Dear Blind Lady - by Elsa Sjunneson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Dear Prudence" meets Reddit's Am I the Assh*le? but for the disability community: finally, all the questions you've always wanted to ask about living a disabled life, but shouldn't have (or have asked, but we wish you hadn't).

The go-to unfiltered resource for navigating questions disabled and non-disabled people have about relationships, social spaces, life milestones, and all the awkward, funny, terrible, heartwarming moments in between.

Deafblind author and disability rights activist Elsa Sjunneson answers questions nondisabled people are afraid to ask, and disabled people are tired of answering, perfect for fans of the advice column format and all its messy truth telling.

Beyond just the Q&A, you'll find:

• sample dating app profiles
• scripts and sample language you can steal
• 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.

Discover how to navigate:

• Bad dates
• Worse dates
• Weddings
• Parenthood
• Microaggressions
• WTF moments

Plus the practical:

• Whether/how to offer assistance to a blind person (and how to turn it down politely)
• How to throw a baby shower for a disabled mom-to-be
• How to handle when a comedian makes fun of your disability on stage

With any luck, one day a book like this does not need to exist.

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.