Beyond Inclusion - by Carrie Cherney Hahn (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

If the question is "How do you raise anti-ableist kids?" the answer is "Become anti-ableist and then model it through intention and action for your children."

Parents want to be inclusive of their disabled and neurodivergent neighbors and want to pass these values along to their children. What holds them back is not having the education or experience on how to appropriately do this. Beyond Inclusion breaks down fifteen common forms of ableism, with explanations, examples, and first-person accounts. Doing better starts with knowledge.

Author Carrie Cherney Hahn offers activities and perspectives that help parents understand the ableism that exists within them and supports their ability to process and dismantle it so that they can model anti-ableist practices for their kids. Each chapter offers children's resources that parents can use to nurture informed and anti-ableist ideals in their kids.

Inclusion is actually the bare minimum. Our work is to show our children how to become more understanding, more accepting, and more appreciative of disabled and neurodivergent people.

Review Quotes

"Carrie Cherney Hahn's Beyond Inclusion is empowering and enlightening. Her ability to dissect complex issues of ableism with clarity and compassion captivated me. Through practical strategies, relatable examples, and children's literature recommendations, Hahn empowers readers to dismantle internalized ableism and foster anti-ableist ideals in themselves and their children--a must-read for anyone committed to creating a more inclusive and empathetic society." --Dr. Traci Baxley, author of Social Justice Parenting


"Beyond Inclusion is the book I wish I had when I was growing up. It would have shown me that my disability wasn't something to be feared or a deficit. In a world where disabled people still face so much stigma, discrimination, and inequality, this is a much-needed resource for families and schools. What a future we will have if every young person were taught how to be anti-ableist. This book is the way forward for an inclusive world! A must read for every family raising young people." --Eliza Hull, co-author of Come Over to My House' and editor of We've Got This: Essays by Disabled Parents

About the Author

Carrie Cherney Hahn, MA, CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and mother. She has served all ages of children in a variety of settings. Hahn facilitated an autism support group for parents, created a parent education newsletter for families at KidsCare Home Health, and has presented on topics of using visual supports to enhance communication, supporting caregivers of disabled children, and ableism in service provision at professional conferences, universities, and for family advocacy groups. She now has her own practice serving clients through direct therapy and support and uses her business page to share information about disability and neurodivergence. Her writing has appeared on iNFORM and Dystinct magazine. She lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.