How do you believe you can change the world when you can’t even move?
When polio struck 20-year-old Richard Llewellyn in 1957, he had a year in an iron lung to figure out how to live. In ‘Handicapped,’ writer Becky Llewellyn, Richard’s wife and carer, reveals the inside story of her 32 years with Richard in a time before support services and basic human rights for people with disability.
Richard invented a portable lifting machine so he didn’t get stuck in the Home for Incurables. It was the first of many risks he took, going on to have two marriages, four children and many leadership roles. Richard insisted that people living with severe disability be heard and became a major leader for change across Australia, inspiring many others to join the fight.
‘Handicapped’ brings out the rich, but unknown history of Australian disability activists starting in the 1970s and 80s who fought to create a more open society and began to shrug off the ‘handicapped’ label that had kept them down.
This is a personal story of the costs and strains for one family, their day-to-day living with a major impairment and their passion to break down the barriers holding back people with disabilities. Becky’s story is a revealing insider’s look at this era of progress when Australians with disabilities began to raise their voices for change.
Details
- Publication Date
- May 16, 2024
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9781445797700
- Category
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Copyright
- All Rights Reserved - Standard Copyright License
- Contributors
- By (author): Becky Llewellyn
Specifications
- Format
- EPUB
Keywords
Disability activismdisability rightsdisability historypolioUN International Year of the DisabledIYDP 1981carerswomen composersdisabilitymemoirbiographyinclusionadvocacyovercoming challengesinspiring storiesresiliencecourageleaderssocial justicesocial activistshuman rightssocial changediscriminationChildren of people with disabilities