COMEBACK: Six Remarkable People Who Triumphed Over Disability

The author of Handicapping America (1978) and Rehabilitating America (1980)--himself deaf--continues his writings on behalf of the disabled with biographies, now, of six disabled achievers, three men and three women. First and foremost is Eunice Fiorito, a blind woman who led the Washington sit-ins that resulted in enforcement of civil-rights laws for the disabled, then accepted a post advising on rehabilitation services in Washington. Independence, an unwillingness to take her disability at face value, a desire to help other disabled, and parents who believed in her capabilities are vital factors in her story, as they are in most of the others'. Susan Daniels survived a body ravaged by polio, a congenital hip disorder, a lonely adolescence filled with constant physical therapy, and prejudice that kept her out of medical school, to become a top-notch researcher and teacher in the field of sex for the disabled. Robert Smithdas weathered the ""silent fog"" of deaf-blindness that also enveloped Helen Keller to become a scholar, poet, husband, and home-owner. Though each tale is inherently affecting, the presentation is low-key and dignified, perhaps occasionally at the expense of a full emotional portrait. But overall the book will encourage disabled readers not to give up their rights or their hopes--and it may also inspire the able-bodied to support them.