Katie Rose Pryal

Profile Photo

Katie is an author, speaker, an expert on mental disability. She is autistic and has bipolar disorder. She's the author of more than fifteen books that center mental disability, an eclectic mix, including an IPPY-award-winning series of romantic suspense novels and four essay collections on mental health and trauma (two of which won national awards). After earning her master's from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, she earned her law degree and doctorate in rhetoric. She works toward accessibility for everyone. A professor of writing, she lives in Chapel Hill, NC, with her family and horses.

Stories

Cover Photo: Photograph courtesy of the author
An Autistic Girl’s Guide to Horses

Learning I was autistic gave me insight into my childhood fixations and hurts, into how those things have stayed with me over the decades.

Dec 08, 2022
Cover Photo: cropped image of red and green game pieces from the board game Sorry! by Hasbro Games
No, I Don’t Want Your Advice on How My Kids or I Can Be “Cured”

I’m not looking for a cure—not for my kids, and not for me. Any treatment we choose is merely a tool to help us enjoy our lives.

Dec 16, 2019
Cover Photo: Photograph by Pan Xiaozhen/Unsplash
What It Takes to Advocate for Twice-Exceptional Kids in School

I think about the many invisible struggles, the empty places I have had to fill for my kids. The bridges I’ve had to build.

May 29, 2019
Cover Photo: Illustration by Ellen Weinstein for Catapult
Friendship Has Always Been Hard for Me—I Hope I Can Make It Easier for My Kids

Unwritten social rules might as well not exist for me. The only reason I can read them at all is because I’ve forced myself to learn them.

Mar 25, 2019
Cover Photo: Illustration by Anja Silbar for Catapult
My Son and I Don’t Do Well with Chaos—and That’s Okay

We hate surprises. What we need is to be able to set our expectations properly.

Feb 12, 2019
Cover Photo: Illustration by Elizabeth Haidle for Catapult
For Parents and Children with Psychiatric Disabilities, the Stigma Creates an Extra Fight We Don’t Need

So many people have suggested I stop taking medication for my bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, and panic attacks. The stigma is strong.

Jan 07, 2019
Cover Photo: Art by Brian Rea for Catapult
When You’re a Mom with Anxiety Disorder, You Know the Monsters Are Real

I have such immense anxiety. It sweeps me up into its furious winds. And my kids are at the middle of the storm.

Nov 26, 2018
Cover Photo: Illustration by Brian Rea for Catapult
Finding a World Big Enough for My Twice-Exceptional Kids

Every day, when my kids come home from school, the first thing I ask them—like most parents do—is about school. But unlike most parents, I do not expect my kids to say that school was fine.

Oct 17, 2018
Cover Photo: photo via pixabay
The World Doesn’t Bend for Disabled Kids (or Disabled Parents)

My kids have been kicked out of many, many places for being different—just like I was.

Jul 10, 2018