Explore the powerful personal narratives that define the Canadian disability rights landscape. This curated collection spans critical policy analysis, groundbreaking historical accounts, and compelling memoirs from advocates, athletes, and authors. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or advocate, these works offer indispensable insights. If you want to understand the fight for inclusion and justice in Canada, explore these resources. They offer a deep understanding of disability rights. You’ll learn about advocacy history and the diverse lived experiences of disabled people across the nation. Discover the books that educate, inspire, and drive change.
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About Canada: Disability Rights (2nd Edition)
Deborah Stienstra | 2012 | 125 pages.
An essential Canadian perspective examining disability rights in employment, education, transportation, and healthcare within the Canadian policy framework.
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Disability Injustice: Confronting Criminalization in Canada
Edited by Kelly Fritsch, Emily van der Meulen | 2022 | 300 pages.
A critical examination of how ableism operates within the Canadian criminal justice system from policing to incarceration.
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Making Equality: History of Advocacy and Persons with Disabilities in Canada
Deborah Stienstra | 2018 | 280 pages.
A historical account of advocacy by and for people with disabilities in Canada, tracing the fight for rights and inclusion.
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Head Above Water: Reflections on Illness
Shahd Alshammari | 2023 | 200 pages.
This book is one of the first disability memoirs in English by an Arab woman. It explores life with multiple sclerosis as a Palestinian-Bedouin academic based in Canada.
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The Outside
Ada Hoffmann | 2019 | 416 pages.
A sci-fi novel featuring an autistic protagonist, written by an autistic Canadian author, blending cosmic horror with neurodiversity representation.
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Resurrections: My Will to Survive is Olympian
Danielle Campo McCloud | 2022 | 152 pages
A memoir of decorated Canadian Paralympic swimmer Danielle Campo McLeod. She overcame the crippling effects of Muscular Dystrophy, she achieved international success in the pool and she also made a miracle recovery from a life-threatening medical condition after childbirth.
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No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality
Michael J. Fox | 2021 | 256 pages.
An account of resilience, hope, fear, and mortality is moving. These themes resonate in our lives. This work is by actor and advocate Michael J. Fox.
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Hope by Terry Fox
Barbabra Adhiya | 2024 | 328 pages.
Hope by Terry Fox features excerpts from Terry’s very own Marathon of Hope journal. It shares the untold story of a well known hero. This hero was a goofy, resilient, and courageous 21-year-old. He rallied a nation behind his mission.
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Rick Hansen’s Man In Motion World Tour: 30 Years Later—A Celebration of Courage, Strength, and the Power of Community
Jake MacDonald (Author), Rick Hansen (Foreword) | 2014 | 144 pages.
A beautifully illustrated book celebrates the 30th anniversary of Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion Tour. The tour broke barriers for people with disabilities. It inspired ordinary citizens to realize impossible dreams.
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Disability and Social Change: A Progressive Canadian Approach
Jeanette Robertson & Grant Larson | 2016 | 250 pages.
This edited collection uses a critical theory perspective. It draws on expertise from a range of contemporary policy and practice areas. The book offers a fresh Canadian perspective on disability from a critical lens.
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Untold Stories: A Canadian Disability History Reader
Nancy Hansen, Roy Hanes, Diane Driedger | 2018 | 395 pages.
This long-awaited reader explores the history of Canadian people with disabilities from Confederation to the present day. It features 23 chapters by a diverse group of scholars.
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The Question of Access: Disability, Space, Meaning
Tanya Titchkosky | 2011 | 192 pages
Values such as ‘access’ and ‘inclusion’ are unquestioned in the contemporary educational landscape. Many methods address these issues. Examples include installing signs, ramps, and accessible washrooms. However, these approaches only frame disability as a problem to be ‘fixed.’ The Question of Access investigates what access means socially in contemporary university life. It does so from the perspective of Cultural Disability Studies.
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Mobilizing Metaphor: Art, Culture, and Disability Activism in Canada
Christine Kelly | 2017 | 360 pages.
This book illustrates how radical and unconventional forms of activism are reshaping the tradition of disability mobilization in Canada. Art is included as one of the impactful forms.
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Indigenous Disability Studies
John T. Ward | 2024 | 334 pages.
This book offers a comprehensive understanding of Indigenous scholars’ perspectives on disabilities. It includes their lived experiences and socio-cultural beliefs. This is done through a distinctions-based approach.
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Swimming Up Niagara Falls!: The Battle to Get Disability Rights Added to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
David Lepofsky | 2025 | 434 pages.
The personal memoir is about David Lepofsky, a blind lawyer and disability rights advocate. It details the successful fight from 1980 to 1982. The goal was to get equality for people with disabilities added to the Canadian Charter.
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My Own Blood: A Memoir of Special-Needs Parenting
Ashley Bristowe | 2023 | 424 pages.
A Canadian author and disability advocate shares a raw and resilient memoir. It is about parenting a child with a rare genetic disorder. The memoir navigates the healthcare system. It also reveals the personal toll of advocacy.
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My Journey With Jake: A Memoir of Parenting and Disability
Miriam Edelson | 2000 | 197 pages.
This is a poignant memoir by a devoted mother and disability-rights activist. It offers a hard-hitting look at healthcare for Canada’s children. It also shares her family’s personal story.
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A World without Martha: A Memoir of Sisters, Disability, and Difference
Victoria Freeman | 2019 | 327 pages.
A frank and moving memoir about growing up in 1960s Ontario. Her sister, who had an intellectual disability, was sent to an institution. The book explores the collateral damage of institutionalization. It also addresses the journey to healing.
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Agency and Access: Contemporary Disability Art and Institutional Critique in Toronto (1987-2016)
Amanda Cachia | 2024 | 280 pages.
Critical study examining how disabled artists in Toronto have engaged with and critiqued cultural institutions over three decades. The book analyzes artistic practices that challenge barriers and advocate for access as a creative, curatorial, and political practice.
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Explore More Books on Disability
- Best Children’s Books About Disability | Inclusive Stories for Kids
- Authors with Disabilities: Books on Stories of Lived Experience
- Essential Books on Assistive Technology & Inclusive Design
- Disability Books About Inclusive Employment, Education and More!
- Books on Sex, Love and Disability: The Ultimate Reading List
- Adaptive Sports Memoirs, Fitness Guides & Accessible Yoga
- Accessible Travel Books: Explore the World Inclusively
- Brain Injury and Stroke Books for Healing, Recovery and Understanding
- Essential Books on Mental Health, Neurodiversity and Chronic Illness
- Books on Disability | Canadian Authors and Perspectives
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