Allies & Obstacles

Free to download and keep

Listen to Family and Disability Activism

The complete audiobook, free for everyone. No account, no subscription, no app you have to use. Download it once and listen however suits you.

  1. 1Download the book
  2. 2Add it to your device
  3. 3References & image descriptions
Cover of Family and Disability Activism: a painting of a baby with medical tubes asleep in a green bassinet, in a room with flower pictures and a giraffe growth chart

Download the book

Read by Tiara Hettigama, Rainy Lu, and Shanshan Ma-Zhang · 7 hr 23 min

Not sure which to pick? Choose the ZIP — it works everywhere.

Whole book, chapter by chapter (MP3, zipped)Works with every player. Unzip it, or open it straight in BookPlayer / Smart AudioBook Player. Includes the references and image descriptions. ZIP333 MB Whole book as a single audiobook file (M4B)Keeps your place and shows chapters in Apple Books, BookPlayer and most audiobook apps. M4B220 MB

Chapters

Play a chapter here in your browser, or download chapters one at a time.

  1. IntroductionRead by Tiara Hettigama Download
  2. Chapter 1: Familial Relationships in Asian American Disability Advocacy and ActivismRead by Rainy Lu Download
  3. Chapter 2: Learnings from My Mother’s Couch Corner: Becoming a Latina Disability ActivistRead by Rainy Lu Download
  4. Chapter 3: Tàcharan: An “Autie”-Ethnographic Examination of the Biopolitics of Changelings and CyborgsRead by Rainy Lu Download
  5. Chapter 4: Empathy Deficits among NeurotypicalsRead by Tiara Hettigama Download
  6. Chapter 5: Black Deaf Ordinary Who Deliberately SignsRead by Rainy Lu Download
  7. Chapter 6: Intersections of Deafness, Blindness, Deafblindness, and GenderRead by Tiara Hettigama Download
  8. Chapter 7: Aging Out of Children’s HospitalsRead by Tiara Hettigama Download
  9. Chapter 8: Survive and Thrive: How Little Lobbyists Empowers Families to Fight for Disability JusticeRead by Shanshan Ma-Zhang Download
  10. Chapter 9: How to Do Limitless Lifelong Self-DeterminationRead by Shanshan Ma-Zhang Download

Audiobook credits

Read by
Tiara Hettigama, Rainy Lu, Shanshan Ma-Zhang
Audio editing
Luke Vrantsidis
References and image descriptions
Dina Dwairi
Website and audiobook page
Daniel Ajenifuja
Project lead
Pamela Block

Meet the project team

Add it to your device

Pick the device you use. Menu names can differ slightly between versions.

iPhone & iPad

The simplest way is the free BookPlayer app, which remembers your place and lets you change the reading speed.

  1. Install BookPlayer (free) from the App Store.
  2. On this page, tap Whole book, chapter by chapter (the ZIP file) and choose Download. Safari saves it in the Files app, in Downloads.
  3. Open the Files app, find the file in Downloads, then tap and hold it. Choose Share, then BookPlayer.
  4. BookPlayer adds every chapter, in order. Tap the book to start listening.

Tip: Prefer Apple Books? Download the M4B file on a Mac and add it there (see the Mac tab) — it will then appear in Apple Books on your iPhone.

Android

Android phones can play the files straight away. For bookmarks and chapter lists, use a free audiobook player.

  1. Install Smart AudioBook Player or Voice (both free) from the Google Play Store.
  2. On this page, tap Whole book, chapter by chapter (the ZIP file). It is saved to your Downloads folder.
  3. Open the Files app, tap the ZIP file, and choose Extract. Move the extracted folder into a folder called Audiobooks (create it if needed).
  4. Open your audiobook app and point it to the Audiobooks folder. The book appears with all its chapters.

Tip: Just want to listen now? Tap any chapter in the list above to play it in your browser.

Mac

Adding the book to your Mac puts it in Apple Books, and it can sync to your iPhone or iPad from there.

  1. Download the single audiobook file (M4B).
  2. Double-click the file. It opens in Apple Books and is added to Audiobooks in your library.
  3. To copy it to your iPhone or iPad, connect the device, open Finder, select the device in the sidebar, choose the Audiobooks tab, tick the book, and click Sync.

Tip: If you downloaded the MP3 chapters instead, drag them into the Music app, select them all, choose Song › Get Info › Options, and set the media kind to Audiobook.

Windows PC

Windows plays the files with its built-in Media Player — nothing to install.

  1. Download Whole book, chapter by chapter (the ZIP file).
  2. Open your Downloads folder, right-click the file and choose Extract All.
  3. Open the new folder and double-click the first chapter. It plays in Media Player, and the other chapters follow in order.

Tip: VLC media player (free) is a good alternative and lets you change the playback speed. To put the book on a phone, copy the folder over with a USB cable and follow the iPhone or Android steps.

Screen readers

Every control on this page works with a keyboard and screen reader.

  1. Use your screen reader’s heading navigation to jump to Download the book, then to Chapters.
  2. Each chapter has its own play button and its own download link, labelled with the chapter title.
  3. The references and image descriptions document at the bottom of this page comes as a Word file and a PDF, so you can follow citations and figures while you listen.

Tip: BookPlayer (iOS) and Voice (Android) both work well with VoiceOver and TalkBack.

What about Audible, Spotify, or Libby?

Those services only play audiobooks bought or borrowed through them, so they can’t open these files. Any of the free players above will work instead — or simply play the chapters on this page.

References & image descriptions

Every reference cited in Family and Disability Activism, chapter by chapter, together with full text descriptions of the cover and of the book’s figures and tables. Prepared by Dina Dwairi. Made to be read alongside the audiobook or with a screen reader.

References and image descriptions — Word document (.docx) DOCX47 KB References and image descriptions — PDF PDF518 KB

Having trouble? Email us and tell us what device you’re using — we’re happy to help.