brain class

Professor Anita Perr suggested a New York Times reviewed book entitled Head Cases by Michael Paul Mason. She usually provides us with lists of suggested reading material and movies that address brain injury and other conditions. It's wonderful to have an instructor passionate about what she does. Here is what she compiled for her class.

The following list contains fiction and nonfiction books that were written by people with disabilities or are about people with disabilities.

Book List

1. Arnold, Madelyn. Bird-Eyes (sub-mental institutionalization experience)
2. Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson (about a man with ALS)
3. Axline, Virginia Mae. Dibs in Search of Self
4. Bauby, Jean-Dominique. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (by and about a man with locked-in syndrome)
5. Bixler, Susan. The New Professional Image
6. Bombeck, Erma. I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise (about children surviving cancer)
7. Broyard, Anatole. Intoxicated by My Illness
8. Callahan, John. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (by and about a man living with spinal cord injury)
9. Craig, Elizabeth. Don't Slurp Your Soup: A Basic Guide to Business Etiquette
10. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
11. Cooper Sinykin, S. Alison Walks the Wire (Magic Attic Club)
12. Crimmins, Cathy. Where is the Mango Princess?
13. Dorris, Michael. The Broken Cord (about a man who adopts a baby born with fetal alcohol syndrome)
14. Duncan, Barbara. and Woods, Diane. (eds). Ethical Issues in Disability and Rehabilitation
15. Eiesland, Nancy L. The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability
16. Featherstone, Helen. A Difference in the Family: Life with a Disabled Child
17. Fiffer, Steve. Three Quarters, Two Dimes and a Nickel: A Memoir of Becoming Whole (by and about a man with spinal cord injury)
18. Finger, Anne. Past Due: A Story of Disability, Pregnancy and Birth
19. Fleming, Linda Frazer. Releasing Arthritis: The Seven Year Plan
20. Fox, Michael J. Lucky Man: A Memoir (By Michael J. Fox about the 10 years since diagnosis with Parkinson’s.)
21. Grandin, Temple. Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism (by and about a women with autism)
22. Greenfield, Josh. A Child Called Noah: A Family Journey
23. Hockenberry, John. Moving violations (by and about a man with spinal cord injury)
24. Karp, Gary. Life on Wheels
25. Kaufman, Miriam. Easy for You to Say: Q & A's for Teens living With Chronic Illness or Disability
26. Kovic, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July (about a disabled veteran)
27. Lamb, Wally. I Know This Much is True (about mental illness)
28. Linton, Simi. Claiming Disability
29. MacCracken, Mary. Lovey, A Very Special Child (about emotional disturbance)
30. Malloff, Chalda. & Wood, Susan. Business & Social Etiquette with Disabled People: A Guide to Getting Along with Persons Who have Impairments of Vision, Hearing, or Speech
31. Milam, Lorenzo Wilson. Crip Zen, A Manual for Survival (disability rights advocacy)
32. Monette, Paul. Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir
33. Newborn, Barbara. Return to Ithaca: A Woman's Triumph Over the Disabilities of a Severe Stroke
34. Norden, Martin F. The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies
35. Norman, Donald. The Design of Everyday Things (about product design)
36. North, Carol. Welcome, Silence (about schizophrenia)
37. Oe, Kenzaburo. A Healing Family
38. Packer, Ann. The Dive from Clausen’s Pier (about relationships following spinal cord injury)
39. Papazian, Sandy. Growing Up with Joey: A Mother's Story of Her Son's Disability and Her Family's Triumph
40. Pitzele, Sefra Kobrin. We are Not Alone (chronic illness)
41. Rapoport, Judith L. The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing (about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
42. Reeve, Christopher. Still Me
43. Roy, Travis. Eleven Seconds: A Story of Tragedy, Courage, & Triumph (by and about a man with spinal cord injury)
44. Rubin, Theodore. Lisa and David/Jordi/Little Ralphie and the Creature (about mental illness and kids)
45. Russell, Marta. Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract
46. Sacks, Oliver. Seeing Voices: A Journey Into the World of the Deaf
47. Sacks, Oliver. The Island of the Colour-blind and Cycad Island
48. Sacks, Oliver. Awakenings
49. Sacks, Oliver. The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
50. Sarton, May. As We Are Now (elderly experience, nursing home)
51. Seigel, Bernie S. Love, Medicine & Miracles
52. Shapiro, Joseph P. No Pity (Disability rights movement)
53. Simons, Robin. After the Tears: Parents Talk about Raising a Child with a Disability
54. Smith, Jillyn. Senses and Sensibilities
55. Stone, Ganga. Start the Conversation (about dealing with death)
56. Stone, Karen. Awakening to Disability (about MS, dealing with disability)
57. Strohm, Kate. Being the Other One: Growing Up with a Brother or Sister Who has Special Needs
58. Styron, William. Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness (depression)
59. Tavalaro, Julia. and Tayson, Richard. Look Up for Yes (Stroke)
60. Thomas, Abigail. A Three Dog Life: A Memoir (head injury, family interactions)
61. Thomson, Rosemarie Garland. Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature
62. Werner, David. Disabled Village Children: A Guide for Community Health Workers, Rehabilitation Workers and Families (about rehab in developing nations)
63. Werner, David. Where There is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook (about rehab in developing nations)
64. Winchester, Simon. The Professor and the Madman (about mental illness)

The following list contains movies with characters that have disabilities or plotlines that bring into focus the struggles people with disabilities contend with.

Movie List

1. A Patch of Blue
2. Above Suspicion
3. Artificial Intelligence: AI
4. As Good as it Gets
5. At First Sight
6. Blink
7. Blue Skies are a Lie
8. The Bone Collector
9. Born on the 4th of July
10. Children of a Lesser God
11. Coming Home
12. Deconstructing Harry
13. The Elephant Man
14. Fuzz
15. Gaby- A True Story
16. Genghis Blues
17. Go Now
18. Hillary and Jackie
19. Hunchback of Notre Dame
20. Jennifer 8
21. Mask
22. Monkey Shines
23. Murderball
24. My Left Foot
25. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
26. Open Hearts
27. The Other Side of the Mountain
28. The Other Sister
29. Passion Fish
30. Patch Adams
31. Places in the Heart
32. The Prince of Tides
33. Rain Man
34. Rear Window
35. Regarding Henry
36. Scent of a Woman
37. See No Evil, Hear No Evil
38. Silver Bullet
39. Simon Birch
40. Sybil
41. Tell Me You Love Me, Junie Moon
42. The Sea Inside
43. The Three Faces of Eve
44. Tommy
45. Voices
46. The Waterdance
47. West of Zanzibar
48. When a Man Loves a Woman
49. Whose Life is it Anyway?
50. Wit