JONESBORO, AR, January 03, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The beginning of a new year often brings resolutions, optimism, and the promise of change. For many people living with disability, however, the turning of the calendar does not erase physical pain, social barriers, or invisibility. It is within this quieter, more honest space that A-Z of Disability: Life and Challenges with Chronic Pain finds its voice.

Written by Martie McBride, who began living with disability in her late twenties and is now 76 years old, the book is grounded in nearly five decades of lived experience. Since the onset of her condition, Martie McBride has undergone more than seventeen major surgeries, including spinal fusion and multiple joint replacements. Rather than presenting disability as a single defining event, the book reflects the cumulative reality of a life shaped by chronic pain, medical intervention, and constant adaptation.

Structured alphabetically, A-Z of Disability explores themes such as access, compassion, grief, justice, isolation, kindness, pain, and resilience. Each letter opens into a reflection that blends personal narrative with broader social observation, allowing readers to engage with disability not as a diagnosis, but as a deeply human experience.

Midway through the book, Martie McBride makes clear that disability is shaped as much by the world around us as by the body itself. Barriers, attitudes, and assumptions often determine whether a person is included or excluded, seen or overlooked. The work quietly challenges readers to examine how everyday environments and behaviors contribute to marginalization often without intention, but with real consequences.

The New Year context feels particularly fitting. While many people are focused on self-improvement and fresh starts, A-Z of Disability asks a different set of questions: What does progress look like when pain does not resolve? What does hope mean when independence is limited? And how can dignity be preserved when the body no longer cooperates with expectation?

Martie McBride writes with clarity and restraint about family life, caregiving, and the emotional cost of living in a body that requires constant negotiation with the world. She does not seek sympathy, nor does she frame disability as inspirational. Instead, the book insists on honesty about loss, frustration, adaptation, and the quiet strength required to continue.
 
As the reflections move toward their conclusion, the focus shifts from personal experience to collective responsibility. A-Z of Disability does not offer solutions or prescriptions. It offers attention. It asks readers to notice what is often ignored and to reconsider how kindness is practiced in everyday life.
As Martie McBride reflects, kindness is born in the moment we choose presence over indifference.

Released at the start of the New Year A-Z of Disability is a reminder that meaningful change does not begin with resolutions alone, but with the willingness to truly see one another.

A-Z of Disability is available in print and digital formats through major online retailers.

# # #