Beyond a Physical Disability: The Person Within: A Practical Guide

Evelyn Ayrault is a clinical psychologist who was born with cerebral palsy. Her message and book are unique: to alert the general public, as well as anyone in the health care field, to the psychological dynamics that exist below the surface of a physical disability. Ayrault covers every phase of life, from childhood to senior adulthood. Her concept of the "disabled home" shows how a challenged child creates a very different kind of household environment. Ayrault advises how to pick the right school and generally prepare a disabled teenager for adulthood, including job training. Finally and most importantly, the psychology of the physically disabled is discussed: the trauma and stress that the individual experiences. Rehabilitation techniques are usually limited to medical, surgical, or therapeutic types of treatment. As Ayrault shows, to depend solely on these treatments is an unrealistic approach to the rehabilitation process. In this straightforward, jargon-free book, we come to learn how psychological problems originating from a disability can profoundly affect a disabled person's lifestyle and how to help.