I Can't Swim, But I Haven't Drowned Yet Notes From a Disability Rights Activist

by Melissa Marshall

In I Can't Swim But I Haven't Drowned Yet, Melissa Marshall chronicles the history of the disability rights movement though her lifetime of disability rights activism. Follow her through high school where she is denied an education at the same time that equal education for disabled people became federal law; onto college where she been among the first, if not the first person to major in disability studies; then to law school where she, again, struggled for equal access. In Melissa's career, she has fought to close state institutions for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health conditions; advocated for people found not guilty by reason of insanity; managed hot lines for people with disabilities impacted by disasters. She has promoted social justice for disabled people using everything from community organizing to doing civil disobedience to legal and disability bias training. I Can't Swim But I Haven't Drowned Yet is packed with stories from the trenches of the disability rights movement and tips that Melissa has learned from her experience embracing disability rights activism as a lifestyle. Part light hearted memoir and part analysis of the disability rights movement and ableism, this book should be read by students of disability rights history; people involved in the disability rights movement; activists of all types; and anyone who is curious about how far disabled people have come in securing their rights and how far they still have to go.

192 pages, Paperback

Published May 23, 2020

About the author

Melissa Marshall, J.D. is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law and is admitted to the Bar in Connecticut. She received her Bachelor's degree from Hampshire College, where she was one of the first people in the country to major in disability studies. In addition to being a disability policy consultant for over a decade, she has been Executive Director of several disability-related organizations. These are the Connecticut Business Leadership Network, a coalition of businesses committed to maximizing employment for people with disabilities; Advocacy Unlimited, which provides legal rights training to people with psychiatric disabilities in the community and in institutions; and the Disabilities Network of Eastern Connecticut, a Center for Independent Living that provides advocacy and support for people with disabilities so that they can live in the community. She is the former Director of the federal Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Mental Illness program at the CT State Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities. She is an expert in the ADA and implementation of its provisions. She provides disability law, disability awareness, diversity and etiquette training to small, medium and large businesses, state agencies, school districts, non-profits and colleges and universities nationally. She conducts access audits at facilities of all sizes. She has worked extensively with people who have physical, sensory, intellectual, learning and psychiatric disabilities, as well as with people on the autism spectrum.

Her passion is to make the world more welcoming to people with all types of disabilities.

Reviews

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast read yet very informative

As a person living with a disability - I'm an amputee -, a self-advocate, and an advocate for others, I learned so much about activism, how to live with setbacks and accept that this effort isn't a sprint. It's a marathon. Thank you Melissa.