, arbitrary and often stressful. Friendships were hard, relationships harder and the office was a fluorescent-lit nightmare of anxiety. It wasn’t until Clem was diagnosed as autistic, at age 36, that things clicked into focus. Clem reflects as an autistic adult on her formative experiences as an undiagnosed young person, from the asphalt playground of St Joseph's Primary School in Melbourne to working as an entertainment journalist in Hollywood.

Through the intimate writing of critically acclaimed autistic author Kay Kerr, Love & Autism presents an uplifting celebration of neurodivergent love, the search for it and a deeper look into the lives of autistic Australians.

The astonishing life story from one of Australia's most inspirational athletes. Dylan Alcott has never let his disability get in the way of what he wanted to achieve. His family treated him no differently to any other kid, and it was the best thing they ever did. Growing up, Dylan always had a positive attitude to life. So when he discovered sport, he’d have a go at anything and could always be found at the centre of the action, giving his best and playing to win. Then he tried wheelchair basketball and tennis and was hooked.

The modern world is built for neurotypicals. Needless noise, bright flashing lights, small talk, implication and ‘unwritten rules’; it can be a nightmarish dystopia as far as the autistic population is concerned. In Untypical, Pete Wharmby lays bare the experience of being ‘different’, explaining with wit and warmth just how exhausting it is to fit into a world not designed for you.

When Roger Rasmussen was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019, he did what most patients do: listened carefully, weighed his options, and tried to make peace with the life-altering decisions ahead. Then he heard about Joe Tippens' story, which led him down a rabbit hole of research into something unexpected—a compound called fenbendazole with curious case reports and a growing collection of personal accounts.

Carly-Jay Metcalfe was born with cystic fibrosis, survived a double-lung transplant at the age of 21 and faced a rare cancer at the age of 30. What she has endured should have killed her, but her humour, courage and optimism became her best survival skills. From her hospitalised childhood to her many friendships, loves and losses, Metcalfe shares the fickle nature of life with candour and warmth. She writes with compelling insight about organ donation, opioid addiction and survivor's guilt, while still managing to find joy amongst the wreckage.

In 2012, combat engineer Curtis McGrath was serving in the Australian army in Afghanistan when, in the line of duty, he stepped on a mine. Seriously injured but still conscious and aware he'd bleed out and die within minutes, McGrath, as the unit's chief first-aid officer, directed his comrades to apply tourniquets and administer an IV and morphine. Then, as he was stretchered to a helicopter, fearing he would never see his family again, he joked that he planned to become a Paralympian.

Klim's journey to greatness began behind the Iron Curtain, in communist-era Poland. His family made a bid for freedom in the 1980s and immigrated to Australia, where swimming became his passport into a new culture and eventually led him to become one of his adopted country's great sporting heroes. His crowning moment came at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he captured the hearts of millions with his gold medal performances and world record-breaking swims. But being a champion athlete does not come without personal challenges.

Living with AuDHD is like being a unicorn—misunderstood, contradictory, and often invisible to others. You shine with creativity and innovation, but struggle to fit in — always feeling 'too much'. Autism and ADHD pull you in opposite directions, creating a lifetime of contradictions no one else can see. AuDHD isn’t listed in diagnostic manuals because until 2013, you couldn’t be diagnosed with both conditions — despite a co-occurrence rate of approximately 50-70%. These two neurotypes often clash, like opposing magnets in the brain. ADHD craves novelty; autism resists change.

Diagnosed with pathological demand avoidance (PDA) in his teenage years, Harry Thompson looks back with wit and humour at the ups and downs of family and romantic relationships, school, work and mental health, as well as his teenage struggle with drugs and alcohol. By embracing neurodiversity and emphasising that autistic people are not flawed human beings, Thompson demonstrates that some merely need to take the 'scenic route' in order to flourish and reach their full potential.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Noble was a high school rugby star with a promising sporting career ahead of him when an on-field injury left him fighting for his life in the ICU. Following a four-day coma and a diagnosis of C4 quadriplegia, Alex’s first words to his brother Zac were, ‘If I fight, you fight.’ These words became a war cry as Alex’s friends, family and community rallied around him, watching in awe as he fought to regain control over his body and defy his diagnosis.

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also lectures widely on autism - because Temple Grandin is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us.

How do you build a life when all that you know is changing? How do you conceive of love when you can no longer recognise those who mean the most to you? A phenomenal memoir, Somebody I Used to Know is both a heart-rending tribute to the woman Wendy Mitchell once was, and a brave affirmation of the woman dementia has seen her become.

First came the boom - the loud, deep, unapologetic bellow that seemed to erupt from the very core of the Earth. Eerily, the majestic high-rise slowly leaned to the south. On the 78th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower, no alarms sounded, and no one had information about what had happened at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001. Blind since birth, Michael couldn't see a thing, but he could hear the sounds of shattering glass, falling debris, and terrified people flooding around him and his guide dog, Roselle.

This intimate memoir reveals the woman inside one of autism’s most prominent figures, Jennifer O'Toole. At the age of 35, Jennifer was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, and for the first time in her life, things made sense. Now, she exposes the constant struggle between carefully crafted persona and authentic existence, editing the autism script with wit, candor, passion, and power. Her journey is one of reverse-self-discovery not only as an Aspie but - more importantly - as a thoroughly modern woman.

This is the true story of a very special man whose life was suddenly and forever changed by a rare disease. Dealing with a severe backache for three days, he was taken to an emergency room. For five grueling months, his dignity, as well as his very self was stripped away. Trapped in a system that all too often is not healthcare, but Healthcareless.