Disability Book Project introduction
To help with my own memoir, I read over 25 books. With the except of a few, they didn’t share what it is like living with a disability. I commenced a disability book project entitled “MY disABILITIES” with the vision “To encourage people with a disability, and to improve the knowledge and understanding of disability in the community”.
The website is www.my-dis-abilities.com. The launch date is Friday 1 September 2017.
- Share your challenges, experiences, stories, and insights
- Encourage other people going through similar experiences
- Increase community understanding of disabilities
- Support those sharing their stories, and the organisations that help them
The anticipated release date of the book is the second half of 2018.
Ways to get involved
There are many ways to get involved in this exciting disability book project:
- Contribute your story (if you have a disability or you know someone with a disability)
- Write the stories
- Proofread the book
- Illustrate the book
- Edit the book
- Spread the news (about the book project)
- Sell the book
I encourage individuals of all experience levels to apply for the creative roles (writing, illustrating and editing the book), as the project may be a stepping stone in your career. The first book will focus on individuals with a disability who live in Australia.
The Flyer
Sample Synopsis
We present a few of the synopsis of the chapters in the upcoming book.
“Living with a ‘New Normal’” by Julie Rackebrandt about Emma Rackebrandt.
Emma’s story is about facing and accepting a sudden and unexpected cancer diagnosis at the age of 19. Emma worked hard to maintain her self-identity and independence, and to improve her functional ability in a wheelchair, even though her progressive and degenerative disease meant that all gains would be temporary. Emma was creative, accepting and adapting to her ‘new normal’ many times so that she continued to enjoy life as her abilities changed and declined. Emma’s story highlights her positive moments and interesting experiences, while navigating through the world in a wheelchair with paraplegia, and later, an acquired brain injury. Her mother, Julie, writes Emma’s experience in retrospect as Emma passed away at age 25.
“Deaf, Blind and on the Catwalk” by Vanessa Vlajkovic
Vanessa’s story is about her journey to become a model, despite having only 20% sight and inconsistent hearing. It tells of the isolation she experienced during mainstream schooling and the challenges she faced as a teenager who wanted her independence, but had overprotective parents. It speaks of the challenges in learning sign language at age 16. But most of all, it shows us how she became her own advocate and smashed the barriers that stood in her way.
“Behind closed doors” by Melinda Jones
We all walk our own journey in life, with no one really knowing the truth of our disabilities, and what we experience day to day behind our closed doors. Melinda has Neurofibromatosis Type 2 with ongoing tumour growth in the brain and spine, and she writes about the daily and constant pain, suffering, loneliness, lack of self-esteem, heartache, bullying, and depression. Despite this, Melinda has achieved a great deal, battles on in the face of all the difficulties, and makes the most of life. Her love of life is what has always driven her to success.
