Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging: Ability

Compelling first-person accounts of the struggle to secure equal rights for Americans with disabilities.

In the face of injustice, people band together to work for change, and through their influence, what was once unthinkable becomes common. This title traces the history of the disability rights movement in the United States, including the key players, watershed moments, and legislative battles that have driven social change. Iconic images and informative sidebars accompany compelling text that follows the movement from the work of early activists to bring dignity to the lives of people in institutions through the fight to make society adapt to the needs of people with disabilities and up to new legislative triumphs in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Features include a glossary, selected bibliography, Web sites, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and essential facts. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.

With acerbic wit and a hilarious voice, Shane Burcaw'sLaughing 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.

As a correspondent for ABC's Day One, Hockenberry has traveled SCUD-menaced streets in Jerusalem, the mountains of war-torn Iraq, and New York's Great White Way--in a wheelchair. Addressing his subjects as a thought-provoking journalist first, an insightful iconoclast second, and a man who happens to be physically challenged last, he provides readers with an intriguing account of his many exploits.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Books for a Better Life Award, and one of The New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of 2012, this masterpiece by the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so--"a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity" (People). Solomon's startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition--that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other--a theme in every family's life.