Dear Blind Lady - by Elsa Sjunneson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An unfiltered disability advice book answering the awkward, honest, and often complicated questions disabled and nondisabled people encounter in everyday life.

In Dear Blind Lady, Deafblind author and disability rights activist Elsa Sjunneson delivers candid, funny, and practical guidance in an advice-column format. Written for disabled readers, allies, friends, family members, coworkers, and anyone who wants to build a more accessible and respectful world, this book tackles the questions nondisabled people may be afraid to ask--and disabled people are tired of answering.

Inside, you'll find:

• Straightforward answers about disability, relationships, social situations, and major life milestones
  
• Practical scripts and sample language for handling uncomfortable or unfamiliar conversations
  
• Real-world guidance on offering assistance, declining help politely, and responding to ableism
  
• Advice for complicated moments, from bad dates and weddings to parenting and public encounters
  
• Creative extras, including sample dating profiles and ableist bingo cards you'll never want to win
  

Sitting at the cross section of Alice Wong's Disability Visibility and Emily Ladau's Demystifying Disability, this is your one-size-fits-all resource for navigating a world steeped in ableism with greater confidence, empathy, and humor.

Review Quotes

"Empathetic, razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud funny, and very necessary. Read this now."
--Marieke Nijkamp, New York Times bestselling author and editor of Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens

"Full of personal stories and professional observations about everything from dating to unsolicited prayers, Dear Blind Lady blows up stereotypes and offers solutions for people who are trying to figure out where disabled people belong in the world. The answer, by the way, is that they belong everywhere."
--Annalee Newitz, bestselling author of Stories Are Weapons

"It's vanishingly rare that a book that should be essential reading for everybody is so engaging and funny while being a treasure-trove of exceptional information. Get it and you'll immediately tell everyone you know that they need it, too--just wait."
--Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World

"As a blind person I've been asked more than once, 'What's wrong with you?' This excellent book asks, with humor, nuance, and scruples, 'What's wrong with everyone else?'"
--Stephen Kuusisto, author of Planet of the Blind

About the Author

Elsa Sjunneson is an award-winning Deafblind author, editor and journalist. Her debut nonfiction book, Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism won the Washington State Book Award. Sjunneson has also won three Hugo Awards for writing and editing, an Aurora Award and a British Fantasy Award. She has been nominated for Hugo Awards nine times during her twelve-year writing career. Elsa has worked with Radiolab on the episode "The Helen Keller Exorcism." PBS American Masters also launched a seven-minute documentary about Sjunneson. She has spent more than twenty years to fighting ableism everywhere from public schools to Congressional offices. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, three children, and a Welsh Corgi.