Just Human : The Quest for Disability Wisdom, Respect, and Inclusion

Born without sight, Dr. Arielle Silverman has never missed the visual. Being blind never bothered her much but, as she grew, she discovered others saw her blindness very differently. Many people saw her as either helpless or inspirational, but rarely did they see her as just human, with the same capacities and desires as her peers.

Arielle has spent a lifetime exploring ways to foster respect and inclusion, not only for blind people like her, but for all of us whose bodies or minds differ from the norm.

In Just Human, she reflects on her formative years and presents unique anecdotes from her life that carry teachable moments for all of us. She recalls the feel of her mother’s embrace, the smell of her grandparents’ brisket, the inner sensations of a preteen crush, the music on her wedding day, and scholarly lessons from her dissertation research. Her words paint pictures from her mind’s eye: a vision of a world where we can radically accept ourselves and our fellow humans, while at the same time work to change systems of inequality. As she writes of the past and the present, Arielle looks toward the future, considering how we can build a more inclusive world for those who come after us.

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“Just Human will inspire you… Not in the feel-good way some stories do, staying at the surface level of the lives of people with disabilities. Instead, Arielle’s memoir immerses you into the real-life reflections of a blind woman, from birth to adulthood. At times heartbreaking and at other times light-hearted, her narrative cloth methodically weaves in threads of disability history, theory, and wisdom. This vast compilation of experience, research, and applicable strategies has the potential to heal age-old misconceptions and stereotypes that perpetuate barriers to inclusion and equality. Arielle has done much of the work for us. Now we must be willing to dive below the surface to listen, human to human.”

—Sarah Mason, mother of a blind daughter, and educator of blind children and youth