In honor of the signing of Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990, we are celebrating works written by the disabled community. All of the titles on this list are written by disabled authors or deal with experiences of living with disabilities in a world built for able bodied people.
A young deaf and blind man lives under the strict control of his Jehovah's Witness uncle until a new tactile interpreter and a creative writing course help him find not only a new way to communicate and advocate for himself, but a second…
Triplet sisters Mab, Monday, and Mirabel live with varying degrees of physical disability and neurodivergence as a result of the chemical plant that poisoned the water in their small town. "The story unfolds in alternating chapters, told…
A historical fiction fist-person narrative of Christina Olson and her friendship with painter Andrew Wyeth, who immortalized her in his most well known painting, "Christina's World." Painter and subject bond over their disabilities while…
"True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This is a story of sign…
A woman with autism gets ready for a Christmas eve party, narrating a rich internal life that the allistic world around her doesn't always get to witness. Despite difficulty with social she interaction manages to develop a romantic…
“Whether you have a disability, or you are non-disabled, Demystifying Disability is a MUST READ. Emily Ladau is a wise spirit who thinks deeply and writes exquisitely.”—Judy Heumann, international disability rights advocate and author of…
From Library Journal: " Journalist Mattlin (In Sickness and in Health), who lives with spinal muscular atrophy, states that this book began as a personal mission to reconnect with the wider disability community and understand the ways…
"From the bars and domestic spaces of her life in Brooklyn to sculpture gardens in Rome; from film festivals in Utah to a Beyoncé concert in Milan; from a tennis tournament in California to the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh, Jones weaves…
Norwegian novelist Jan Grue confronts the tendency to portray narratives of disability with a tragic or inspirational lens in this memoir about his life with spinal muscular atrophy. From Kirkus, "Refreshingly, the author reflects less on…
"In Chinese culture, the tiger is deeply revered for its confidence, passion, ambition, and ferocity. That same fighting spirit resides in Alice Wong.
Drawing on a collection of original essays, previously published work, conversations,…
"Miller is open about her own struggles and intertwines autobiographical portions with reflections on life with chronic illnesses. She discusses interactions with the medical world; grieving over what will never be; evolving interactions…
"In his first book, a journalist on the autism spectrum combines memoir and a wide-ranging critique of how America is failing autistic children and adults. Noting that autism advocacy has become a minefield of conflicting views, Garcia…
"A 13-year-old Japanese author illuminates his autism from within, making a connection with those who find the condition frustrating, mysterious or impenetrable. For the renowned novelist David Mitchell, who provides the introduction and…
From Kirkus: "A well-researched, readable report on the treatment of autism that explores its history and proposes significant changes for its future. The latest version of the Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders recently…
"When it comes to women, sensory processing differences are often overlooked, masked, or mistaken for something else entirely. Between a flawed system that focuses on diagnosing younger, male populations, and the fact that girls are…
A young woman has to spend her senior year of high school at a new public school instead of the school for the Deaf, contending with gossip, stereotypes, and needing to ask for an ASL translator. "The romance, while sweet, often takes a…
This sweet graphic novel about a witch and a werewolf who team up to fight supernatural evils in their small town features a hard-of-hearing protagonist who uses hearing aids. Walker has written extensively about disability representation…
A good companion read with Amanda Leduc's "Disfigured," describing the the impact of disability and disfigurement on a young woman and her twin sister following a series of childhood surgeries. Henley uses the art of Pablo Picasso and the…
"Burcaw’s accounts of madcap road trips, love amid explosive diarrhea, and more demystify and normalize “the nastier side of being human” while critiquing—sometimes poignantly—society’s widespread patronization of disabled people. Readers…
From the publisher: "At the root of Clare's exploration of environmental destruction and capitalism, sexuality and institutional violence, gender and the body politic, is a call for social justice movements that are truly accessible to…
