The Power of Disability: Ten Lessons for Surviving, Thriving, and Changing the World

From a longtime disability rights activist comes this moving window into the lives of people with disabilities and the lessons they can teach us.

Disabled people are strong. There is no group in history with more consistent experience at making their mark despite the deck being stacked against them. Al Etmanski’s mission is to push back against ableism and show disabled people as authoritative sources on creativity, resilience, love, and meaning. In this inspiring book, he lays out ten lessons we can learn from the disabled, each one illustrated with stories of real people. Some names are familiar, like Stephen Hawking, Helen Keller, Stevie Wonder, Michael J. Fox, and Temple Grandin. Others less so, like Caroline Casey, who became the first Western female mahout (elephant rider) and rode solo across India despite being legally blind; Aaron Phillip, a trans woman with cerebral palsy who is a professional model; or Liz Etmanski, the author’s daughter, a spoken-word poet and artist with Down syndrome. Recognizable or not, you will have no trouble relating to their stories and experiences and applying their insights to enrich your life.