About the Book
Special educator Joanne De Simone bears all in this raw and transformative memoir that captures how she used lessons of modern dance in her journey through motherhood with two children with disabilities.
When the pediatrician places the measuring tape around her infant’s head and notes, “His head is a little small,” Joanne knows that motherhood won’t be as she had dreamt. Even as a special educator, Joanne isn’t prepared to raise a child with a life-limiting brain malformation. Nor is she ready for the compounded pain and alienation that comes when her second son is diagnosed with autism. But the struggle to balance her sons’ medical and educational challenges drives Joanne to reconnect with the lessons she learned as a modern dancer—and there she finds enlightenment.
Inspired by her experience performing José Limón’s There Is a Time, based on Ecclesiastes 3, each chapter of Fall and Recovery details a dance lesson and the dichotomy of parenting children with disabilities. Over time, Joanne discovers that surviving motherhood isn’t a matter of strength, bravery, or faith. It’s a matter of linking your past experiences and creating your own purpose. It’s realizing that we live simultaneously in love and grief. In the end, dance teaches Joanne not only how to move freely through pain but also how to fall and recover.
About the Author :
Joanne De Simone is a graduate of Hunter College with degrees in dance and special education. After dancing professionally with companies including José Limón and Dianne McIntyre, she dedicated her life to teaching children with disabilities and supporting their families. Currently, Joanne is a special education advocate for the Alliance of Private Special Education Schools of North Jersey. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Exceptional Parent Magazine, and the Rumpus, and she is a contributing author to Barriers and Belonging: Personal Narratives of Disability. Joanne lives in West Orange, New Jersey, with her husband and sons.
Review :
2024 Nonfiction Book Awards Silver Winner
“A moving account of caring and advocating for children with disabilities.” —Kirkus Reviews
“An unflinchingly honest and beautifully rendered memoir. With breath-taking clarity, the author’s words dance across each page, imbued with love, pain, and heart, as she shares the challenges and joys of raising her two special sons.” —Diana Kupershmit, author of Emma’s Laugh: The Gift of Second Chances
“Joanne De Simone takes the reader on a powerful journey, masterfully weaving lessons learned as a dancer into her experiences as a mother of two children with disabilities. It is beautifully written, heartbreaking, and inspiring. The raw honesty of her storytelling allows the reader to truly understand the complexities of raising children with complicated challenges.” —Jesse Torrey, LAC, MA, author of Smiles & Duct Tape
“A memoir of strength, persistence, and—most of all—love. Parenting is never easy, but, as De Simone discovers, raising two children with disabilities can easily knock a mother down. Gracefully weaving the threads of dance, motherhood, and disability through her remarkable journey, De Simone shows us all how to ‘fall with the direct intention to rise.’” —Karen DeBonis, author of Growth: A Mother, Her Son, and the Brain Tumor They Survived
“Heartfelt and engaging, this memoir of raising children requiring vastly varying degrees of care and advocacy delicately threads blurred, complicated, and demanding lines. With the best parts of quiet compassion, noiseless rage, and complete, unconditional acceptance, Joanne De Simone depicts a specific, sweeping motherhood that soars far above unrelenting daily demands. Through the lens of her foundation in dance, Joanne embraces the gift of the children in her home, not those who once occupied her imagination.” —Lisa Romeo, author of Starting With Goodbye: A Daughter’s Memoir of Love After Loss
“The Limón technique centers the defined poles of ‘fall’ and ‘recovery.’ However, the dance is what happens in the undefined, unpredictable, unsettled, and magnificently alive moment-to-moment between the two. Wholly embodying this in-between mercurial time/space, Joanne De Simone writes—as she danced, as she lives—with raw honesty, brilliance, and seemingly boundless generosity. Joanne’s is a fierce grace; not delicately poised above, but rather in a visceral and dynamic intimacy with the gravity, heartfelt vulnerability, and wonder of person and parenthood.” —Steuart Gold, somatic psychotherapist and former Limón Company dancer
“Joanne vividly paints a picture of the dance that you must learn when parenting children with medically complex and neurodiverse needs. This book challenges service providers to be a compassionate light in the darkness while also inspiring parents navigating a life unplanned yet beautiful in its design.” —Aubrey Schmalle, OTR/L, speaker, author, and owner of Sensational Achievements, LLC
“Rarely does someone convey the experience of raising a child with a disability with such beauty and honesty. Joanne De Simone has managed to raise not one but two children with dignity, respect, and a drive to make certain that the world will be a better place for them because of her tireless love, advocacy, and activism. A must-read for families with challenges, as well as anyone who craves others’ authenticity to help process the pain and joy life offers us.” —Alma Schneider, LCSW, cofounder of the 2 Moms No Fluff podcast and cofounder of 1in6 Consulting Foundation
