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As Mattlin considers the many times his relationship has been met with surprise or speculation by outsiders--those who consider his wife a saint or him just plain lucky for finding love--he issues a challenge to readers: why should the idea of an interabled couple be regarded as either tragic or noble? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough conversations with more than a dozen other couples of varying abilities, ethnic backgrounds, and orientations, Mattlin sets out to understand whether these pairings are as unusual as onlookers seem to think. Reflecting on his own experience he wonders: How do people balance the stresses of personal-care help with the thrill of romance? Is it possible that the very things that appear to be insurmountable obstacles to a successful relationship--the financial burdens, the physical differences, the added element of an especially uncertain future--could be the building blocks of an enviable level of intimacy and communication that other couples could only dream of? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWe meet Shane Burcaw, a twenty-three-year-old writer, who offers a glimpse of his first forays into dating with a disability. There's Rachelle Friedman, the paralyzed bride, as the media refers to her, and her husband, discussing the joys and challenges of a new marriage and a growing family. And Christina Crosby and her partner, Janet Jakobsen, reflect on how Crosby's disabling accident called for them to renegotiate their roles and expectations in their long-term relationship. 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He traces the generation that came of age after the ADA reshaped America, and how it is influencing the future. He documents how autistic self-advocacy and the neurodiversity movement upended views of those whose brains work differently. He lifts the veil on a thriving disability culture--from social media to high fashion, Hollywood to Broadway--showing how the politics of beauty for those with marginalized body types and facial features is sparking widespread change. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHe also explores the movement's shortcomings, particularly the erasure of nonwhite and LGBTQIA+ people that helped give rise to Disability Justice. He delves into systemic ableism in health care, the right-to-die movement, institutionalization, and the scourge of subminimum-wage labor that some call legalized slavery. And he finds glimmers of hope in how disabled people never give up their fight for parity and fair play. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBeautifully written, without anger or pity, \u003ci\u003eDisability Pride\u003c\/i\u003e is a revealing account of an often misunderstood movement and identity, an inclusive reexamination of society's treatment of those it deems \u003ci\u003edifferent\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49744313516305,"sku":"NGR9780807036457","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50041543590161,"sku":"CIN0807036455G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51854958428433,"sku":"NIN9780807036457","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53480991719697,"sku":"GOR014941620","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53567642468625,"sku":"CIN0807036455VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0807036455.jpg?v=1750914418"},{"product_id":"disability-pride-book-ben-mattlin-9780807013335","title":"Disability Pride","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49752140513553,"sku":"NGR9780807013335","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51007897731345,"sku":"NIN9780807013335","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52549584879889,"sku":"CIN0807013331VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53073050534161,"sku":"CIN0807013331G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0807013331.jpg?v=1751362657"},{"product_id":"miracle-boy-grows-up-book-ben-mattlin-9781616087319","title":"Miracle Boy Grows Up","description":"An empowering memoir, in which the author describes living a normal life. 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Is it possible that the very things that appear to be insurmountable obstacles to a successful relationship--the financial burdens, the physical differences, the added element of an especially uncertain future--could be the building blocks of an enviable level of intimacy and communication that other couples could only dream of? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWe meet Shane Burcaw, a twenty-three-year-old writer, who offers a glimpse of his first forays into dating with a disability. There's Rachelle Friedman, the paralyzed bride, as the media refers to her, and her husband, discussing the joys and challenges of a new marriage and a growing family. And Christina Crosby and her partner, Janet Jakobsen, reflect on how Crosby's disabling accident called for them to renegotiate their roles and expectations in their long-term relationship. 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He never stood or walked but grew up expecting a normal life. In this book of essays, he chronicles that life and also charts his growth as a reluctant disability activist and public intellectual.  Mattlin’s disability was from birth. Raised in a family that insisted that he be educated in a mainstream setting, he never thought about his disability as being an obstacle until adulthood. It was not until he had graduated from Harvard and could not find a job that he began to understand what disability rights activists were talking about.  These collected short pieces chronicle Mattlin’s intellectual coming-of-age including his beginnings, difficult conversations about disability, the social aspects of being disabled in a nondisabled world, and a wider perspective as the author looks back on his sixty years of disability. The book contains a variety of essays intermixed with a few edited podcast transcripts. Some of the pieces are deeply personal; others are stridently political. All of them are guaranteed to make readers see life and the world in a new way.  Altogether, this collection is a frank, unsentimental examination of some of the most important and moving issues of our day—always rendered with intelligence, sensitivity, and a liberal sprinkling of humor.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51606917087505,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51606917251345,"sku":"NGR9781958888520","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51692983484689,"sku":"NIN9781958888520","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53158848102673,"sku":"NLS9781958888520","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53220632264977,"sku":"GOR014812505","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53394020303121,"sku":"CIN1958888524G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1958888524.jpg?v=1751315553"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-ben-mattlin.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}