Jennifer Chassman Browne is using storytelling, poetry and photography to challenge how disability is represented in her new book, See Us, Know Us: Profiles of Disability, scheduled for release in October 2026 by Torchflame Books.
The 138-page book features profiles of 30 individuals who share personal experiences of living with disability, offering readers an intimate look at their lives, challenges, accomplishments and perspectives. Rather than presenting disability through statistics or broad generalizations, Browne focuses on the people behind the experiences.
Each profile is accompanied by an original poem inspired by the participant’s story, while black-and-white photography by Natalie Brescia provides a visual component to the collection.
Among those featured are Charlie Carr, who helped secure passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Keith Jones, who appeared in the Emmy Award-winning documentary The Ride Ahead. However, most of the people featured in the book are not widely known. Their stories focus on the realities of navigating everyday life while living with a disability.
The collection explores themes including strength, identity, belonging and the desire to be recognized and understood. Browne’s approach emphasizes the diversity of disability experiences and the importance of allowing individuals to define themselves beyond their diagnoses or physical limitations.
Browne brings firsthand experience to the project. She has lived with rheumatoid arthritis since she was six years old and spent most of her professional career working as an educator. For the past seven years, she has also worked as a DEI and disability advocate.
Through her advocacy and writing, Browne seeks to encourage empathy and create greater understanding of the experiences of people with disabilities. See Us, Know Us is part of that effort, using individual stories to create a broader conversation about inclusion and representation.
The book follows other notable works examining disability and representation, including Alice Wong’s Disability Visibility and Christopher John Ball’s The Reckoning. However, Browne combines several forms of storytelling, bringing together personal profiles, poetry and portrait photography.
The project also reflects a broader effort to amplify voices that are frequently absent from mainstream conversations about disability. By featuring both recognized advocates and people whose lives may be unfamiliar to the public, the book presents disability as a broad and varied human experience.
With its October 2026 publication date approaching, See Us, Know Us aims to encourage readers to look beyond assumptions about disability and engage with the individual stories behind them.
For Browne, the project is ultimately about creating connection. Through the experiences of the 30 people featured in the book, she hopes readers will find opportunities for greater empathy, understanding and recognition of the shared experiences that connect people across different circumstances.