Normal Sucks

How to Live, Learn, and Thrive, Outside the Lines

By: Jonathan Mooney

Narrated by: Jonathan Mooney

Length: 5 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

This program is read by the author.

Confessional and often hilarious, in Normal Sucks, a neuro-diverse writer, advocate, and father meditates on his life, offering the radical message that we should stop trying to fix people and start empowering them to succeed.

Jonathan Mooney blends anecdote, expertise, and memoir to present a new mode of thinking about how we live and learn - individually, uniquely, and with advantages and upshots to every type of brain and body. As a neuro-diverse kid diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD who didn't learn to read until he was 12, the realization that that he wasn’t the problem - the system and the concept of normal were - saved Mooney’s life and fundamentally changed his outlook. Here he explores the toll that being not normal takes on kids and adults when they’re trapped in environments that label them, shame them, and tell them, even in subtle ways, that they are the problem. But, he argues, if we can reorient the ways in which we think about diversity, abilities, and disabilities, we can start a revolution.

A highly sought-after public speaker, Mooney has been inspiring audiences with his story and his message for nearly two decades. Now he’s ready to share what he’s learned from parents, educators, researchers, and kids in a book that is as much a survival guide as it is a call to action. Whip-smart, insightful, and utterly inspiring - and movingly framed as a letter to his own young sons, as they work to find their ways in the world - this audiobook will upend what we call normal and empower us all.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Jonathan Mooney (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

I needed to hear this.

This was a tough story to listen to since the author’s story is so closely aligned to mine. I wish I could have my hubs and children listen to it. Thank you Jonathan Mooney! Thank you!

Normal does suck

The concept of normal is overrated and the reason why is explained well here. so many of us are told for the first 18 years of our life that we are not normal and won't amount 2 as much as the normal kids will. this book explains why they were all wrong.

Beautiful

I don’t normally take the time to write reviews, but this one deserves an emphatic 5 star recommendation! Hilarious, relatable, heart-warming, tear-jerking at times, and deeply thought provoking, this book is for anyone. It will inspire you to be a better human in the truest sense of the word.

Great story...very strong message

I'm not a person who did have any deficiencies as described in this book but I found the story to be a great story that many like myself should hear and take to heart. Growing up I tended to be one who protected other kids who were picked on and treated different. I wasnt a popular person in school but I was one who nobody wanted to mess with. I couldn't tell you then why I did what I did, but even then I knew somehow that kids who were different or thought to be different all had their own traits and personalities that made them rockstars in my mind. A great book and i thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

What a ride!

This book will take you on a historically enlightening, philosophically challenging, emotional ride that will stay with you for the rest of your life. If you have children this book is essential.

being not normal is normal

I admire the story and context that went into this book. It is raw and authentic which makes it so powerful. A must for anyone questioning, 'what is normal?'

Everyone Needs This Book

This book is incredible. Every parent, teacher, doctor and human needs to read or listen to this book. As the mom to a Dyslexic child and wife to s Dyslexic husband I know all too well their daily struggles. Public education has to evolve to incorporate all abilities and this book is testament to that. I know how cruel the word Normal is and Jonathan is right, Normal Sucks. This book doesn't suck, read it.

Finished in a day, a must listen..seriously!

I seriously loved this book. I have 2 sons. Both are not normal, adhd and adhd/dyslexia, and that's OK. I knew this already but Jonathan helped me see this even more. Thanks so much JM!

Touching, excellent

As an educator, this affirms how I strive to see and love my students. As a neurodiverse human, it affirms me at a deep level. I loved this book- and laughed aloud many times bc of Jonathan’s sharp wit.

Deep story with great narration by the author

I have hyperactive ADHD, Dyslexia, and Dysgraphia myself and could definitely relate to a lot of the authors experiences going through school in the early 2000s. I definitely was told not to use my disabilities as a crutch, even now it makes me feel odd to call them disabilities due to how much masking I have done in my life. It took me until 30 to embrace the gifts you get for being neurodiverse. The book itself was very thought provoking and validates feelings I have had for a very long time. I would recommend neurotypical people to read this as well to better empathize and understand the experiences that neurodiverse people have to go through.