German linguist, Doctor of Social Science, lecturer at the Opole University of Technology.

At home she’s the mum of Natalia and Franek, who is disabled. She chronicles all the joys and woes of her four-person family on her blog “Brave Franek”. The experience of being the mum of a disabled child and hours of conversations with other parents and children convinced her to write Big Issues in Little Heads.

Big issues... is the first book of its kind in Poland – written for children and adults, containing stories told by disabled children. A child who asks questions – including ones that are awkward for adults – such as: Why can’t he walk/talk/hear? always wants the same thing: to know and understand the world. And when they receive calm, matter-of-fact answers they understand that the world is diverse and people can be different. This book helps “little heads” (and often “big” ones) to go further – it helps them see that there’s more to disabled people than their differences and physical challenges. This book’s first edition achieved great popularity, showing how necessary it is to explain the world on our doorstep which we sometimes do our best to ignore.