Henry’s Demons: living with schizophrenia, a father and son’s story

By Patrick & Henry Cockburn, 2011

Explores the impact of schizophrenia on a family.

Patrick writes on the progress of his son’s illness and examines the disastrous impact of successive government policies. Henry writes on what it is like to be “inside” a mental illness.

A powerful story of suffering and a work of literary power.

Far From the Tree: a dozen kinds of love

By Andrew Solomon, 2012

A landmark book which explores the experiences of families who have had to deal with difference.  The range of difference explored is immense and includes stories of coping with deafness, dwarfism, down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple severe disabilities and children who are transgender.

Incurably Human

By Micheline Mason, 2005

A groundbreaking book.  By delving into her personal journey, Mason explores the deeper meaning of inclusion. She looks at how communities are being fragmented by the forces of global economics, rekindling the past policies that have created a culture of exclusion.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee, 1960

Praised for tackling racial and gender inequality issues, it also explores the prejudice suffered by people with disabilities. As a study of prejudice in all its forms, this novel has never been bettered. It offers us an object lesson in the prejudices suffered by people with disabilities.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

By Ken Kesey, 1962

The central theme of this novel is the importance of not turning a blind eye to injustice. Based on Kesey’s experiences at a war veteran’s mental hospital, it addresses the relationship between sanity and madness, conformity and rebellion.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jean-Dominique Bauby, 1997

In 1995, Bauby suffered a stroke which left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome. Able to communicate only by blinking his eyelid, he dictated this book. The result is a compelling account, full of humour and devoid of self-pity and tells of his determination to live fully, despite his disability.

Under the Eye of the Clock

By Christopher Nolan, 1987

Autobiographical novel which tells the story of the battles faced by the main character but also by many people with disabilities with a touching intensity.

Nolan’s gift as a storyteller shines and there can be no doubt that this is an important work, as fresh and alive as when it was written.

And There Was Light

By Jacques Lusseyran, 1985

This luminous autobiography tells Lusseyran’s story, a blind man who discovered the gift of inner sight after losing his vision in a childhood accident. He then put his gift to use in the struggle against Nazism. His description of what it is like to "see" as a blind man is fascinating. His account of Buchenwald is an anguishing fragment of Holocaust testimony.

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot: the autobiography of a dangerous man

By John Callahan, 1990

This book is at the top of many best reads lists as chosen by people with disabilities themselves. His account of the truth of living with a dysfunctional body 24 hours a day is inspiring and compelling. With keen insights and a raw, disturbing narrative, Callahan tells his own compelling story without self-pity.

Faces in the Water

By Janet Frame, 1961

This is one of the most powerful descriptions of mental illness ever written. It is a biting critique of the mistreatment of the mentally ill.