To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities [Paperback]

Katherine Schneider (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1598581317 | ISBN-13: 978-1598581317 | Publication Date: March 2, 2006

When is the last time you've read an honest, funny book about living with disabilities? To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities is just such a book. Fifty-four million Americans have chronic illnesses or disabilities requiring them to make accommodations in the ways they live their lives. You may have students, customers, and clients with disabilities and want to interact with them knowledgeably and sensitively. Or perhaps you are adjusting to a new illness or disability and have accepted that it's a whole new world you are entering. You'll learn from a woman blind from birth about activities of daily life, like talking to children about disabilities, traveling, going to church, and working. Kathie's life experiences highlight the warmth and humor in everyone's struggles to be humane with each other, whether we are temporarily able-bodied or disabled. Disabilities can be more than adjusted to; they can be mined for pearls and Kathie shares some of hers with you. Kathie is a guide, familiar with the territory, who will walk beside you as you negotiate your new world. You won't learn how to overcome your disability, but you will laugh in recognition and hope as you read To the Left of Inspiration. Come along with Kathie and her Seeing EyeT dog on their adventures; your life will be enriched. Katherine Schneider has been blind since her premature birth in 1949 and has had fibromyalgia for over ten years. She was the first blind student to graduate from the Kalamazoo, Michigan public school system in 1967 and was a valedictorian as well as a National Merit scholar. Three years later she graduated with honors from Michigan State University with a BS in psychology. After receiving her PhD in clinical psychology from Purdue University, she has worked at four universities: three of them public and one private. She has taught psychology courses from freshman psychology to the graduate level and has counseled, supervised, and administered university counseling services. Kathie has presented papers at national professional meetings and authored articles and book chapters on such topics as counseling people with disabilities and religion and visual impairment. She has won awards for her professional work from the Courage Center, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and the University of Wisconsin System Regents, among others. Katherine has recently retired and is enjoying serving on seven state and local boards (at least she's never bored), reading novels, and trying to live the Red Hat® philosophy. She is proud to have been a Seeing EyeT dog user for the past thirty years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing, LLC (March 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598581317
• ISBN-13: 978-1598581317
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fascinating book, March 17, 2006

By 

Kenneth S. Pope - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities (Paperback)

Respected psychologist Katherine Schneider, Senior Psychologist Emerita of the University of Wisconsin Counseling Service, who happens to be blind, has quite a story to tell. Make that stories. She offers us her arm and leads us behind the scenes through one revealing episode after another. This book should be in the curriculum of every university that educates psychotherapists and in the library of everyone interested in the human experience. Don't cheat yourself of the fascinating experience of reading this book.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, January 15, 2007

By 

Rosellen Bohlen (Champaign, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities (Paperback)

In the late 1980's I regularly played Scrabble with the author and two other friends. We used Kathie's Braille imprinted Scrabble tiles and protected our snacks from her guide dog, Sugar's, sneak attacks. Most importantly, Kathie showed us, her sighted friends, what it was like to be blind and what, if any, help she needed.

This book, which was in its embryonic stages then, is the distillation of Kathie's experiences of living with blindness. Her wonderful sense of humor and knack for seeing (yes, seeing) the underlying reality of others' reactions to disabilities is enlightening for all of us. This book is a must read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Thumbs UP!, November 25, 2011

By 

Pattymac - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To the Left of Inspiration: Adventures in Living with Disabilities (Paperback)

I would recommend this book to everyone whether they are living with a disability or not. In our lifetime, we will meet someone who lives with a disability, our parents will grow older and their abilities will decline or we may have to deal with a temporary disability as I did when I fell and broke my hip. I am also better able to understand and help my father who is slowly losing his sight to macular degeneration.

Insightful and light-hearted as well as educational -- I learned so much from reading Dr. Schneider's book. Her words are heart warming and it was a pleasure to read about all she has accomplished in her life and how she managed to do it so well. A very inspiring book written by a very inspiring lady.