Nov 8, 2023 3 min read

Creating Our Own Lives

A white background with small backgrounds in various colors dotted around. Their coloring doesn't meet their outlines, as though they've been hastily colored in. In the center in red text is the title in all-caps: Creating Our Own Lives. Above the title is the subtitle in red: College Students with Intellectual Disability. Below the title are the editors' names in red: Michael Gill and Beth Myers, Editors. Monograph/Matt Avery. Cover illustration credit: iStock.com/Mikhail Seleznev.

Anthology featuring all college students with intellectual disabilities

We don't see enough work by people with developmental or intellectual disabilities, much less edited by them. Creating Our Own Lives, edited by Micheal Gill and Beth Myers (who do not identify as disabled), features work by all college students with intellectual disabilities published by University of Minnesota Press. I am happy to offer five paperback or e-books for you all. Details below.

About the book

How do students with intellectual disability experience higher education? Creating Our Own Lives addresses this question through the eyes of participants themselves. In relating their experiences and aspirations, these student perspectives mount a powerful challenge to assumptions that intellectual disability is best met with protection or segregation.

Taken together, the essays expose and contradict the inherently ableist claim that individuals with intellectual disability cannot be reliable storytellers. Instead, their deeply informative stories serve as a corrective narrative. The first of the four sections, “Laying the Foundation: Why Everyone Belongs in College,” focuses on belonging and inclusion; the second, “Opening Up Possibilities: Overcoming Doubt and Uncertainty,” conveys the optimism of this generation of advocates through stories of personal hardship, hopeful perseverance, and triumph over adversity; the third, “Inclusion as Action: Diversifying Student Experiences,” supports the understanding of diverse student experiences in inclusive higher education; and the fourth, “Supporting Growth: Peer Mentoring and Advice,” offers guidance to those reimagining and creating educational spaces.Students with disabilities belong in higher education. Not only does this book serve as an important record of students enrolled in inclusive higher education programs, it is also an unprecedented resource, packed with information and inspiration both for parents seeking opportunities for their children and for individuals with intellectual disability who aspire to attend college.Contributors: Makayla Adkins, Olivia Baist, Brandon Baldwin, George Barham, Marquavious Barnes, Katie Bartlett, Steven Brief, De'Onte Brown, Meghan Brozaitis, Mary Bryant, Gracie Carrol, Taylor Cathey, Maia Chamberlain, Antonio E. Contreras, Kim Dean, Elizabeth Droessler, Katie Ducett, Keiron Dyck, Rachel Gomez, Deriq Graves, Micah Gray, Maggie Guillaume, Cleo Hamilton, Nathan Heald, Joshua R. Hourigan, Hannah Lenae Humes, Courtney Jorgensen, Eilish Kelderman, Kailin Kelderman, Kenneth Kelty, Kaelan Knowles, Karlee Lambert, Kate Lisotta, Rachel Mast, Elise McDaniel, Emma Miller, Jake Miller, Lydia Newnum, Brenna Mantz Nielsen, Carly O’Connell, Nadia Osbey, Stirling Peebles, Breyan Pettaway, Amanda Pilkenton, True Rafferty, Taylor Ruppe, Lawrence Sapp, Tyler Shore, Brianna Silva, Alex Smith, Elliott Smith, Phillandra Smith, Payton Storms, Allen Thomas, Kylie Walter, Stephen Wanser, Sayid Webb, Breana Whittlesey, Luke Wilcox, Adam Wolfond.

About the editors

Michael Gill is associate professor of disability studies at Syracuse University. He is author of Allergic Intimacies: Food, Disability, Desire, and Risk and Already Doing It: Intellectual Disability and Sexual Agency (Minnesota, 2015).

Beth Myers is Lawrence B. Taishoff Professor of Inclusive Education at Syracuse University. She is executive editor of the Journal of Inclusive Postsecondary Education and author of Autobiography on the Spectrum: Disrupting the Autism Narrative.

Details

1) Any disabled person in the US or Canada is eligible for this giveaway. You do not need to disclose any details about your disability.

If you already received a book from one of my previous giveaways, please consider letting other people have a chance.

2) The first 5 people will receive a paperback or e-book. If you do not receive a reply that means the books have been claimed or you did not include all the required information.

3) Send an email to DisabilityVisibilityProject@gmail.com with ‘Creating Our Own Lives Giveaway’ in the title of the message. Do not reply to this post!!

4) Include the following information in your message:

First and last name
Mailing address
Preferred format: paperback or e-book. Pick one only!

Please note: I will send this information along with your email address to the publisher. They are responsible for confirming your details and sending you the book. Please be patient!