About

The Book

A Life Like Anybody Else: How a Man with an Intellectual Disability Fulfilled His American Dream. This is my book all in my own words. When I was born the doctor said to my parents, “You have a child that’ll probably not be able to talk.” But my parents decided to bring me home and raise me like anybody else. In second grade my teacher said, “Michael, your IQ is too low, and you’re too mentally retarded. You’ll never get married in your life.” That really set up a new belief system inside of me: I had an image of myself that I was weird. That idea controlled my life all the way through my elementary and junior high years; it lasted up until I was about twenty-four years old. Then in 1986 I took a self-improvement course. The training was about knowing how you could be able to make a difference in your life and in other people’s life. After that I have really come out of my shell. And in 1992 I got hired to be the first governor appointee in the United States: California Consumer Coordinator at the Department of Developmental Services. I advocated for people with developmental disabilities. I traveled all over the state and created a lot of People First self-advocacy groups.

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