AudioFile - Find your next great audiobook
Get our Newsletter
custom list image

Disability Pride Audiobooks

Narratives of Disability Pride center on the experiences and achievements of the many differently abled activists who have brought changes to our shared experiences of the world. They have created ways to remove barriers in the physical, service, social, and political spheres, from curb cuts to adoption regulations, closed-captioned broadcasts and public meeting American Sign Language interpretations. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990, in large part due to the efforts and activism of leaders, lawyers, educators, and researchers, many of whom have since led the Disability Pride movement. Get to know and appreciate those who made and continue to make Disability Pride possible, as well as some well-imagined fictional heroes, with these audiobooks. [Above photo: The first Disability Pride Parade]
Share This
ABLE

ABLE Gold Medals, Grand Slams and Smashing Glass Ceilings

by Dylan Alcott | Read by Dylan Alcott

Bolinda Audio
Biography & Memoir

The Australian author, who narrates his own work, details his life as a competitor in wheelchair basketball and tennis, his music-festival-hopping lifestyle, world travels, and so much more. He makes it clear that using a wheelchair will not stop him from what he wants to do and accomplish. With a gravelly voice, Alcott narrates his story, which is inspiring without being... Read More

AGAINST TECHNOABLEISM

AGAINST TECHNOABLEISM Rethinking Who Needs Improvement

by Ashley Shew | Read by Maria Pendolino

HighBridge Audio
Contemporary Culture

Maria Pendolino performs this short collection of essays featuring Dr. Ashley Shew's concept of "technoableism," a type of ableist belief that technology can, and should, "cure" disabled people. Shew uses her experience as a chronically ill, hard-of-hearing cancer survivor and amputee to illustrate how technology helps assist her in her everyday life. But, at the same time,... Read More

BEING HEUMANN

BEING HEUMANN An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist

by Judith Heumann, Kristen Joiner | Read by Ali Stroker

Beacon Press
Biography & Memoir

With an energetic pace and a youthful voice, Ali Stroker narrates disability rights activist Judith Heumann's memoir. The audiobook spans the author's life as a polio survivor who started out having to face wheelchair barriers at home, in her neighborhood, at school, and at university. Heumann and Stroker both prove engaging as Heumann recounts how her forbearance with... Read More

DISABILITY INTIMACY

DISABILITY INTIMACY Essays on Love, Care, and Desire

by Alice Wong [Ed.] | Read by Danielle Morsberger, Stephanie Gould, Nancy Wu, Carmen Jewel Jones, Risa Mei, and a Full Cast

Random House Audio
Biography & Memoir

This fascinating collection of voices from the disabled community is presented with care by a talented team of narrators. In her introduction to these 40 powerfully affecting essays, activist Alice Wong, who edited this volume, stresses the value of seeking and exploring intimacy. Each essay opens a window that may contain familiar elements or, perhaps, a novel mode of... Read More

DISABILITY VISIBILITY

DISABILITY VISIBILITY First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

by Alice Wong [Ed.] | Read by Alejandra Ospina, Alice Wong [Intro.]

Random House Audio
Contemporary Culture

Author Alice Wong tells listeners the personal stories of various disabled people, including herself, for the purpose of creating a stronger sense of community among them. In her introduction, which she delivers herself over sound effects of traffic, Wan recalls her own excitement about accessible public transit. She then turns her collection over to Alejandra Ospina, who... Read More

EXILE AND PRIDE

EXILE AND PRIDE Disability, Queerness, and Liberation

by Eli Clare | Read by Maxwell Glick

Audible, Inc.
Contemporary Culture

Narrator Maxwell Glick deftly captures the wide emotional range of Clare's astonishing life story. He was born with cerebral palsy and later realized he also had gender issues, which added to his personal unhappiness and to being harassed by others, including his own family. The book's first-person, conversational point of view takes listeners on Clare's painful but ultimately... Read More

FEARLESSLY DIFFERENT

FEARLESSLY DIFFERENT An Autistic Actor's Journey to Broadway's Biggest Stage

Earphones Award Winner

by Mickey Rowe | Read by Mickey Rowe

Recorded Books
Biography & Memoir

Author/narrator Mickey Rowe delivers a fierce and vivacious performance of this audiobook about his arduous and triumphant journey to becoming an actor with autism. Rowe details the tribulations faced by people with disabilities as they navigate a world that marginalizes them and bars them from opportunities that able-bodied people take for granted. His frustration and... Read More

FIGHTING FOR YES!

FIGHTING FOR YES! The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann

by Maryann Cocca-Leffler, Judith Heumann [note] | Read by Ali Stroker, Judith Heumann

Dreamscape
Children

The late Judith Heumann, who used a wheelchair all her life, narrates her own note to listeners in this brief account of her youth and early disability-rights activism. Ali Stroker delivers the story itself, which begins with Heumann's education, a time that is marked by humiliation and opposition at nearly every turn. This fuels the anger and determination that leads to... Read More

GIRLS LIKE US

GIRLS LIKE US

Earphones Award Winner

by Gail Giles | Read by Lauren Ezzo, Brittany Pressley

Brilliance Audio/ Candlewick
Young Adult

Narrators Lauren Ezzo and Brittany Pressley create distinct, powerful portraits of 18-year-olds Biddy and Quincy, special education students who are placed in the same home. Biddy’s tenderness is lyrically expressed as she finds images to express her emotions. Quincy is sarcastic, sassy, and scornful of her new roommate. The unique gifts and strength of these characters are... Read More

HABEN

HABEN The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law

by Haben Girma | Read by Haben Girma

Hachette Audio
Biography & Memoir

Listeners who are unfamiliar with Haben Girma may find her voice a little disconcerting at first because it sounds like that of a much younger person. Girma is a DeafBlind woman who overcame incredible odds and narrates her own story, which culminates with her graduation from Harvard Law School. We quickly move beyond her vocal delivery as we learn how she overcame many... Read More

IF AT BIRTH YOU DON'T SUCCEED

IF AT BIRTH YOU DON'T SUCCEED My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny

by Zach Anner | Read by Zach Anner

Macmillan Audio
Biography & Memoir

Ambitious and hard-working media personality Zach Anner narrates his memoir with the verve and compassion that make his story so compelling. Anner has cerebral palsy--as he says, "the sexiest of the palsies"--and listeners get a glimpse of that world, but what Anner truly offers is a funny and thoughtful exploration of the ways human beings can propel themselves forward or hold... Read More

INSEPARABLE

INSEPARABLE How Family and Sacrifice Forged a Path to the NFL

by Shaquem Griffin, Shaquill Griffin, Mark Schlabach | Read by James Shippy, Marc Samuel

Thomas Nelson
Biography & Memoir

It was a smart choice to use a pair of narrators, James Shippy and Marc Samuel, for this joint memoir by twin brothers. Shaquem and Shaquill Griffin played youth sports together and vowed to do the same with college football. Now they both play for the Seattle Seahawks. The two narrators create individual identities for the brothers while keeping their dialogue straight for the... Read More

LOVE AND FIRST SIGHT

LOVE AND FIRST SIGHT

Earphones Award Winner

by Josh Sundquist | Read by Pat Young

Hachette Audio
Young Adult

Narrator Pat Young delivers this audiobook about our senses and how we interpret them. Sixteen-year-old Will, blind from birth, enters a mainstream public school for the first time and, in rapid succession, finds a strong coterie of pals, discovers friendship with a bright and troubled girl who is a photographer, undergoes experimental surgery on his eyes, and faces losing his... Read More

A SENSE OF THE WORLD

A SENSE OF THE WORLD How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler

by Jason Roberts | Read by John Curless

Recorded Books
Biography & Memoir

James Holman, a lieutenant in the 1812 British navy, loses his sight at age 25 and teaches himself independence from his acquired disability. Using artful expression and Dickensian prose, Jason Roberts manages to make Holman's worldly travels sound like a Victorian novel, including elaborate descriptions of all the minor personae in the blind man's milieu. Narrator John Curless... Read More

THE SILENCE BETWEEN US

THE SILENCE BETWEEN US

by Alison Gervais | Read by Chloe Dolandis

HarperCollins Focus
Young Adult

Narrator Chloe Dolandis gracefully meets the challenge of delivering a story that unfolds in oral English, American Sign Language, and finger spelling. At 17, Maya has been profoundly deaf for only four years, so her observations and thoughts as this gentle teen romance develops from her viewpoint are in standard English. Mainstreamed for her last year of high school, Maya's... Read More

SIPPING DOM PERIGNON THROUGH A STRAW

SIPPING DOM PERIGNON THROUGH A STRAW Reimagining Success as a Disabled Achiever

by Eddie Ndopu | Read by Eddie Ndopu

Hachette Audio
Biography & Memoir

South African disability rights activist Eddie Ndopu performs his memoir, bringing his story to life with his thoughtful narration. When Ndopu receives a full scholarship to attend Oxford University, he feels equally overwhelmed and elated that all of his hard work and advocacy have paid off. But when he emails the university to discuss the accommodations he needs due to spinal... Read More

SITTING PRETTY

SITTING PRETTY The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body

by Rebekah Taussig | Read by Rebekah Taussig

Harper Audio
Biography & Memoir

Rebekah Taussig’s humor and passion shine as she delivers this illuminating collection of essays about disability. Taussig captures the ups and downs of ordinary life in a disabled body; she discusses dating, navigating her first year of teaching, and searching for an accessible apartment, in particular. As she celebrates disabled lives, culture, and activism, she examines the... Read More

SUCH A PRETTY GIRL

SUCH A PRETTY GIRL A Story of Struggle, Empowerment, and Disability Pride

by Nadina LaSpina | Read by Jennifer Jill Araya

Dreamscape
Biography & Memoir

Jennifer Jill Araya gives a spirited performance of this captivating memoir by disability rights activist Nadina LaSpina. LaSpina, who contracted polio as a baby in Sicily, moved with her family to the U.S. as a teenager. She recounts the time she spent in hospitals, the abuse she suffered at the hands of doctors, and her experiences as a leader in the disability rights... Read More

UNBOUND: THE LIFE AND ART OF JUDITH SCOTT

UNBOUND: THE LIFE AND ART OF JUDITH SCOTT

by Joyce Scott, Brie Spangler, Melissa Sweet | Read by Joyce Scott

Listening Library
Children

In this biographical look at artist Judith Scott told from her twin sister's point of view, young listeners are given a glimpse of the power of art. The story is told in short, spare poems, and author Joyce Scott's affection and reverence for her sister come through in her narration. Judith Scott was born with Down syndrome at a time when it was not understood. She spent most... Read More

WE'RE NOT BROKEN

WE'RE NOT BROKEN Changing the Autism Conversation

by Eric Garcia | Read by Eric Garcia

Mariner Books
Biography & Memoir

Political journalist Eric Garcia, who is on the autism spectrum, interviewed others with this condition so he could join them in speaking for themselves instead of passively tolerating the judgments and misunderstandings of typical media coverage. He delivers what could be called a manifesto with sincerity that is pleasing enough to make his limited phrasing range a nonissue.... Read More

WHERE YOU SEE YOURSELF

WHERE YOU SEE YOURSELF

by Claire Forrest | Read by Ali Stroker

Scholastic Audiobooks
Young Adult

Ali Stroker delivers a personable performance in this coming-of-age story. At college Effie explores her independence and pushes against the boundaries of her comfort zone. She uses a wheelchair and has been viewed as someone with limitations since high school. But at an accessible college, she pursues her dreams and can be seen as herself. Stroker's flexible performance... Read More

YEAR OF THE TIGER

YEAR OF THE TIGER An Activist's Life

by Alice Wong | Read by Nancy Wu

Random House Audio
Biography & Memoir

Nancy Wu performs this stunning memoir from disability rights activist Alice Wong. Born with spinal muscular atrophy, Wong has spent her life advocating for equal access--for herself and other disabled people. She tells her story in a series of essays, interview transcripts, images, and illustrations, creating a scrapbook-like feel. Wu deftly performs each section, using image... Read More

The latest audiobook reviews, right in your inbox.

Get our FREE Newsletter and discover a world of audiobooks.

envelope

AudioFile Newsletter

Let us recommend your next great audiobook!

No algorithms here!
We pick great audiobooks for you.
Sign up for our free newsletter with audiobook love from AudioFile editors.

If you are already with us, thank you! Just click X above.

×

Thank you for signing up.

×

Thanks!

Thank you for contacting us!

Our group will review and follow up within 72 hours.
Thanks for your interest!

Back Home ×

Thanks!

Thank you for signing up!

Our group will review and follow up soon.

Back Home ×