10/20/2026
"Emily Ladau presents Demystifying
Date: Thu, 10/29/2026
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Place: Gibson's Bookstore 45 S Main St Concord, NH 03301
Emily Ladau visits Gibson's to share the revised edition of her book, Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally. Emily will be joined in conversation by local advocate Patricia Vincent-Piet.
Along with the NH Council on Developmental Disabilities, ABLE NH, and UNH’s Institute on Disability, The Disability Rights Center - NH have arranged for ASL interpretation and CART captioning for the event.
Now newly revised and expanded, Demystifying Disability is an approachable guide that teaches you how to be a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for creating a more accessible, inclusive world.
People with disabilities are the world’s largest minority, an estimated 16 percent of the global population. But many of us—disabled and nondisabled alike—don’t know how to act toward, what to say to, or how to be an ally to the disability community. This friendly handbook provides guidance on important disability issues, including:
• How to appropriately think, talk, and ask about disability
• Recognizing and avoiding ableism (discrimination toward disabled
people)
• Practicing good disability etiquette, with essential tips for navigating
a world impacted by COVID-19
• Incorporating accessibility into your standard practice, from everyday
communication to planning special events
• Disability identity, culture, and history from the 1900s to now
• Identifying and speaking up about disability stereotypes in media
Authored by disability rights advocate, speaker, and writer Emily Ladau, this practical primer includes a brand-new discussion guide and updated recommendations for further learning, offering readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience.
Emily Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, and communications and cultural access consultant. Her career began at the age of 10, when she appeared on multiple episodes of Sesame Street to educate about her life with a physical disability. Emily’s writing has been published in outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Vice, and HuffPost and her first book, Demystifying Disability, was published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. She has spoken before numerous audiences, from the U.S. Department of Education to the United Nations. Central to all of Emily’s work is her belief that by sharing our stories and making the disability experience accessible to the world, we’ll reach a world that’s more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
Patricia (Pat) Vincent-Piet is a writer and disability advocate based in Concord, New Hampshire, working at the intersection of policy, history, and lived experience. She publishes the weekly Substack *Lived and Unfiltered*, covering politics, history, and community advocacy through a disability lens, and contributes periodically to Manchester Ink Link's "The Soapbox" column. She writes about disability as a political and cultural fact, not a personal tragedy — analysis grounded in lived experience, not memoir. She has cerebral palsy, and that vantage point shows up in how she reads policy, history, and the institutions (charitable, medical, legislative) that claim to speak for disabled people. Pat also helps produce *That's Inclusive*, a podcast for the NH Council on Developmental Disabilitiess (NHDDC), where she talks with the people shaping disability policy and culture.
For additional accommodation requests, you can contact the Disability Rights Center - NH here:
Déodonné Dustin Bhattarai, JD/MPH (she/her)
Communications Director, Disability Rights Center - NH
[email protected]
(603) 228-0432 "
Emily Ladau presents Demystifying Disability Emily Ladau visits Gibson's to share the revised edition of her book, Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally. Emily will be joined in conversation by local advocate Patricia Vincent-Piet. Along with the NH Council on Dev...
