Online Book and Resource Displays

This humorous collection brings attention to the every day struggles and obstacles faced by persons with disabilities while transforming the political incorrectness of the word "crip" into a message of disability activism through which we reclaim our bodies and our lives.

People with disabilities in Canada inhabit a system of deep structural, economic, social, political, legal, and cultural inequality - a regime of dis-citizenship. Despite the widespread belief that Canada is a country of liberty, equality, and inclusiveness, many persons with disabilities experience social exclusion and marginalization. Conventional understandings of disability are dependent on assumptions that characterize disability as misfortune and by implication privilege the "normal" over the "abnormal." The essays Critical Disability Theory contend instead that achieving equality for the disabled is not fundamentally a question of medicine or health, nor is it an issue of sensitivity or compassion. Rather, it is a question of politics, and of power and powerlessness.

In Feminist, Queer, Crip Alison Kafer imagines a different future for disability and disabled bodies. Challenging the ways in which ideas about the future and time have been deployed in the service of compulsory able-bodiedness and able-mindedness, Kafer rejects the idea of disability as a pre-determined limit. She juxtaposes theories, movements, and identities such as environmental justice, reproductive justice, cyborg theory, transgender politics, and disability that are typically discussed in isolation and envisions new possibilities for crip futures and feminist/queer/crip alliances. This bold book goes against the grain of normalization and promotes a political framework for a more just world.

The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harrowing experiences during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging.

With equal parts wit and empathy, lived experience and cultural criticism, Kelly Davio's It's Just Nerves: Notes on a Disability explores what it means to live with an illness in our contemporary culture, whether at home or abroad. "When the body attacks itself, the crisis is not just of bones and blood, but of beauty and boundaries. 'Strange men have had their hands on me for days, ' Kelly Davio observes during a plasma treatment. Her skillful portrait of myasthenia gravis does not exist in a vacuum. It's Just Nerves is in keen dialogue with the world around us--critiquing modern health care, pub seating etiquette, alarming election outcomes, smarmy meditation culture, and caricatures of illness in ads and on screen.

With acerbic wit and a hilarious voice, Shane Burcaw's Laughing at My Nightmare describes the challenges he faces as a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation with humor and a "you-only-live-once" perspective on life. While he does talk about everyday issues that are relatable to teens, he also offers an eye-opening perspective on what it is like to have a life threatening disease.

Morris challenges perceptions of disability, discussing the historical and cultural treatment of disabled people and advocating for control over their lives by the disabled community itself.

Christina Lamb tells the inspiring true story of another remarkable young hero: Nujeen Mustafa, a teenager born with cerebral palsy, whose harrowing journey from war-ravaged Syria to Germany in a wheelchair is a breathtaking tale of fortitude, grit, and hope that lends a face to the greatest humanitarian issue of our time, the Syrian refugee crisis. Confined to a wheelchair because of her cerebral palsy and denied formal schooling in Syria because of her illness, Nujeen taught herself English by watching American soap operas. When her small town became the epicenter of the brutal fight between ISIS militants and US-backed Kurdish troops in 2014, she and her family were forced to flee. Despite her physical limitations, Nujeen embarked on the arduous trek to safety and a new life. Yet, in spite of the tremendous physical hardship she endured, Nujeen's extraordinary optimism never wavered.

A witty, yet stirring firsthand account of dealing with the daily difficulties of Tourette's Syndrome. This memoir provides an account of living with Tourette's Syndrome, sharing both the challenges and the unexpected moments of support and difficulties encountered daily.