More the Same than Different: What I Wish People Knew About Respecting and Including People with Disabilities

By Lorraine Cannistra

Book Overview

How to support people with disabilities even if you don't know what to do.

Have you ever seen a wheelchair user who you thought might need some help, but you weren't sure what to do? Have you ever wanted to start a conversation with someone who has a speech impediment but were afraid you might be awkward and say something offensive? Written with candid humor, profound insight and drawing from her personal experiences, this book is Lorraine's answer to that dilemma.

More the Same than Different: What I Wish People Knew About Respecting and Including People with Disabilities is a handbook for anyone who may not have much experience interacting with people with disabilities and wants to feel more comfortable. Full of skills and strategies to implement, as well as stories from Lorraine's personal experience, this book includes various scenarios and explains, from Lorraine's perspective, what people did right and what could have happened differently.
Lorraine Cannistra is a speaker, a fourteen-time contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and Ms. Wheelchair Kansas 2007. She has been affected by cerebral palsy since birth. Additionally, she received the diagnosis of a mental illness in her early 20s. She also has a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling and a brother with a spinal cord injury. Living with her disabilities, she frequently encounters people who want to help but simply don't know what to do.
Learn about how to;Help people with disabilities feel like they belongUse a 3-step process to assist people with disabilities without risking offending themSupport someone dealing with mental health issuesAppropriately be around service dogsMaintain the dignity of people with disabilities in a hospital settingRecognize the difference between inspiration and inspiration pornUse empowering language when communicating with people with disabilities
This book exemplifies in many ways that we are all more the same than different.

"Lorraine has been giving our readers an inside view of her life as a wheelchair user for years as a writer for Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her book is a helpful collection of observations and tips for those of us who aren't quite sure what to do when we encounter people with disabilities in our daily lives."

Amy Newmark, editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1987621670
• ISBN13: 9781987621679
• Release Date: April 2018
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 126 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"