Abandoned Asylums of New England

A Photographic Journey by John Gray Historical Insight by the Museum of disABILITY History

Abandoned Asylums of New England offers the work of photographer John Gray, who has captured the final throes of the once majestic monuments of medical treatment. This photographic journey into the world of urban exploration documents the state of some of New England’s storied temples of control, treatment, and rehabilitation of individuals with disabling conditions. The Museum of disABILITY History provides a historical context for these asylums that heightens the degree of entropy into which these feats of architectural grandeur have fallen. From the gigantic Kirkbride campuses to the airy tuberculosis hospitals, Gray’s photography reveals through its compositions the poignant echoes of the lives lived, and sometimes lost, at these disappearing asylums. For international orders, please send an e-mail to peopleinkpress@people-inc.org and you will receive further instructions to purchase your books. Thank you.

$64.95

The Gold Cure Institutes of Niagara Falls, NY 1890s

The Gold Cure facilities are credited with developing an enlightened philosophy toward addiction that viewed it as a disease rather than a moral failing. They were a forerunner to Alcoholics Anonymous, as they eventually included support groups during and after treatment. Up to three times a day, patients were injected with the secret gold cure, afterward experiencing fear, painful muscle spasms, vomiting, choking, burning in the mouth, dizziness, loss of balance, and confusion. The extremely negative experience may have caused the patients to reconsider their bad habits. Proponents of these methods claimed to cure liquor, opium, morphine, other drug addictions, the tobacco habit, and nerve exhaustion.

An Introduction to the British Invalid Carriage 1850 – 1978

This book expertly covers over 128 years of British transportation for the disabled. Researched and written by invalid car enthusiast Stuart Cyphus, it contains rare photos and details of these purposely built, early adaptive devices, from the hand-propelled tricycles of the 1870s to the final withdrawal of all vehicles from service in 2004. ($12.99)

On The Edge Of Town: Almshouses of Western New York

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cities and towns were bustling places in Western New York. Those who could not afford to care for themselves were sent to a building at the edge of town. Whether they were called almshouses, the poorhouses, or county homes, these facilities have a mixed legacy that is both inspiring and controversial. This book tells the story of the almshouses of Western New York. ($9.95)

When There Were Poorhouses:
Early Care In Rural New York 1808-1950

To prevent them from slipping into the void of abandoned history, this book describes the institutions-some highly visible and others lesser known in and near Niagara County-that provided some of the earliest organized care for the blind, deaf, sick, disabled, insane, and destitute.($24.99)

An Introduction to Invalid Carriages
This educational book introduces the reader to 23 different models of the Invalid Carriages manufactured in different years. With pictures included from each carriage dating all the way back to early 1900’s, it is astonishing to see the ever changing technology used to create these vehicles. Price: $7.95

Vintage Asylums of WNY Notecards

Looking for a unique card to send to your family and friends? The Asylum notecard package contains images of J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum, Sisters of Charity and St. Mary’s School for the Deaf. There are 8 cards in each package (2 of each image). ($7.95)

Disabled Veterans in History by David A Gerber

Signed by the Author! Disabled Veterans in History explores the long-neglected history of those who have sustained lasting injuries or chronic illnesses while serving in uniform. The contributors to this volume cover an impressive range of countries in Europe and North America as well as a wide sweep of chronology from the Ancient World to the present. The essays address the emergence of “veteran” as a political category with unique privileges and entitlements and of disabled veterans as a special project—and indeed one of the original projects—of the modern welfare state. The introductory essay, “Finding Disabled Veterans in History,” offers perhaps the first attempt at synthesizing knowledge about disabled veterans in Western societies. The other essays examine the representation of disabled veterans from Sophocles’ Philoctetes to American feature films; the relations of disabled veterans to the state and society in such public policy issues as pensions, medical care, physical rehabilitation, and job retraining; and the disabled veteran’s agency and experience in reentering the peacetime world. Other topics include the place of disabled veterans in societies defeated in war; the fate of disabled veterans in societies experiencing frequent changes of political regimes; the emergence of pensions and vocational rehabilitation for disabled veterans; and the abiding problem of alcohol abuse among disabled veterans. The contributors come from a variety of disciplines, including history, physical rehabilitation, Slavic studies, sociology, communication and media, and museum studies. The book will be of interest especially to researchers in the fields of war and society, the welfare state, and disability studies, as well as those in the medical, rehabilitation, and counseling fields. David A. Gerber is Professor of History, State University at Buffalo. He is the author or editor of five previous books. ($74.95)

Shneider Family Book Award

About the Schneider Family Book Award

The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

Defining Deviance: Sex, Science, and Delinquent Girls, 1890-1960

Written by Dr. Michael Rembis

Defining Deviance analyzes how reformers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries perceived delinquent girls and their often troubled lives. Drawing on exclusive access to thousands of case files and other documents at the State Training School in Geneva, Illinois, Michael A. Rembis uses Illinois as a case study to show how implementation of involuntary commitment laws in the United States reflected eugenic thinking about juvenile delinquency. Much more than an institutional history, Defining Deviance examines the cases of vulnerable young women to reveal the centrality of sex, class, gender, and disability in the formation of scientific and social reform. Rembis recounts the contestations between largely working-class teenage girls and the mostly female reformers and professionals who attempted to diagnose and treat them based on changing ideas of eugenics, gender, and impairment. ($50.00)

A Picture Book of Helen Keller
A brief biography of the woman who overcame her handicaps of being both blind and deaf. The author does a brilliant job of illustrating Keller's frustration and the way in which she learned how to surpass these tremendous challenges. Price: $7.95

Views From Our Shoes

45 siblings share their experiences as the brother or sister of someone with a disability. The children whose essays are featured here range from four to eighteen and are the siblings of youngsters with a variety of special needs, including autism, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, ADD, hydrocephalus, visual and hearing impairments, Down and Tourette syndromes. ($15.95)

• van Gogh and the Sunflowers
  iYoung Camille befriends a strange visitor to his small town, and one day he brings this man a gift of bright, beautiful sunflowers. The man is the artist Vincent van Gogh, and the sunflowers quickly become the subject of a magnificent painting. This is a title in Barron's Anholt's Artists Books for Children series, in which author and illustrator Laurence Anholt recalls memorable and sometimes amusing moments when the lives of the artists were touched by children. Price: $8.99

Shelly the Hyperactive Turtle

Shelley the turtle has a very hard time sitting still, even for short periods of time. During a visit to the doctor, Shelley learns that he is hyperactive, and that he can take medicine every day to control his wiggly feeling. With help from his doctor and love from his family, Shelley feels much better about himself.($14.95)

Ivan the Invacar Helps Big Dog

Written by Jim Boles, Illustrated by Bob Cunningham

There are many ways to look at disabilities. Ivan the INVACAR is a car that transports his driver Derry, who is in a wheelchair, to work. So, Ivan is an adaptive device to help people with disabilities. However, Ivan is also a reluctant superhero who helps those in need: In this first of many adventures, Ivan gains his superpowers and rescues his friend, Big Dog. $14.95

Ivan the Invacar Helps Little Cat

Written by Jim Boles, Illustrated by Bob Cunningham

There are many ways to look at disabilities. Ivan the INVACAR is a car that transports his driver Derry, who is in a wheelchair. So, Ivan is an adaptive device to help people with disabilities. However, Ivan is also a reluctant superhero who helps those in need: In this second of many adventures, Ivan, using his superpowers and along with his friend, Big Dog, rescue Little Cat from high in a tree.$14.95

Young Children's Book 2011 Winner : The Pirate of Kindergarten

written by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Lynne Avril and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Ginny’s eyes play tricks and, in her world, there are two of everything. Reading, math, and kindergarten activities are a challenge. Wearing an eye patch turns her into the pirate of kindergarten, and glasses help bring her world into focus. Whimsical mixed media illustrations cleverly convey Ginny’s experiences first hand. ($16.99)

My First Biography: Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. She vowed she would fight to free all slaves. Her perseverance sparked Americans to stand up for equality. With simple, lyrical text and bold, kid-friendly illustrations, this book introduces Harriet Tubman to the youngest readers and inspires them to fight for freedom. Price: $3.99

Without a Word
Without a Word takes the reader into the lives of a celebrity couple, Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, and his wife, Jill, to reveal the Kelly family's private struggle and how seven years with their severely disabled, terminally ill son, Hunter, unfolded in a redemptive and transforming manner. The light of Hunter's love through his brief and silent life shone into the shadowed corners of Jill and Jim's lives. Lessons gleaned from Hunter's life and death, and Jim and Jill's struggle to save their marriage during tumultuous times, make this a compelling and inspiring read. Price: $23.99

Born on a Blue Day.

This unique first-person account offers a window into the mind of a high-functioning, 27-year-old British autistic savant with Asperger's syndrome. Tammet's ability to think abstractly, deviate from routine, and empathize, interact and communicate with others is impaired, yet he's capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation. As one of only about 50 people living today with synesthesia and autism, Tammet's condition is intriguing to researchers; his ability to express himself clearly and with a surprisingly engaging tone (given his symptoms) makes for an account that will intrigue others as well.
(256 pages, $15.00)

Middle School 2010 Winner : Anything but Typical

written by Nora Raleigh Baskin; published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

While Jason Blake who has autism, considers himself to be anything but typical, his life is that of a conventional 12-year-old boy. He wants a girlfriend, to fit in and to be recognized for his creative writing. ($6.99)

Middle School 2011 Winner : After Ever After
written by Jordan Sonnenblick and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Tells the story of Jeffrey who is free of cancer, but not the fallout from the treatment. Tad, his cancer survivor buddy and he swap wisecracks as they cope with their “chemo-brain,” other cancer effects and typical 8th grade angst. ($7.99)

Teen Book 2011 Winner : Five Flavors of Dumb
written by Antony John and published by Dial Books, imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Dumb is not the name Piper, a high school senior who is Deaf, would have chosen for a heavy metal band, yet she volunteers to manage this disparate group of would-be musicians. In her attempt to make Dumb profitable, Piper learns a few things about music and business, striking a chord within herself. ($16.99)

Teen Book 2010 Winner : Marcelo in the Real World

written by Francisco X. Stork; published by Arthur A. Levine Books, and Imprint of Scholastic, Inc.

“Marcelo in the Real World” tells the story of Marcelo Sandoval who has Asperger Syndrome. Marcelo is pushed beyond his comfort zone when he is forced to take a job in his father’s law firm. Over the course of a tumultuous summer, Marcelo learns what it is to be a friend, to stand up for what he believes in and that he can create a place for himself in the real world. ($8.99)

Elephant In The Playroom

Four years ago, Denise Brodey’s young son was diagnosed with a combination of special needs. As she struggled to make sense of her new, chaotic world, what she found comforted her most was talking with other parents of kids with special needs, learning how they coped with the emotional, medical, and social challenges they faced. ($14.00)

Chicken Soup For The Soul: Children With Special Needs

Raising a child with special needs is a lifelong commitment that is as unique as each person who embarks on it. Written by a variety of authors who share in this distinctive relationship, this book offers a glimpse into the lives of others who are on a similar path. ($14.95)

BLOOM: Finding the Beauty in the Unexpected

With lyrical prose and gorgeous full-color photography, this book takes readers on a wondrous journey through Nella's first year of life—a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes. It is a story about embracing life and really living it, of being fearless and accepting difference, of going beyond constricting definitions of beauty, and of the awesome power of perspective. ($24.99)

Profoundly Normal DVD

Kirstie Alley and Delroy Lindo star in this inspiring tale based on the true story of two mentally challenged childhood friends who, despite their limitations, find love and family life in the "normal" world. After their Forest Haven institution is closed, Donna Lee Shelby (Alley) and Ricardo Thornton (Lindo) are sent to separate facilities. But their dreams of marriage and family fuel their determination to find each other again. ($16.95)

Murderball DVD

From the gyms of Middle America to the Olympic arena in Athens, Greece, "MURDERBALL" tells the story of a group of world-class athletes unlike any every shown on screen. In addition to smashing chairs, it will smash every stereotype you ever had about the disabled, it is a film about family , revenge, honor, sex and the triumph of love over loss. ($14.95)