What Matters: Reflections on Disability, Community and Love
This is the story of Micah, who has an intellectual disability, his community, and his ground-breaking journey to full inclusion in K-12 schools, college, work and life. It is told by Micah, as well as his parents, his sister, friends and colleagues in essays, poems and interviews. Despite such labels as "low I.Q.", "unemployable" and "not-a-student," the book powerfully chronicles how Micah was fully included since elementary school, and later, how he challenged discrimination in the federal court, and won, how he moved 300 miles from his home to became a teaching assistant at Syracuse University, and most recently, how he survived heart surgery. It offers practical strategies to ensure authentic lifelong inclusion, create circles of support, help parents shift from protectors to guides. Micah and his community are mentors on how to honor interdependency, redefine disability, cultivate relationships, and live a meaningful life. A book of hope and practical guidance for families, self-advocates, professionals and all the rest of us---because we all need to be included.
Fialka, J. (2016). What Matters: Reflections on Disability, Community and Love. Toronto, Ontario: Inclusion Press.