Say This, Not That: A Nonverbal Woman’s Guide to Better Conversations

by Sara Pyszka

The follow-up to Inside My Outside: An Independent Mind in a Dependent Body, Sara Pyszka’s first tell-all

People say hurtful things when you are in a wheelchair.

They may not mean to be unkind in the moment, but those words can still sting.

Sara Pyszka should know; she’s been on the receiving end of these types of comments all her life.

As a woman with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair to move and a computer to communicate, Sara has experienced people's poor or unthoughtful word choices swept aside because “they didn’t mean any harm.” She’s sat at tables with friends who have been thanked by random strangers for spending time with her. And oftentimes, when someone has taken the time to speak with her directly, she’s found that they focus more on how her equipment helps her communicate and not the messages she is communicating.

In Say This, Not That: A Nonverbal Woman’s Guide to Better Conversations, Sara explains how and why what we say can make an impact. She returns to conversations from her past that stung her, explaining how poorly words can land and offering guidance for how to be more aware, sensitive, and inclusive with language.

This raw and revealing memoir-guide is more than sensitivity training; it examines how ableism clouds our speech and offers grounded insight into how to speak to those who are different from us.

Sara’s memoir is a must-read for how to see people who are nonverbal and/or have disabilities for their possibilities and how to communicate with understanding, no matter what their bodies can do. Preorder the ebook today. Paperback to follow.