People with Disabilities: Face to Face features first-hand stories, photos, essential research and statistics, and links to YouTube videos to make the lives of people with many different types of disabilities accessible, understandable, and relevant.

The text is centered on three important themes. First, readers learn that special education wouldn't exist without parents and advocates who wanted something better for their own and other children. Second, people with disabilities are more similar to those without disabilities than they are different. Third, every person with a disability deserves support that is calibrated to his or her unique needs.

People with Disabilities helps readers move past the tendency to define and identify people by their disabilities. Rather than relying entirely or mostly on facts and descriptions, the book offers authentic, life-affirming, and informative stories about people. The book has been developed specifically for, and is well-suited to, introductory courses in special education, disabilities, or human development, as well as courses for students in lateral entry teacher education programs.