Irish author Christy Brown wrote My Left Foot about his journey with cerebral palsy. Getty Images
Irish author Christy Brown wrote My Left Foot about his journey with cerebral palsy. Getty Images
Irish author Christy Brown wrote My Left Foot about his journey with cerebral palsy. Getty Images
Irish author Christy Brown wrote My Left Foot about his journey with cerebral palsy. Getty Images

Five books on disability I wish all people of determination would read


  • English
  • Arabic

There is no doubt that literature for decades has failed people with disabilities, despite the fact there are more than one billion disabled people worldwide, equivalent to 15 per cent of the global population, according to the World Health Organisation. Even today, on International Day of People with Disabilities 2022, we are still finding it difficult to identify genuine portrayals of "disability" in writing.

Books often are the perfect escape when you are struggling with life and growing up, sometimes providing the only space where you can find like-minded characters or authors who speak directly to you. They are, for many, a form of therapy that has existed for centuries, long before most people knew what psychologists were.

I was desperate for that book that could change my perception of what life with a disability entailed, especially during my teenage years, the most difficult period of any child’s life. Yet I didn’t find that refuge until my late teens.

Below are the books that have had an impact on me and my perception of living with a disability, and I would encourage every person of determination to read and explore them.

My Left Foot by Christy Brown

Christy Brown writes simply and lyrically about his life through painting and writing. Photo: Vintage
Christy Brown writes simply and lyrically about his life through painting and writing. Photo: Vintage

Published in 1954, when Irish author Brown was 22, My Left Foot explores his journey with cerebral palsy. Barely able to talk, at the age of five, he picked up a piece of chalk with his left foot, the only part of his body with any flexibility, and thus began to communicate.

Brown has a gift for storytelling, and he writes simply and lyrically about his life through painting and writing — with his left foot, he is able to express his feelings of loneliness, entrapment and suffocation.

This is the first book I ever read on disability by an author who was disabled himself. I had an instant trust in the content of the book, as I knew every tiny detail was authentic and real. I was 16 when I read it. I was trying my hardest to fit in at my mainstream school, struggling with my identity and a deep sense of not belonging.

Reading My Left Foot opened my eyes to the potential within me, as a way to vent my feelings through writing, but most importantly, it made me realise I am not alone, or unique in my struggles with a society that has a dim view of disability.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The protagonist in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath parallels the author's own experiences with what may have been clinical depression or bipolar II disorder. Photo: Faber, Getty Images
The protagonist in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath parallels the author's own experiences with what may have been clinical depression or bipolar II disorder. Photo: Faber, Getty Images

We all know Sylvia Plath wasn’t physically disabled but we are also aware that mental health does fall under the umbrella of disability.

The Bell Jar is the only novel Plath wrote. Originally published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas in January 1963, the novel is semi-autobiographical, with the names of places and people changed.

The book follows the protagonist's descent into mental illness, which parallels Plath's own experiences with what may have been clinical depression or bipolar II disorder. Plath committed suicide a month after it was published.

During my English degree, I came across The Bell Jar and it struck a chord with me, maybe because at the time no one was talking about mental health or even acknowledging it. For me, it paved the way to understanding my own low points, and that those "dark" moments that I experienced were a natural element of life and that there is a way to — if not overcome it — then at least, accept and understand it.

Driving Forwards: A journey of Resilience and Empowerment After Life-Changing Injury by Sophie Morgan

Sophie Morgan writes about her journey of rediscovering herself and building a different life after a car accident left her paralysed. Photo: Sphere; Getty Images
Sophie Morgan writes about her journey of rediscovering herself and building a different life after a car accident left her paralysed. Photo: Sphere; Getty Images

On the precipice of starting her adult life, at 18, Morgan, a rebellious and incorrigible wild child, crashed her car and was instantly paralysed from the chest down. Taken to hospital, everything she had dreamed for her life was gone and her journey to rediscover herself and build a different life began. But being told she would never walk again would come to be the least of her concerns.

Over the next 18 years, as she strived to come to terms with the changes in her body, her relationships were put to the test. She had to learn to cope with the many unexpected and unpredictable setbacks of living with paralysis, overcome her own and other people's perceptions of disability and explore the limits of her abilities, all while searching for love, acceptance, meaning, identity and purpose.

The book taught me a lot about being paraplegic but it also made me aware that ethnicity doesn’t play a role in that urge to find a "cure" for your disability. For so long I truly believed it was an Arab or an ethnic minority urge to "get rid" of disability via finding that illusive "cure" but reading Morgan’s book and her experience of searching for that cure made me realise it’s a human instinct thing rather than about ethnicity.

Head Above Water: Reflections on Illness by Shahd Alshammari

Shahd Alshammari asks the big questions about life, loss and the place of the other in her book. Photo: Neem Tree Press; Shahd Alshammari
Shahd Alshammari asks the big questions about life, loss and the place of the other in her book. Photo: Neem Tree Press; Shahd Alshammari

Head Above Water takes us into a space of intimate conversations on illness and society's stigmatisation of disabled bodies. We are invited to ask the big questions about life, loss, and the place of the other.

The narrative builds a bridge that reminds us of our common humanity and weaves the threads that tie us all together. I've been a big fan of Alshammari, ever since I read her first book Notes on the Flesh — partly because we are both disabled Arab women and she eloquently writes about Arab society’s attitude and perception of disability, especially towards disabled women.

Being a woman in an Arab society can be hard, but it is even harder when you are disabled and this is something I have experienced myself. Head Above Water was the confirmation I needed to know that I am right, that over the years, it was not my imagination or that I misunderstood people.

You are the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread by Samantha Renke

Samantha Renke's book touches on the urge to conform to mainstream society and the impact of such pressure on mental health. Photo: Penguin UK; Getty Images
Samantha Renke's book touches on the urge to conform to mainstream society and the impact of such pressure on mental health. Photo: Penguin UK; Getty Images

In this memoir Renke shares the lessons she has learnt and why one should embrace their uniqueness and what makes them fabulous.

“We spend a lot of time living by others' expectations and it's only when you stop, that you start saying yes to life. Irrespective of who you are and the obstacles you might face, you can do whatever you want. Be free and unapologetically you," Renke writes.

I read her book earlier this year and it struck me how, even when our disabilities and backgrounds differ, there are so many shared experiences: the disabling attitude of society, the urge to conform and fit into that same society and the impact of such pressure on our mental health.

I wish I had read You are the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread when I was a teenager, to understand that I am perfect as I am and the right thing to do is not succumb to society’s pressures, but to embrace your disability and identity, and have the belief that you are the best version of yourself.

Raya Al Jadir is a fellow at the Carter Centre for Mental Health Journalism and co-founder of online disability lifestyle magazine Disability Horizons

Scroll through images of Sharjah's exhibition at Guadalajara International Book Fair below

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

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Profile of Tarabut Gateway

Founder: Abdulla Almoayed

Based: UAE

Founded: 2017

Number of employees: 35

Sector: FinTech

Raised: $13 million

Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.

Takreem Awards winners 2021

Corporate Leadership: Carl Bistany (Lebanon)

Cultural Excellence: Hoor Al Qasimi (UAE)

Environmental Development and Sustainability: Bkerzay (Lebanon)

Environmental Development and Sustainability: Raya Ani (Iraq)

Humanitarian and Civic Services: Women’s Programs Association (Lebanon)

Humanitarian and Civic Services: Osamah Al Thini (Libya)

Excellence in Education: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) (Qatar)

Outstanding Arab Woman: Balghis Badri (Sudan)

Scientific and Technological Achievement: Mohamed Slim Alouini (KSA)

Young Entrepreneur: Omar Itani (Lebanon)

Lifetime Achievement: Suad Al Amiry (Palestine)

Specs

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Range: Up to 610km

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Torque: 985Nm

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

FIXTURES

All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT)

Tuesday
Mairobr v Liverpool
Spartak Moscow v Sevilla
Feyenoord v Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City v Napoli
Monaco v Besiktas
RB Leipzig v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur

Wednesday
Benfica v Manchester United
CSKA Moscow v Basel
Bayern Munich v Celtic
Anderlecht v Paris Saint-Germain
Qarabag v Atletico Madrid
Chelsea v Roma
Barcelona v Olympiakos
Juventus v Sporting Lisbon

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a  month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

The biog

Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi

Age: 23

How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them

Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need

Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman

Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs 

Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Pakistan T20 series squad

Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammed Amir (subject to fitness clearance), Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin

Rashid & Rajab

Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib

Stars: Shadi Alfons,  Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab 

Two stars out of five 

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
WandaVision

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany

Directed by: Matt Shakman

Rating: Four stars

Updated: April 23, 2025, 9:04 AM`