Underestimated

The incredibly moving and inspiring story about a quest to finally be heard. In Underestimated: An Autism Miracle, Generation Rescue’s cofounder J.B. Handley and his teenage son Jamison tell the remarkable story of Jamison’s journey to find a method of communication that allowed him to show the world that he was a brilliant, wise, generous, and complex individual who had been misunderstood and underestimated by everyone in his life. Jamison’s emergence at the age of seventeen from his self-described “prison of silence” took place over a profoundly emotional and dramatic twelve-month period that is retold from his father’s perspective. The book reads like a spy thriller while allowing the reader to share in the complex emotions of both exhilaration and anguish that accompany Jamison’s journey for him and his family. Once Jamison’s extraordinary story has been told, Jamison takes over the narrative to share the story from his perspective, allowing the world to hear from someone who many had dismissed and cast aside as incapable. Jamison’s remarkable transformation challenges the conventional wisdom surrounding autism, a disability impacting 1 in 36 Americans. Many scientists still consider nonspeakers with autism—a full 40 percent of those on the autism spectrum—to be “mentally retarded.” Is it possible that the experts are wrong about several million people? Are all the nonspeakers like Jamison? Underestimated: An Autism Miracle will touch your heart, inspire you, remind you of the power of love, and ultimately leave you asking tough questions about how many more Jamisons might be waiting for their chance to be freed from their prison of silence, too. And, for the millions of parents of children with autism, the book offers a detailed description of a communication method that may give millions of people with autism back their voice.

“A hero’s tale of what’s possible when we unlock our potential, continue the search for knowledge, and draw on our lived experiences to guide us through the darkest moments.”—Stacey Abrams From a Black, gay woman who broke into the boys’ club of Silicon Valley comes an empowering guide to finding your voice, working your way into any room you want to be in, and achieving your own dreams. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FORTUNE In 2015, Arlan Hamilton was on food stamps and sleeping on the floor of the San Francisco airport, with nothing but an old laptop and a dream of breaking into the venture capital business. She couldn’t understand why people starting companies all looked the same (White and male), and she wanted the chance to invest in the ideas and people who didn’t conform to this image of how a founder is supposed to look. Hamilton had no contacts or network in Silicon Valley, no background in finance—not even a college degree. What she did have was fierce determination and the will to succeed. As much as we wish it weren’t so, we still live in a world where being underrepresented often means being underestimated. But as someone who makes her living investing in high-potential founders who also happen to be female, LGBTQ, or people of color, Hamilton understands that being undervalued simply means that a big upside exists. Because even if you have to work twice as hard to get to the starting line, she says, once you are on a level playing field, you will sprint ahead. Despite what society would have you believe, Hamilton argues, a privileged background, an influential network, and a fancy college degree are not prerequisites for success. Here she shares the hard-won wisdom she’s picked up on her remarkable journey from food-stamp recipient to venture capitalist, with lessons like “The Best Music Comes from the Worst Breakups,” “Let Someone Shorter Stand in Front of You,” “The Dangers of Hustle Porn,” and “Don’t Let Anyone Drink Your Diet Coke.” Along the way, she inspires us all to defy other people’s expectations and to become the role models we’ve been looking for. Praise for It’s About Damn Time “Reading Arlan Hamilton’s It’s About Damn Time is like having a conversation with that frank, bawdy friend who somehow always manages to make you laugh, get a little emo, and, ultimately, think about ­­the world in a different way. . . . The book is warm, witty, and unflinching in its critique of the fake meritocracy that permeates Silicon Valley.”—Shondaland

"Susan was faced with a final ultimatum; give up her soul to the evil that permeated her life or defy certain torture and death by emerging from her cocoon of naivety to become the third most important woman in the FBI's international files. By taking down dozens of some of the most ruthless and evil murderers and politicians in the history of the Deep South, Susan chose wisely"--Page 4 of cover.

“If you have a teenage girl in your life, you need to read this.” —Oprah Daily In the vein of Reviving Ophelia and Untangled comes a fresh, unexpected, and empowering guide to better understand teenage girls, revealing how their insights can create heartfelt connections and impactful change. Written with warmth and humor, Underestimated is the first book to invite us into a teenage girl’s brain and heart, as told from the point of view of a beloved and trusted mentor. Chelsey Goodan is a highly sought-after academic tutor who has worked with hundreds of girls from all different backgrounds, earning their trust, confidence, and friendship. They in turn have shared with her their innermost concerns, doubts, and what they wish they could communicate to their parents and the world at large. With topics and language directly chosen by the girls, Goodan reveals how the solutions to a girl’s well-being lie within her. She offers parents the exact words they can use to help her discover these solutions and demonstrates how adults can better support a teenage girl’s voice to create positive change. Rather than dismissing teenage girls based on our own fears or treating them as problems that need to be solved, Goodan encourages us as parents, and as a society, to help girls unleash their power and celebrate their intrinsic wisdom, creating more healing and connection for everyone. With inspiring ease, Underestimated shows us how to do this with accessible advice, entertaining narratives, and profound wisdom.

Underestimated: Growing in Leadership Despite the Opinions of Self and Others contains seven key insights designed to empower you on your leadership journey. Gleaned from the experiences of Veronique N. Walker, Ed.D., the goal of the shared insights is to demonstrate that if she transcended obstacles involving underestimation on her career journey, then no one is exempt from the possibility to excel in life. This book is for you whether you have felt empowered or overlooked, supported or rejected.

There’s no college diploma hanging on Donald Thompson’s office wall. He didn’t have a prestigious internship at a Fortune 500 company. And yet, before the age of forty, Donald Thompson was a millionaire CEO and tech entrepreneur. Underestimated is the story of a Black male who faced the challenges of contemporary America, fought to find his place, and fulfilled his dreams—even when the odds seemed stacked against him. Donald Thompson followed many unlikely paths, such as selling Jolly Ranchers out of his elementary school locker, working the graveyard shift in a deserted self-storage warehouse, and hawking subprime mortgages, before he found success. He achieved his dreams through grit and determination, trusting in his inherent talents and drive. Don’s accomplishments are built on a strong family and the values they instilled—from his grandparents, who overcame tragic racism in rural Louisiana, to his parents, who married as teenagers to escape their limited surroundings. His family created an environment where he could dream without boundaries. Today, in his role as a business mentor and advisor, Donald Thompson strives to create that same environment for corporate executives and aspiring entrepreneurs, teaching them the tools to accelerate their success. Underestimated follows Don’s unique path, stopping along the way to uncover the business and life lessons he learned, inspirations, and habits that can help anyone realize their dreams.

Everyone is looking for power. Political campaigns play to the power of fear and hope; advertising agencies rely on the power of appetite, both wielding power by the means of words. But churches have something different and better. Churches have the gospel. Though we live in the world, we must not wage war like the world, or fight with its weapons. On the contrary, we have divine power to demolish strongholds. The gospel consists merely of words, but those words have the unexpected and underestimated power to create new life, to justify, to prepare a bride, to give the foretaste of glory. Christian conversion depends upon the underestimated power of the gospel. Authors Jonathan Leeman, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Thabiti Anyabwile, David Platt, Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, C.J. Mahaney, Matt Chandler, John Piper, and J. Ligon Duncan III call readers to herald a common refrain: Do not underestimate the gospel, and do not underestimate the God of this gospel.

In K–12 education, your job title or place of work should not prevent you from offering unique insights and pathways for creating change. You have a voice. Working in education today is to continually be on the precipice of change. However, far too many educators don't recognize the power they have to control and shape that change into what’s best for students. Individual contributions create collective change, and you are an integral part of the change inevitably happening around you. With that in mind, Ashley Lamb-Sinclair invites you to identify and examine your personal leadership style (or change archetype), which includes what motivates you, how you respond to adversity, how you position yourself in the larger story, how you help move that story forward, and how you deal with the unexpected. How do you create change? You might be a * Diplomat if you build relationships and value fairness and integrity. * Champion if you are passionate about a cause and advocate for people and ideals. * Creative if you approach things through novelty and ingenuity. * Storyteller if you are thoughtful, attentive to details, and a clear communicator. * Inventor if you are a forward thinker who operates through free experimentation. * Sage if you are perceptive, insightful, and persuasive. * Investigator if you have an analytical curiosity, ask probing questions, and conduct thorough research. * Guardian if you have compassion for and are drawn to nurture and protect others. Many schools tend to ignore or underestimate the powerful catalysts for change that exist in their buildings. Don't let the change story continue without its most vital character—you! Find the lightning bolts of lasting change only you can wield. Become unstoppable!