How to Be Disabled in a Pandemic features a variety of stories reflecting on how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected various subsets of the disabled community.

"[The pandemic] response has been the most glaring, acute, widespread ableism many of us have ever experienced. The determination to approach COVID mitigation with as few messures as possible in order to allow the most freedoms possible fails to acknowledge whose freedoms are granted and whose are disregarded."

The expertise gathered in this collection is astounding. This book features testimony from members of the disabled community as well as experts in disability fields (with a certain amount of expected overlap between these two). Every single chapter is laser focused on its subject, and is concise and succinct. This is all supported by plenty of real life examples that reflect on its chosen topic, plus a myriad of notes and references.

As someone with severe ME among other chronic illnesses I found a lot of recognition within How to Be Disabled in a Pandemic. Not only in the chapter dedicated to 'my' disease, but also in various other chapters portraying the struggles of various disabled people. Where I didn't find recognition I found opportunity to learn. Especially the chapters on immigrants, people in the carceral system, and unhoused people gave me new perspectives and insights to consider.

"We therefore consider the failures of the pandemic as an opportunity to imagine new systems, systems that offer collective protection for the dependence and interdependence that mark us all."

This work makes a wonderful reference book. Chapters can be read in any order, and can easily be referred back to after reading. An important overarching theme of this book is the pandemic laying bare what was already there. The racism, ableism, and marginalization that already plagued different marginalized groups got magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic. With this we get to one of the most important take-home messages: We need to fight for equity for these groups at all times, not just during pandemic times.

"The pandemic revealed just how easy it could be to provide certain accommodations - such as remote access to work, school, and therapy - that disabled and chronically ill people had been demanding, unsuccessfully, for years."

How to Be Disabled in a Pandemic is a must read for every single citizen of this planet. As a member of any marginalized community you might find recognition. As a person with privelege you will find plenty of opportunity to expand your perspective, and have your eyes opened to issues you might not have been aware of otherwise. While this book includes passages on undeniable suffering, it also offers hope and a way forward for humanity.