There has been a sharp rise in the amount of memoirs published by disabled people over the past ten years. These books often referred to as “Sick-Lit” and sometimes “Crip-Lit” have gone beyond an audience solely made up of disabled people and have gone mainstream, especially with the creation of the disabled influencer. Here are ten memoirs written by people with a range of different impairments and stories to tell, some are educational and others side-splittingly funny, all make for an excellent read. But, of course, please don’t call them “inspirational”. The late disability activist, Stella Young, coined the term “inspiration porn” in her TED talk and none of these authors make themselves out to be an inspiration or an object of pity.
Alt text: a photograph of several different books about disability by disabled authors
Fitness influencer Hannah Setzer lives on a farm, she has adopted four children, runs her own business and in 2018 she decided to move every day. Now she wants to get everyone moving with her book that is part memoir, part motivational text and a call to arms against ableism in one.
Podcaster and activist Alice Wong is the founder of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to amplifying disability media and culture. Here she has collected personal essays by disabled people in the 21st century that document and celebrate disabled culture.
Journalist Lucy Webster's book concerns disability and its place in intersectional feminism. She writes about her life as a disabled woman in her twenties, ableism during her education, her career with the BBC and how she manages her life with a 24/7 care team.
Actress, comedian and now playwright, Francesca Martinez's autobiography was one of the earliest books to start the trend for disabled writers telling their stories. She was the first disabled actor on CBBC's Grange Hill in the '90s as a character, who like her, has cerebral palsy. She went on to appear in Extras before she turned her hand to writing.
Ione Gamble has Crohn’s but created the successful Polyester lifestyle zine in spite of this sometimes debilitating chronic illness. She writes about how she has achieved this whilst being chronically ill and admits to sometimes having to be a “gross girl”, something that will resonate with many of her readers.
Actress Chloe Hayden currently stars in Netflix's reboot of Heartbreak High as Quinni, a teenager with autism. Chloe has autism herself and describes her difficult upbringing in Australia but peppers this with interesting facts about autism and neurodiversity.
Described as “a millennial Helen Keller”, Haben Girma is a deaf-blind refugee who sees disability as as an opportunity for innovation. In her memoir she travels the world and eventually graduates from Harvard Law. She now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities.
Making up for the lack of male voices in this area, Shane Burcaw has written three books, each more hilarious than the last. This one, his most recent, came out in 2020 and continues his life story via a selection of essays taken from his blog. When he's not writing Shane is the director of Laughing at my Nightmare, his own charity.
At the age of 23 Kris Hallenga was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. Kris, now in her mid-thirties, celebrates her life and explains how she set up the charity Coppa Feel to encourage women to check their breasts regularly.
One of the disability rights activists, Judith Heumann was challenging the US government on their outdated policies regarding disabled people back in the 1970s by organising a five day sit in at a government building in San Francisco. Her story is one of strength and determination. Sadly Judith passed away 2023 at aged 75 and is sorely missed as "the mother of the disability rights movement".
From Instagram:
@eggshapedkath – “I loved Places I’ve Taken My Body by Molly McCullen Brown
@20pillsadayandtillgay – “Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong is one of my favourites”
@jangojunio – “The latest book I’ve read by a disabled author was by Samantha Renke”
@daydreamdusty- “Ooh I read Glittering a Turd and loved it”
@roll_deemc – “Making my way through Poor Little Sick Girls which is brilliant”
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