The Bottom Line
By Katherine Schneider; 121 pages. From the book cover: "Disabilties can be more than adjusted to; they can be mined for pearls and Kathie shares some of hers with you."
If you've been slogging through serious books about dealing with your child's disability and accepting the different path your child will follow, this book will be a light, quick treat. Written with humor and self-deprecation, it's a friendly tour of life with disabilities from one who's living it and getting along quite nicely, thanks.
Pros
- Sense of humor makes Schneider an engaging narrator
- Interesting to consider accommodations and challenges from the point of view of a disabled person
- Short chapters make for quick reading
- Dog lovers will enjoy stories of Schneider's several Seeing Eye companions
- Offers some practical information along with philosophizing
Cons
- Practical information may only be applicable if your child is visually impaired
- Author's age may mean some of her experience isn't pertinent to kids growing up today
- Not really written for parents, although certainly of interest to them
Description
- 1. Who am I? Growing Up with a Disability
2. What Does it Feel Like to be Blind? - 3. The Working World: Before and After the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
- 4. Day in the Life of Katherine Schneider
5. Social Life: Friends and Family
6. Public Speaking - 7. Travel Light, But Don't Forget the Dog Food
8. Going to the Bathroom
9. Churches and Disabilities - 10. Kids Still Say the Darnedest Things
11. Self Image Questions
12. The Media - 13. Health Care Professionals
14. Compare and Contrast
15. Thoughts on Health, Illness, and Wellness - 16. Never Alone: Seeing Eye Dogs I Have Known
17. Activities of Daily Life
18. Fostering - 19. Parenting a Child with a Disability
20. An Open Letter to Young People - 21. Being and Not Being a Minority Group
22. What Helping Professionals Should Do - 23. Equality Is More Than Laws
24. The Positives of Having Disabilities
25. Second Adulthood
Guide Review - Book Review: To the Left of Inspiration - Adventures in Living with Disabilities
Some books we read for heavy-duty information, some we read for thoughtful advice, some we read to scare ourselves into action, some we read to feel reassured that things could surely be worse, and some -- surely, we must get some -- we read just for fun and inspiration. Although there's certainly information and advice in To the Left of Inspiration, it's mostly a light and welcome addition to that last category, an easy, quick read with a companionable narrator. You'll learn some about blindness, and about living with disabilities, but you'll mostly enjoy the anecdotes and the attitude.
As Schneider writes in her introduction: "If this is neither a 'courageous book about a very special person' nor a 'meditation enabled me to kiss my Seeing Eye dog goodbye' book, what is it and why should you read it? Because it is a collection of some of the pearls of wisdom I've acquired during my fifty-some years of life, and I'd like to share them with you. There are little pearls and big pearls in this collection. Chances are good that sometime in your life you, a friend, or a family member will have a chronic illness or disability. The longer you live, the better the chances get. I believe that forewarned is forearmed! Think of this as a travel book about going somewhere you don't want to go, but your job is sending you there anyway." As parents, our job has sent us there. It's good to get a little tour from somebody who knows her way around.
