Books for Disability Pride Month

By Coll Rowe | June 7 2023 | Sociology

We are celebrating Disability Pride Month in July with books from disabled writers, artists, and activists who have fought to create a more open, inclusive, and beautiful world. Find our list of creative works in literature, memoir, and history here:

Being Heumann
Being Heumann
An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
Kristen Joiner, Judith Heumann
978-0-8070-0280-3
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for NonfictionOne of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.
$16.99 US
Feb 23, 2021
Paperback
240 Pages
Beacon Press
Disability Visibility
Disability Visibility
First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century
978-1-9848-9942-2
One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.
$18.00 US
Jun 30, 2020
Paperback
336 Pages
Vintage
True Biz
True Biz
A Novel
Sara Novic
978-0-593-24152-3
A “tender, beautiful and radiantly outraged” (The New York Times Book Review) novel that follows a year of seismic romantic, political, and familial shifts for a teacher and her students at a boarding school for the deaf, from the acclaimed author of Girl at War
$18.00 US
Feb 28, 2023
Paperback
416 Pages
Random House Trade Paperbacks
The Country of the Blind
The Country of the Blind
A Memoir at the End of Sight
Andrew Leland
978-1-9848-8142-7
A witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author’s transition from sightedness to blindness and his quest to learn about blindness as a rich culture all its own
$29.00 US
Jul 18, 2023
Hardcover
368 Pages
Penguin Press
Year of the Tiger
Year of the Tiger
An Activist's Life
Alice Wong
978-0-593-31539-2
From the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, and the editor of the acclaimed anthology Disability Visibility, this groundbreaking memoir in essays offers a glimpse into an activist's journey to finding and cultivating community and the continued fight for disability justice.
$17.00 US
Sep 06, 2022
Paperback
400 Pages
Vintage
Demystifying Disability
Demystifying Disability
What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally
Emily Ladau
978-1-9848-5897-9
An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more accessible, inclusive place.
$16.00 US
Sep 07, 2021
Paperback
176 Pages
Ten Speed Press
Disability Pride
Disability Pride
Dispatches from a Post-ADA World
Ben Mattlin
978-0-8070-3645-7
A revealing portrait of the diverse disability community as it is today, and how disability attitudes, activism, and representation have evolved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
$29.95 US
Nov 29, 2022
Hardcover
272 Pages
Beacon Press
The Plant Hunter
The Plant Hunter
A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines
Cassandra Leah Quave
978-1-9848-7913-4
A leading medical ethnobotanist tells us her story in this uplifting and adventure-filled memoir that illuminates how the path forward for medical discovery may be found in nature’s oldest remedies. 
$18.00 US
Jun 14, 2022
Paperback
384 Pages
Penguin Books
Life on Delay
Life on Delay
Making Peace with a Stutter
John Hendrickson
978-0-593-31913-0
An intimate and candid memoir of a lifelong struggle to speak.
$29.00 US
Jan 17, 2023
Hardcover
272 Pages
Knopf
Golem Girl
Golem Girl
A Memoir
Riva Lehrer
978-1-9848-2032-7
The vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies
$20.00 US
Oct 26, 2021
Paperback
448 Pages
One World
Sincerely, Your Autistic Child
Sincerely, Your Autistic Child
What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew About Growing Up, Acceptance, and Identity
Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network
978-0-8070-2568-0
A diverse collection of autistic voices that highlights how parents can avoid common mistakes and misconceptions, and make their child feel truly accepted, valued, and celebrated for who they are.
$16.95 US
Mar 30, 2021
Paperback
224 Pages
Beacon Press
Intelligent Love
Intelligent Love
The Story of Clara Park, Her Autistic Daughter, and the Myth of the Refrigerator Mother
Marga Vicedo
978-0-8070-2562-8
How one mother challenged the medical establishment and misconceptions about autistic children and their parents
$28.95 US
Mar 23, 2021
Hardcover
272 Pages
Beacon Press
There Plant Eyes
There Plant Eyes
A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness
M. Leona Godin
978-1-9848-9840-1
From Homer to Helen Keller, from Dune to Stevie Wonder, from the invention of braille to the science of echolocation, M. Leona Godin explores the fascinating history of blindness, interweaving it with her own story of gradually losing her sight.
$18.00 US
Aug 30, 2022
Paperback
352 Pages
Vintage
A Disability History of the United States
A Disability History of the United States
Kim E. Nielsen
978-0-8070-2204-7
The first book to cover the entirety of disability history, from pre-1492 to the present.
$17.95 US
Oct 01, 2013
Paperback
240 Pages
Beacon Press
Attention: A Personal History of Finding Focus (or Trying To)
Attention: A Personal History of Finding Focus (or Trying To)
Casey Schwartz
978-0-525-43598-3
Brilliantly combining memoir, biography, and original reporting, Casey Schwartz documents the abundant demands on our attention with piercing insight and illuminates the path to reclaiming authentic life.
$15.95 US
Sep 07, 2021
Paperback
256 Pages
Vintage
Overcoming Dyslexia (2020 Edition)
Overcoming Dyslexia (2020 Edition)
Second Edition, Completely Revised and Updated
Sally Shaywitz, M.D.
978-0-679-78159-2
From one of the world’s leading experts on reading and dyslexia, the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and practical book yet to help understand, identify, and overcome the reading problems that plague American children today.
$21.00 US
Jan 04, 2005
Paperback
608 Pages
Vintage
Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition
Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition
My Life with Autism
Temple Grandin
978-0-307-27565-3
The captivating subject of Oliver Sack's Anthropologist on Mars, here is Temple Grandin's personal account of living with autism and how the extraordinary gift of animal empathy has transformed her world and ours.
$18.00 US
Jan 10, 2006
Paperback
320 Pages
Vintage
No Pity
No Pity
People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement
Joseph P. Shapiro
978-0-8129-2412-1
"Joseph Shapiro has crafted an interesting book from which everyone can benefit. For those wanting to understand the background against which the Americans with Disabilities Act was framed, this is an excellent primer. At the same time, seasoned veterans of the movement will find within a refreshing review of the personalities and activities of the Disabilities Civil Rights Movement. And for parents seeking a glimpse of possibilities for their child, this book cannot fail to inspire."
$18.00 US
Oct 25, 1994
Paperback
400 Pages
Crown
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