Back in March, Cathy Reay released her first book, called How To Be Disabled And Proud (Or At Least Kinda Sorta OK With It). I am delighted to have been one of the disabled people interviewed for the book, sharing my experiences, and showing disabled kids that it’s OK to be themselves.

The book focuses on growing up with disabilities, and Cathy speaks from her experience of Achondroplasia. She tells readers that disability is not a monolith, and includes other perspectives from people with different lived experiences, and different disabilities. I participated to share the intersection between queerness and disability, in a kid friendly way. The take home message being:

Once you learn to accept those bits of your identity, you’ll find others start to accept you for who you are too.

How To Be Disabled And Proud (Or At Least Kinda Sorta OK With It) is the book I needed when I was growing up. Cathy does an incredible job of explaining concepts of disability to the young audience. For example, she described the differences between the medical model and the social model of disability in a way that is easy to understand. She doesn’t tell anyone how to think or feel, instead, she gives them the tools that lots of us lacked, in order to make their own minds up about how they feel.

You can get your copy from Waterstones or wherever you buy your books from!

Happy reading!