SHINING A LIGHT: Creating Pathways to Equity, Safety, Healing, and Justice With People with Disabilities

by Shirley Paceley

Shining A Light is a powerful personal and professional memoir of one woman’s journey in partnership with other people with disabilities to find equity, safety, healing, and justice. Shining A Light confronts the oft-hidden issue of sexual assault against people with disabilities, including its alarming prevalence and insightful stories of resilience and hope. Chapters on education, trauma and recovery, criminal justice, and systems change Illuminate how service professionals can create authentic and healing relationships with survivors with disabilities and transform systems of service, healing, and justice.

Shining A Light clearly demonstrates the fact that sexual assault occurs within a context of power differences, and the reader gets to learn from the experts - people with disabilities. The lives of people with disabilities are illuminated through poignant stories of inequality and violence as well as stories of profound connections, speaking truth to power, and the capacity of dreams to change lives.

The reader discovers that as the author partners with others to heal from their trauma, she is on a parallel path to heal from her own. This epic book contains lessons learned and critical tips along with resources for survivors, family members, disability services, victim services, criminal justice personnel, counselors, sexual assault nurses, and others.

403 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 25, 2022

Reviews

[Best Friend 🧡 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shining A Light is a deeply moving and eye-opening memoir that left a lasting impression on me. The author’s journey, alongside other people with disabilities, is told with courage, honesty, and heart. The way the book addresses sexual assault against people with disabilities is powerful and necessary, exposing truths that are often ignored while highlighting resilience, hope, and healing.

What struck me most were the personal stories both of trauma and of triumph. They are intimate, raw, and yet full of inspiration. The author does not shy away from difficult topics but balances them with lessons of empowerment and practical guidance. Reading this felt like learning from true experts, hearing voices that need to be heard.

The book also goes beyond personal memoir, offering insight into education, criminal justice, and systemic change. It is both a resource and a call to action, showing how authentic support and advocacy can transform lives. I felt encouraged, informed, and deeply moved. This is a must-read for anyone seeking understanding, empathy, and hope in the fight for equity and justice.

[Alisha White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shining a Light: Creating Pathways to Equity, Safety, Healing, and Justice with People with Disabilities by Shirley Paceley is a wonderful career memoir. Shirley shares her own experiences and what she learned through narratives of the people she met along the way. Shirley spent her career working with people with disabilities and those who care for them in a variety of capacities. She noticed the indignities, inequalities, and injustices that people with disabilities face all too often and began to question many of the systemic and institutional practices that cause harm to the people she was meant to help and serve. Shirley illustrates the impact of those practices through narratives of real people and shows us how to use questioning, persistence, and creative problem solving to find solutions that benefit rather than harm. In addition, Shirley demonstrates how advocacy work and teaching self-advocacy to those with disabilities can be a tool for empowering them and providing opportunities to shape the world they live in.
This book should be read by everyone who provides services for people with disabilities. While there are specific chapters addressing those who work in agencies providing services, those in the criminal justice system, and those in administrative or consulting positions, Shirley’s experiences and insights could also benefit educators, anyone in the medical field, and anyone designing spaces or practices using Universal Design.