Discerning the Way: Lessons from Parkinson's Disease (Paperback)
This book recounts the author's experience of being diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease at the age of forty-eight and his first four years of living with this illness. With honesty and thoughtfulness, he reveals how Parkinson's has affected his life, which includes experiences of deeper and more authentic relationships; gaining new insights about time, priorities, and personal values; experiencing reconciliation with others and within himself; and benefitting from occasions for meaningful growth, greater wisdom, deeper gratitude, and lasting joy. These reflections are authentic, poignant, at times, humorous and heart-wrenching, and ultimately hopeful.
Allan Hugh Cole Jr. is Deputy to the President for Societal Challenges and Opportunities at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is also the Bert Kruger Smith Centennial Professor in Social Work in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Courtesy Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Dell Medical School. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2016 at the age of forty-eight. The author or editor of twelve books, he writes regularly for his blog, PD WISE (pdwise.com), and for other national and international outlets on living well with Parkinson's.