The release of 'A-Z of Disability: Life and Challenges with Chronic Pain' offers business and technology leaders a critical resource for understanding inclusion beyond compliance, presenting disability as a continuous human experience shaped by societal structures. Authored by Martie, who began living with disability in her late twenties and is now 76, the book draws from nearly five decades of personal navigation through chronic pain, over seventeen major surgeries, and constant adaptation, framing disability not as a singular event but as a cumulative reality.
For leaders in technology and business, where innovation often focuses on ability and optimization, Martie's work provides an essential counterpoint by exploring how environments and assumptions create exclusion. The book's alphabetical structure examines themes like access, justice, isolation, and resilience, blending personal narrative with social observation to demonstrate how everyday business decisions—from software design to office layouts—can marginalize or include. This perspective is particularly relevant as companies develop AI systems, workplace technologies, and consumer products that must serve diverse populations.
The timing of the New Year release underscores a different concept of progress for business leaders to consider: what advancement means when physical pain or limitation doesn't resolve. While corporate goals often emphasize growth and efficiency, 'A-Z of Disability' asks how dignity and participation are maintained when the body doesn't conform to standard expectations. This challenges technology developers to create solutions that accommodate rather than exclude, and business leaders to build cultures that value presence over productivity metrics alone.
Martie's examination of how kindness manifests in practical actions—from accessible design to flexible work arrangements—provides concrete guidance for creating more humane business environments. The book shifts focus from individual inspiration to collective responsibility, suggesting that true innovation in business and technology requires noticing what systems typically ignore. As organizations increasingly recognize disability inclusion as both ethical imperative and market opportunity, this lived-experience perspective offers crucial insights for developing products, services, and workplaces that work for everyone.
'A-Z of Disability' is available through major online retailers including Amazon, providing accessible formats that themselves demonstrate the inclusion principles the book advocates. For leaders shaping the future of work and technology, this resource represents more than personal memoir—it's a framework for building systems that acknowledge the full spectrum of human experience.
