I absolutely love everything about this interview! I wanted to chime in in response to the call for more depictions of romance narratives featuring disability. The romantasy series starting with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros features a disabled protagonist, and while normally I'm not a reader of romantasy the disability portrayal had me hooked.
Expanding on Rebekah's point about diverse narratives within romance including through sexuality and disability, the new hit HBO romance series Heated Rivalry based on Rachel Reid's books has gotten attention beyond its focus on queerness for its portrayal of Shane, who is depicted as autistic without being explicitly labeled.
While I haven’t read it yet, I’m really excited to check out Popcorn Disabilities: The Highs and Lows of Disabled Representation in the Movies by Kristen Lopez.
Rebekah Taussig is just brilliant. Her book. Sitting Pretty, explained and illustrated so many of the feelings I had growing up as a girl with a disability. She normalizes feelings and experiences. Your interview, Courtney, was excellent. And the book report! Fabulous! Wish all book reports could be done that way. Thanks for the interview.
Couldn't agree more with your description of Rebekah's writing. (Maybe a bit biased; I blurbed her book.) She is a gem. Thank you for featuring her perspective. I really appreciated your thoughtful questions that didn't just feel like typical interview fare. And I particularly loved Rebekah's reflections on dancing. As a disabled woman, I sometimes catch myself in a mirror and think "oh, do I really look like that?" It can sometimes start a self-consciousness spiral, but I stop myself because I truly do love the feeling of dancing.
Thank you for the feedback - means a lot. I'm imagining crip dance parties where people can unselfconsciously rock out among a variety of bodies and revel in the lack of uniformity of movement. Maybe that already exists!?
I love how you describe that. I don't know if regular ones exist but I used to go to this conference run by a disability organization and they'd always have a dance party that felt like the most beautiful chaos imaginable. A joy we should all get to experience.
Thank you Courtney for creating a space where complexity wasn’t rushed and vulnerability wasn’t extracted. This conversation felt less like an interview and more like an invitation to slow down and listen differently.
What resonated most for me was the reframing of teaching—not as explanation, but as existence without interpretation. That idea landed deeply. It mirrors something I’ve felt but didn’t have language for: that constant explanation can unintentionally reinforce the idea that difference requires justification.
One new thought your piece stirred is about temporal justice. When someone is repeatedly asked to explain themselves, the cost isn’t just emotional—it’s temporal. It steals time that could have been spent imagining, playing, resting, or creating. Seen this way, embodying a boundary isn’t just self-protection; it’s a reclaiming of future possibility.
YES! Kunlun your comment makes me think about Toni Morrison's famous quotation: “The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being."
Yes! That Toni Morrison quote fits so precisely here. “Distraction” feels like the missing word that ties it all together. When explanation becomes compulsory, it quietly reroutes energy away from creation, presence, and joy, and into proving one’s right to exist.
What strikes me is how boundaries, in this light, aren’t a withdrawal from relationship but a refusal to be endlessly diverted. They protect the conditions under which real work, artistic, relational, imaginative, can actually happen. In that sense, embodying a boundary isn’t silence; it’s choosing where attention belongs.
Thank you for making that connection so beautifully. It deepens the piece in a way that lingers.
I don’t know Rebekah personally either, but I feel the EXACT same way about her words - and I had a legit squeal reaction when I saw you were interviewing her!!
I absolutely love everything about this interview! I wanted to chime in in response to the call for more depictions of romance narratives featuring disability. The romantasy series starting with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros features a disabled protagonist, and while normally I'm not a reader of romantasy the disability portrayal had me hooked.
Expanding on Rebekah's point about diverse narratives within romance including through sexuality and disability, the new hit HBO romance series Heated Rivalry based on Rachel Reid's books has gotten attention beyond its focus on queerness for its portrayal of Shane, who is depicted as autistic without being explicitly labeled.
While I haven’t read it yet, I’m really excited to check out Popcorn Disabilities: The Highs and Lows of Disabled Representation in the Movies by Kristen Lopez.
Thanks for this piece!
Oooh, so excited to explore these juicy recommendations, Jennifer! Jotting all of them down🥳 Thank you!!!
Here to second Fourth Wing! 💖
Rebekah Taussig is just brilliant. Her book. Sitting Pretty, explained and illustrated so many of the feelings I had growing up as a girl with a disability. She normalizes feelings and experiences. Your interview, Courtney, was excellent. And the book report! Fabulous! Wish all book reports could be done that way. Thanks for the interview.
I'm so glad you were already aware of her work, Linda!
Couldn't agree more with your description of Rebekah's writing. (Maybe a bit biased; I blurbed her book.) She is a gem. Thank you for featuring her perspective. I really appreciated your thoughtful questions that didn't just feel like typical interview fare. And I particularly loved Rebekah's reflections on dancing. As a disabled woman, I sometimes catch myself in a mirror and think "oh, do I really look like that?" It can sometimes start a self-consciousness spiral, but I stop myself because I truly do love the feeling of dancing.
Thank you for the feedback - means a lot. I'm imagining crip dance parties where people can unselfconsciously rock out among a variety of bodies and revel in the lack of uniformity of movement. Maybe that already exists!?
I love how you describe that. I don't know if regular ones exist but I used to go to this conference run by a disability organization and they'd always have a dance party that felt like the most beautiful chaos imaginable. A joy we should all get to experience.
Thank you so much for bringing me these thoughtful questions and sharing my responses with your community, Courtney! It is an honor and delight✨✨
Two of my favorite authors found each other! Love this interview so much!
Swooooon. Thank you so much.
Thank you Courtney for creating a space where complexity wasn’t rushed and vulnerability wasn’t extracted. This conversation felt less like an interview and more like an invitation to slow down and listen differently.
What resonated most for me was the reframing of teaching—not as explanation, but as existence without interpretation. That idea landed deeply. It mirrors something I’ve felt but didn’t have language for: that constant explanation can unintentionally reinforce the idea that difference requires justification.
One new thought your piece stirred is about temporal justice. When someone is repeatedly asked to explain themselves, the cost isn’t just emotional—it’s temporal. It steals time that could have been spent imagining, playing, resting, or creating. Seen this way, embodying a boundary isn’t just self-protection; it’s a reclaiming of future possibility.
YES! Kunlun your comment makes me think about Toni Morrison's famous quotation: “The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being."
Yes! That Toni Morrison quote fits so precisely here. “Distraction” feels like the missing word that ties it all together. When explanation becomes compulsory, it quietly reroutes energy away from creation, presence, and joy, and into proving one’s right to exist.
What strikes me is how boundaries, in this light, aren’t a withdrawal from relationship but a refusal to be endlessly diverted. They protect the conditions under which real work, artistic, relational, imaginative, can actually happen. In that sense, embodying a boundary isn’t silence; it’s choosing where attention belongs.
Thank you for making that connection so beautifully. It deepens the piece in a way that lingers.
SO GOOD. Thanks, y'all.
What a beautiful interview!
THANK YOU for this much needed inspiration! DD
My grandson, almost five, obviously believes he belongs with same-aged kids.
Today is the meeting to decide whether the school district will scaffold his staying in a regular classroom.
It's a hard day for Omama.
Sending love and hopes for the outcome you both want.
I want the neighborhood school, for all the benefits that brings, including being able to get there quickly if I can be of help.
I can’t WAIT listen to this one she is my FAVORITE author!!
I don’t know Rebekah personally either, but I feel the EXACT same way about her words - and I had a legit squeal reaction when I saw you were interviewing her!!