No Pity ~ Joseph P. Shapiro

No Pity was the first formal introduction I had, as a brand-new occupational therapy student, to the history and culture of people with disabilities.  As a professional, this book not only gave me a sense of the legal and political struggles, and social stereotypes and prejudices, encountered by people with disabilities, but also of their successes in obtaining equal rights.

As a person with a disability, the book has inspired me to define who I am as a person, instead of letting myself be defined by my disability.  Thus, No Pity has played an important role in both my professional and person life. 

Eric Hicks is a Rehabilitation Science doctoral student in the Occupational Therapy department of the College of Public Health and Health Professions.

Cognitive Neuroscience ~ MS Gazzaniga, RB Ivry & GR Mangun

Cognitive Neuroscience has special meaning to me because it represents a metaphorical bridge connecting my professional life with my recent return to academia.  It was recommended to me by one of my first professors at UF, and eloquently illustrates the cutting-edge research that has informed our knowledge of brain-behavior relationships, critical to the understanding of impaired individuals such as those with Alzheimer’s disease.  I refer to it frequently, not only as an irreplaceable resource, but also as a fascinating read.

Jill S. McClung is a 3rd-year doctoral student in the Rehabilitation Sciences program. She has returned to school amidst a career as a geriatric speech-language pathologist, in order to gain expertise in the therapeutic intervention of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their caregivers.