Disability book list

[rain_and_poetry]

Part of my plan for the year is to accept that I am living in an increasingly disabled body. Part of a way to do this is to read books about disability and by disabled people.


This is my book plan so far

Beauty is a verb: The New Poetry of Disability
The Other within: The Genius of Deformity in Myth, Culture, and Psyche
Unruly Bodies:Life writing by women with disabilities
Exile and Pride:Disability, Queerness, & Liberation (I've read this before but its amazing so I want to read it again
Spirit and the politics of disablement

I also really want to read this: Oedipus Borealis: The Aberrant Body in Old Icelandic Myth and Saga" but it's crazy expensive so I'm waiting/hoping for it to go down in price

I'm looking for recommendations. I am especially interested in disabled poets, disability in relation to mythology/fairy tales/folktales/storytelling and stuff about the intersections of disability with class/gender/queerness/feminism

Comments

[sugar_cookie]

May I ask what sort of disability you have? I hope I'm not invading by asking that.

I've never read the sorts of books you are looking for, but I did a few searches. Didn't see anything I thought you would be interested in.

[rain_and_poetry]

I have an undiagnosed chronic illness, I'm tired all the time (and I get tired really easily) My body hurts all the time and my immune system is shot


Thanks for looking for recs i appreciate that.

Try this...

[ysabetwordsmith]

In the science fantasy shared world Torn World, we have a whole collection gathering fiction, poetry, and artwork about disabled characters. Some of those characters have detailed descriptions in the character database, and some of them are adoptable. A good introduction is the story "Without Fail" which features an adventurer who fights sea monsters with a prosthetic arm.

On my Serial Poetry page:
* the series The Clockwork War (soldiers fighting a war while disabled)
* "Where the Action Is, and Was, and Evermore Shall Be" (with a lame barkeeper)
* "The Ocean of Her Eyes" (a blind diviner)
* the series P.I.E. (preternatural detective in a wheelchair)

In Fiorenza the Wisewoman, there is a veteran with traumatic brain injury. He first appears in "From the Free City."

In Fledgling Grace, people suddenly sprout wings. While not the same as a handicap from injury, they can be awkward and require accommodation, and there are discrimination issues. "Swish" deals with some of the physical challenges.

In Kung Fu Robots, "Peach Blossom Spring Village" and "Of Water and the Wheel" a robot struggles with impaired mobility.

In Monster House, the daughter is blind. She appears in many of the poems beginning with "Zee."

Path of the Paladins deals with PTSD and other mental issues as a prevailing theme throughout.

Re: Try this...

[rain_and_poetry]

are you yourself a person with disabilities because I'm really looking for stuff written by disabled people?

Re: Try this...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That depends on how you classify it. Do I have the official paperwork for it? Mostly no. Does my body place significant limitations on what I can do? Yes. Do I use my experiences of running against, or around, my own limitations to inspire my storytelling? Yes, when a character happens to have issues in a similar category to one of mine.

The closest match is probably Rai in Torn World, who is legally blind. With my glasses on, I can do most everyday things -- but take them off, and there are a lot of things I can't do very well. Rai's vision problems are the same type as mine, just pushed far enough that glasses won't help.

Your call; I don't know exactly where you draw your parameters.

[butterflydreaming]

Can I recommend a friend to add? capri0mni regularly writes about disability, and she often includes recommendations and discussion about various books, songs, etc. (Besides that, Capriuni is a pretty awesome person.)

I noticed that you said, "undiagnosed." I'm not going to lecture (glass house: depression), but if you can get a medical professional to put an accurate name to it, there may be non-medical ways to make living with it easier, to give you a little more energy and support your immune system. As a friend said about her bipolar disorder, "I can do it on my own, but why not take the help?"

Several of my friends have changed their diets, and seen significant improvement for a chronic health problem. In one case, for something similar to celiac disease, this was directly against doctor's advice, but her own research and sense indicated that it made more sense to try.

If you're not comfortable with standard medicine, perhaps an acupuncturist or other Eastern Medicine practioner?

[rain_and_poetry]

oh its not for lack of trying that I don't have a diagnosis. Ive seen geneticists, neurologists, had all sorts of scans and blood tests and they just can't find whats wrong.

A diet change is something i am researching at the moment actually because I know I seem to be extra sensitive to what my body takes in than most people are.


Thanks for the friend recommendation. I'll drop her a message

[butterflydreaming]

Oh, sorry! I realized a while after I commented that I might have misunderstood, and sure enough, I did.