A World without Martha

This is more than a memoir: it is a beautifully written and frank account of a sister grappling with the treatment of her sibling over the course of their lives, lived not together but in parallel. It uses their intertwined stories to chronicle more than five decades of policy and social responses to intellectual disability. This is a book about loyalty, memory, and healing as much as disability, and about families and the affective ties that bind us to each other. It is about rising out of pain and separation to a place of strength and activism. We need more books about the experience of disability. This is a first-hand account of Down Syndrome in a family. While it explores the terrible damage that was caused by institutionalization and negative attitudes toward disability, it also tells of the rebuilding of familial and social relationships as attitudes changed and understanding grew about intellectual disabilities. This is a book for family members and friends of a person with an intellectual disability, or who has experiences with the systems that define how those with disabilities are treated in our society, from disability activists and disability organizations to social and support workers.