Book Promotion: Sticks and Stones: Disabled People’s Stories of Abuse, Defiance and Resilience

By sharing their stories, these writers hope to empower similar survivors to resist and to disclose abuse and violence, to recover if abuse occurs, and to move ahead to live strong, fulfilling lives. Contributing writers from eight countries join those from the United States in sharing their stories. Saxton’s introductory comments frame complex abuse issues as part of the larger picture of societal mistreatment of people with disabilities, going far back in history. Many of the stories featured in Sticks and Stones are wrenching; all the authors’ voices are strong. Yet the reader is left with a sense of hope and encouragement that mistreatment can be challenged and empowered disabled people can end abuse in their lives.

Here is an excerpt from Sticks & Stones, a short piece by Jim Grennan.

Represented
I am a lawyer. I have represented clients seeking Social Security disability benefits for more than thirty years. Once, while representing a client at a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, the judge began asking questions from written notes that he held in front of his face. I could not understand what he was saying when his face was covered. I asked him to repeat a question that I did not hear. He promptly admonished me for interrupting him and ordered that I not interrupt him again, adding, "Everyone else can hear me, so you also should be able to hear me." Like many, he was of the impression that hearing aids completely correct hearing loss.

Recently, many years after this incident, I convinced the Social Security Administration to provide real-time reporting not only for my clients, but also for myself, even though the administration interprets the Rehabilitation Act as applying exclusively to clients.

Order Sticks and Stones: www.wid.org/cape. $20 plus shipping& handling and state tax where applicable.