“I felt alone and tried to hide it...”

“I am happier now without my voice than I've ever been with my voice.”

“Being in a wheelchair, you're always protected by this chair. There's armor between you and the opposite sex.”

In this book excerpt Mattie Stepanek describes what it is like living with a rare neuromuscular disease. Defying many developmental odds, Mattie recounts highs and lows as he travels toward his tenth birthday, living on what he terms “the edge.”

Michael and Cathy Hoffman recount how their son with Down syndrome is included on the middle school soccer team and how his teammates and opponents show support in a way that leads to his first goal.