This two-part interview was conducted by Courtney Williams from Disability Life. Part One is below. PART ONE CW— I’M HERE WITH MIKE KELLY, AUTHOR OF SPECIAL STORIES. FIRST OFF, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BOOK. I READ IT AND ENJOYED IT. YOU HAD...
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are almost seventy million people living with a disability in the United States—nearly 1 in 5 people. Because of that high number, one would think that many books would prominently feature people with...
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While at dinner with a group of friends one evening, enjoying a light and convivial conversation, a buddy of mine began prattling on about how hard his job was as a pharmaceutical salesman for a multibillion dollar global drug company. He...
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As a society we’ve come a long way since the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990. Yet even in this age of disabilities enlightenment, there are still many who remain in the dark when it comes to society recognizing the...
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Over the last fifteen years, award-winning transition educator Mike Kelly has worked with hundreds of young adults with a wide range of disabilities living in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. During that time he has served as an...
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Some of the hundreds of success stories of my students over the years… NOTE: The names of all students have been changed SHANNON– After acting part-time for seven years on the hit TV show Sesame Street, when Shannon turned thirteen...
Read More A few years ago I was wandering around inside a large chain bookstore, looking for books that told the stories of individuals with disabilities. Since I was working with kids with disabilities for a living, I was curious to see what was out...
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We’ve all seen news stories on TV of professional athletes committing crimes or demonstrating other reprehensible behavior. We’ve also read about multi-millionaire professional athletes charging their fans $50 or $100 to sign an...
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Classified with intellectual disabilities (ID), Benson (not his real name) is a friendly fourteen-year-old with an engaging smile and an easy personality. I first met Benson when his mother called me after she read a newspaper article about my...
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How old were you when you got your first job? I’m sure it wasn’t when you were twenty or twenty-two or … never. You likely got your first job when you were in your early teens. That’s what most of us did. We babysat...
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Most presidential historians consider Abraham Lincoln to have been America’s greatest president. Of all the values and principles our 16th president believed in, the idea that an individual should work hard was the one he believed in most...
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“In life you meet a lot of very interesting people. Some are takers and others are givers. Mike Kelly is a giver and he has done so for many years. His work with children with disabilities is admirable. His compilation of stories about...
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