Never Ever Give Up Hope

When the pediatrician placed the measuring tape around her infant’s head and noted, “His head is a little small,” Joanne De Simone knew that motherhood wouldn’t be as she had dreamt. After a devastating diagnosis, she was not prepared to raise a child with life-limiting brain malformation – and then her second child was diagnosed with autism. Joanne De Simone is a graduate of Hunter College with degrees in dance and special education. After dancing professionally, she dedicated her life to teaching children with disabilities and supporting families. “It’s realizing that we live simultaneously in love and grief. In the end, dance teaches us not only how to move freely through pain but also how to fall and recover.” Her story will grip your heart as she shares how this struggle drove her to reconnect with the lessons she learned as a modern dancer.   Special educator Joanne De Simone bears all in this raw and transformative memoir that captures how she used lessons of modern dance in her journey through mo