“I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Leeanne writes honestly about the very difficult experiences she has gone through and the book is a tough read at times. However, it is inspiring to see how Leeanne recovers and not just survives, but thrives. Her positivity and her well-justified pride in herself and her achievements shine through.”

Verified Customer

“ You do not know life is like when you experience it through others lens. Life is a rough roundabout of ups and downs for most young people, but when you add a disability it is hurdle but this incredible true to detail biography proves life does not need to be a hurdle. This journey is hard yes but you go onto much greater things and meet better people. Sometimes who know us the best who inspire us the most. You have not lived your life until you have read the incredible work of this remarkable young women, who I know will continue to go through life inspiring everyone she knows to better their own life further. What will you discover from the magnificent writings in this book? Set to inspire the world and beyond. Are you looking for inspiration? Look no further grab a hot chocolate or your favourite hot beverage in that favourite mug or cup and settle comfortably and have a read you will never put this book down.”

Lindsay Kinloch

“A compelling autobiography about a young women with learning disabilities experiences of childhood abuse and the care system, to becoming a successful author and advocate for her peers. And an essential read for everyone involved with the women’s sector or the learning disability sector.”

Michelle Mair

“I have read this book in 1 night, could not put it down, and I am so proud to know this author personally, you done well Miss Leeanne X xxx.”

Verified Customer

“Demonstrates the power of positive relationships in the face of trauma. Brilliant book and well written.”

Verified Customer

“It was very interesting to read. Leeanne is so brave to share her story. I love how by telling us what she went through, it creates awareness. I really hope that Leeanne’s book helps and saves other children in similar situations. Leeanne is a great role model and her book just shows how strong she is! Such a sad story but proof that success in life can still be possible no matter how hard it is!”

Verified Customer

“An honest and forthright analysis of an troubled early life, well recounted. Recommended for the no - nonsense practically of coping mechanisms.”

Verified Customer

“I read this book in one sitting, it is a powerful and well written book and a really important read for anyone with an interest in social work.

Leeanne is a great author, everyone should read this book.”

Verified Customer

“This is a great, but tough read, told in the first person in the author’s unique voice. It speaks of Leeanne’s difficult experiences in early childhood, with neglect and abuse, to her ultimately positive experience in the care system and the success she has made of her life today. A great read for individuals and professionals alike.”

Verified Customer

“ Very good book by intelligent person who has done a good job and a lot hard work in book. And it’s bit sad to read what the person has gone through in her life. Well done.”

Verified Customer

This autobiography is an intriguing story from an author that would usually be overlooked. It is a route map on how to thrive despite her parents and going on to family-based care. It explains the impact of parents who fail to care for their children’s physical, mental and sensory needs whilst manipulating her ‘very slight’ Cerebral Palsy for their own financial and social gain. The book stands out because of the collective effort to publish it by the Scottish Commission on Learning Disability (SCLD), the Life Changes Trust, RSA Scotland, the Community Fund and Moniack Mhor, Scotland’s Centre for Creative Writing.

As Leeanne points out at the start: ‘Some parts of this book will be upsetting for some readers but I am not apologising. The truth is the truth!’ Attending college prompted her to write down her story and her motivation for writing the book is ‘to help other people who have been in similar situations. If they can see someone like me now, getting on with life and standing on my own two feet, maybe they might believe that there is a chance for them to do the same’.

Leeanne’s frankness about growing up in Fife is powerful: ‘From day one growing up with my birth family they tried to belittle me and treat me as though I was worthless, as though I had no mind of my own, as though I was a scrap of litter on the doormat. However, I had some self-belief. I held my head up high and tried to keep a smile on my face. I felt this was important for the sake of my younger siblings because I was their main role model’.

Leeanne describes her role as a child carer and explains, with substantial and corroborated evidence, that her ‘Mum and dad were selfish and thought nothing of spending money on themselves instead of me and my siblings’. She declares that the main message of her book is that: Everyone is unique and important, and we all need to understand that Different can be Great’. Amen to that!

Leeanne’s mum worked at a Remploy Factory and it was due to her colleague, Molly, and her husband James that Leeanne enjoyed safe and happy weekends, learned to walk, was enabled to swim, be cared for and know that she was loved. The significant others in children’s lives, including neighbours, are critical when the state is slow to effectively intervene. However, initially it painfully backfired as her parents wanted her in a wheelchair ‘to claim higher Disability Benefits’.

Church has become one of the main parts of Leeanne’s life and introduced her to a wide variety of people who encourage and enable her to thrive as an individual such as Dennis and Thomas who were invited by the Episcopalian Bishop to sponsor 47 children in India.

Leeanne shares her history to help change people’s lives – those who work in services and those who receive them. At college, she is an active ‘Care Experience Officer’ and promotes the issues faced by care experienced students. Her matter-of-fact description of relatively recent events should incentivise public services of the need to change if they are to achieve their stated purposes. Her account of repeatedly moving home and schools, what led the police to destroying her precious phone with so many memories on it, and the impact of repeated changes of social workers confirms the inability and the failure of the state to deliver joined up care when people are at their most vulnerable.

The book has no pompous analysis. It is illuminating about receiving services and only latterly being able to influence decisions which make a huge impact on happiness, personal safety and development. Its messages will only be powerful if people read and hear them and that remains the challenge. Clearly, it can inform the design and delivery of publicly funded services. But will it?

It is routine now for organisations to say they value diversity and enable inclusion to ensure voices are heard to inform the design and delivery of policy, services and funding. However, some voices are never heard or are filtered, indeed sanitised, so this book is a refreshing as well as sometimes a startling read. It should be a textbook for so many disciplines especially childcare, social care and criminal justice. This book is a page turner, easy to read and utterly thought provoking. It is also a book of hope from an inspirational young woman. Leeanne was 18 in 2015 so I look forward to hearing what she achieves next. Names have been changed by the author to protect people’s privacy.

Carole Ewart is a public policy and human rights consultant. One of her clients is SCLD but she had no part in publishing this book and received no fee for this review.

Carole Ewart