Pretty for a Crippled Girl

Book Synopsis

Pretty for a Crippled Girl is an uncensored, honest, at times painfully raw, and yet, funny and entertaining memoir by Teri Siri who lives with Cerebral Palsy (CP). The doctors advised her parents to institutionalize Teri as a baby because she would most likely be a "vegetable." Fortunately, the family didn't listen to the experts!

Instead, Teri Siri grew up with her twin, Traci, and her older sister Tami, attended school, and went on to live a full active life as an independent woman of independent means who lives life on her own terms. She achieved financial independence through meaningful, challenging work, and has had a love life filled with good sex, heartbreak, marriage, divorce, and now, a long-term loving partnership that includes long motorcycle trips and sailing. Along the way, Teri has traveled internationally multiple times, skydived, bungy jumped, and successfully tried just about anything she was told she couldn't do because of her physical challenges.

Teri is not afraid to write about the tremendous prejudice she has faced as a person with physical challenges. She describes the constant stupid comments, jokes, questions, and downright hurtful things people have said and done because she has CP. Thus, the title of her memoir. People have actually said this directly to Teri as well as behind her back when she has been in earshot: "She's pretty for a crippled girl."

Teri doesn't tell these stories as a victim or a whiner, but rather as someone who wants the world to understand the constant barrage of demeaning and dismissive comments and behavior that people with physical or emotional differences face on a daily basis with an uniformed public.

One of Teri's favorite words is "fuck." She embraces this word in all its grammatical forms and in all the places and circumstances where Teri sees fuck as the absolutely most appropriate expression of her sentiments. Teri's memoir is an excellent read for anyone facing the challenges of physical or emotional differences in a rigid and judgmental world. This book will be of interest to family members, medical providers, and the world at large who want to understand what it might be like for a person facing physical or emotional disabilities.