Dancing In A Disabled World | Maureen McCue | ISBN 9781948509572 | $24.95 | 360 pages | Trade Paper
A candid, behind the curtains consideration of disability and being human. Often invisible or overlooked, a substantial and essential part of the human family anywhere carries some disability label. Dr. Maureen McCue questions the roles, rules, causes, and consequences of disability. Focus on the special talents and lifelong trials of a dependent adult son with autism mirrors and highlights the uneven abilities and disabilities of caring professionals, families, friends, and strangers. A closer look at Being Human Differently.
“I appreciated McCue’s attention to the lived realities of a child who later becomes the adult with developmental and cognitive disabilities.”—Kris Nagel, Psychologist, Retired
Maureen McCue’s stunningly candid and immersive memoir raises and addresses crucial questions for the individual and for social policy of how to best support and care for all described here. As we all have special needs.”—Mary Simmons, Editor, Story Sleuth, and Aggregator
Maureen McCue is enjoying retirement—even though work never ends. All health and well-being remain dependent on the health of shared natural, social, and political environments. She continues to seek ways to support Michael and to be certain his life is defined by dignity, reward, and friendship. And, committed to the fight for a livable future, She strives to respect and support the native lifeforms sharing the wetland, wood, and prairie remnants on the 14 acres she has called home for over 35 years. Her first book is Birds in the Morning, Frogs at Night. Sharing Life Along the Road
Holy Cow: the book was a Runner Up in the National Eric Hoffer Book Award in the health category. Here’s what the judges said:
Health: First Runner-Up: Dancing In A Disabled World, Maureen McCue, Ice Cube Press – “It has taken him many years to realize he is no longer a child.” The intricate relationship between a dependent adult with autism and his caretakers, as well as the larger world, is meticulously detailed in this superbly written family memoir. The main character—with his mind “an interesting jumble of unrelated and unordered concepts”—and his adoptive mother—a family physician—are emotionally entwined. Parenting does not come equipped with instructions, especially when a child had a significant disability. Yet somehow, we witness the transformation of an oppositional defiant toddler into a social adult human being, an individual successfully navigating a dysfunctional world. The story of a mother’s unconditional love permeates every page.