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
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
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
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
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
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
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Jetour T1 specs
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The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
RESULTS
West Asia Premiership
Thursday
Jebel Ali Dragons 13-34 Dubai Exiles
Friday
Dubai Knights Eagles 16-27 Dubai Tigers
Movie: Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3
Producer: JAR Films
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangda Singh, Kabir Bedi
Rating: 3 star
Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3
Danilo (16'), Bernardo Silva (34'), Fernandinho (72')
Brighton & Hove Albion 1
Ulloa (20')
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Company%20profile
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
