Select Publications
Books
I Don’t Disability And Other Lies I’ve Told Myself: a memoir-in-essays (Dundurn Press, 2024)
Anthologies
“Turning Down Syndrome Into Art”, edited by Penizen Collective, Bad Artist anthology, (TouchWood Editions, Brindle & Glass, 2024)
“The Mushroom,” edited by Leslie Means, So God Made a Mother (Tyndale House, April 2023)
“The Giving Tree”, edited by Jen Sookfong Lee & Stacey Vowels, Good Mom On Paper (Book*hug Press, May 2022)
“Untethered”, edited by Lisa Browning, Animals and Our Emotional Wellbeing: Personal Stories About Our Best Friends and Their Impacts on Our Lives (One Thousand Trees, 2021)
Literary Journals
“Navel-Gazing, A Revolution & A Love Story: The Importance of the Self and Stories of the Marginalized,” craft essay, The Humber Literary Review (Spring/Summer Volume 11, Issue 1, 2023)
“Cuppie,” poetry, Prairie Fire (Winter Issue, 2023)
Newspapers
One Commonly Used Word We Need to Release into the Abyss of History, The Toronto Star, 2024
Down Syndrome Families Want Change Worth Celebrating, The Toronto Star, 2021
An Outsider’s Perspective, The Madawaska Valley Current, 2020
No excuses for denying education to children with Down syndrome, The Toronto Star, 2020
Should the life of my daughter with Down syndrome be valued less?, The Toronto Star, 2020
My Daughter’s Wild and Precious Life living with Down syndrome, The Toronto Star, 2018
21 Reasons I love my kid with Down syndrome, The Hamilton Spectator, 2017
Magazines
I Don’t Do Disability And Other Lies I’ve Told Myself: one parent’s pathway to confronting her own ableism and becoming an advocate for individuals with Down syndrome, 3.21 Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Summer 2024
Classmates: Building Friendships at School, 3.21 Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Fall 2023
Start Your Own Writing Retreat, WRITE: The Magazine of The Writer’s Union of Canada, Summer 2023
Practical Tips for the Aging Caregiver, 3.21 Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Summer 2023
Hospitalized: Down Syndrome and Medical Complexity, 3.21: Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Spring 2022
Empowering Women Writers: The Write Retreat, Stories, October 2021
The Wonder of Words: Second Language Learning for Individuals with Down Syndrome, 3.21 Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Fall 2021
Like It’s Your Business: Building Entrepreneurial Skills Into Everyday Life, 3.21: Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Summer 2021
You and Your School: Starting the year off right, 3.21: Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Fall 2020
Home Sweet Home: Your Summer Staycation, 3.21: Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Summer 2020
A World of Possibilities: globetrotting with Elyse, 3.21: Canada’s Down Syndrome Magazine, Spring 2020
No Holding Back: living life to the fullest with our daughter with Down syndrome, Grey Bruce Kids, Spring 2020
What I See When I Look at my Daughter with Down Syndrome, Broadview Magazine, November 4, 2019
Online Media (Guest Blogs)
On Writing Retreats, Brevity’s Nonfiction Blog, October 12, 2021
Dear New Parent Whose Baby is Hospitalized, Beyond the Beads, February 2021.
Ode to Oreo: Loss, Grief and Down Syndrome, Katiejameson.ca guest post, March 2020
When Educators Underestimate My Child with Down Syndrome, The Mighty, February 24, 2020
How We Frame the Message of a Prenatal Down Syndrome Diagnosis Matters, The Mighty, July 30, 2019
Yes, My Daughter With Down Syndrome Can Learn a Second Language, The Mighty, June 17, 2019
Freelance (Additional Projects)
ISAND Founding Story: Toward the Light, 2021
Defect, commissioned completed book proposal, 2021
Podcasts
Adelle Purdham: Writer, Teacher, Speaker & Advocate for Those of Differing Abilities, Beyond the Beads, Episode 8-1, September 2021.
Adelle Purdham, Author and Parent – Back to School: COVID Edition, The LowDOWN: A Down Syndrome Podcast Podcast, Episode 2-1, September 2020
Radio
Trisomie 21 : créer des liens pour briser les tabous, CBC Radio-Canada, March 21, 2023
La trisomie 21 au-delà des différences, CBC Radio-Canada, March 21, 2018
Some Parents Facing Challenges Enrolling Special Needs Kids Into F.F.L. Schools, by NewsTalk 1290 CJBK, August 18 2016
Talks
“Reclaiming the Narrative,” The World Down Syndrome Congress, Australia, Summer 2024
“The Writing Life,” The Writer’s Union of Canada Writers-In-The-Schools program, 2023
“A World of Possibilities,” The World Down Syndrome Congress, Dubai, 2021
“The Power of Our Stories,” The Writer’s Union of Canada writer-in-the-school program, forthcoming, 2021
“Stories to Mend the Heart,” Canadian Down Syndrome Society Conference speaker, Victoria, B.C., 2019
“A World of Possibilities,” Speaker at various schools (daycares, elementary and secondary) and colleges (Humber and Sheridan College), as well as to various groups (church and rotary) with Special Olympics Athlete Emily Boycott, educating about Down syndrome, empathy, kindness, and the power of our stories, 2012 to Present
Interviews
“Adelle Purdham is Helping Parents Reclaim the Narrative”, The Peterborough Examiner, Front Page; July 9 2024
Mentorship: Part II – Author Roundtable, Open Book, June 17, 2024
Featured Writer: Adelle Purdham, Women Writing, Substack by Liisa Kovala, January 2024
“Waiting To Tell These Stories” King’s MFA Winter 2024 Newsletter with Lana Hall, January 2024
“Those Who Can, Do — And They Also Teach” King’s MFA Spring 2023 Newsletter with Philip Moscovitch, March 2023
The Today Show Halton, The Disability Channel, writing life TV interview with self-advocate Julia Romauldi, 2021
Les défis de la pandémie pour ceux qui vivent avec la trisomie 21 et leurs familles by Isabelle Gobeil, Radio-Canada, Ici Toronto, March 2021
Pandemic prompts fear that people with disabilities will be deprioritized for lifesaving care, by Jack Hauen, QP Briefing, April 3, 2020
Host
The University of King’s College Winter Book Club, in conversation with co-authors Toufah Jallow and Kim Pittaway, March 27, 2023
The University of King’s College MFA residency Coffee Break host, June 2022 & January 2023
Diversity & Disability: Building Imaginary Worlds to Confront Issues of Social Justice, featuring Amanda Leduc & Jael Richardson, Word Vancouver Literary Festival 2021
Working with Pain, featuring Alison Tedford, Word Vancouver Literary Festival 2021
Imaginary Worlds: Literature Panel featuring Rhea Tregebov, Aislinn Hunter, Brian Thomas-Peter, Nazanine Hozar, Word Vancouver Literary Festival 2020
