Leighton Buzzard man with developmental learning disorder releases inspirational memoir

Damian Quinn, 46, recently released his new book ‘Finding a Voice’ to inspire readers and show that you can triumph over adversity.

Before he was born, Damian had a stroke in the womb, meaning that he has battled with the inability to properly form words and communicate, even though his mind is as sharp as anyone else’s.

Damian said: “I wrote this book to share one man’s honest account of disability, both to help raise awareness and understanding among non-sufferers, and help those who struggle with conditions like mine to understand they are not defined by it.”

Developmental learning disorder, a speech and language disability, which Damian has had from birth, causes sentences to come out muddled and slow, even though all of Damian’s ideas are there.

He added: “My pronunciations, semantics and discourse have been profoundly affected by DLD. As you can imagine, this caused many issues growing up and going through the education system, particularly back in the 1980s when disability wasn’t understood or dignified as it is today.

“However, I have used my experiences in adulthood to carve out my own success.”

Damian is now the vice- president of Afasic, a parent-led organisation to help children and young people with speech and language impairments, and their families.

The author describes the charity as having “saved his livelihood”, and wishes to spread the message that DLD affects about two children in every classroom in primary school (it is more common in boys than girls).

A reviewer named Chelsea said: “It’s an emotional read at times, especially when Damo talks about his feelings behind feeling like he failed his parents. Damo is an absolute delight to know, and I know his parents would be very proud of who he is today! I urge people to read this book and educate themselves on this - fantastic job!”

Finding a Voice is available from all good bookshops, and Amazon: https://amzn.to/37yTafq