User:Satritt/Disability in children's literature

Disability in children's literature is a subject that has been the focus of changing attitudes in broader society since the 1970s. Disability representation in children’s literature has evolved since the 19th century along with changing societal attitudes. However, disability representation is still a modern issue. A 2011 World Report on Disability conducted by the World Health Organization found that around 15% of the global population, 1 billion people, have a disability. And yet in 2019 only 3.4% of children's books had disabled main characters. Disabilities may include physical, cognitive, mental, health, sensory or learning difficulties, and may range from severe to mild. The quality of disability representation can vary depending on the specific disability portrayed. Even though society has included more diverse characters with disabilities, this representation must be handled with care to avoid promoting existing negative stereotypes.

19th century
Professor Ian Davidson and colleagues analyzed the depiction of disabled characters in a collection of 19th children’s literature from the Toronto Public Library. The researchers found certain common characteristics of disability representation in 19th-century children’s literature. Disabled characters rarely appeared as individuals, instead depicted as impersonal groups. They were reduced to five oversimplified categories: the diseased or extremely sick, the “crippled” and “deformed”, the blind, the “deaf” or “mute”, and the broad category of the “insane” or ‘mad”. The language used to describe disabled characters was often patronizing or offensive. Disabled characters were often made to suffer and were poorly treated by other characters.

Oxford Professor Ann Dowker describes how in many 19th-century books, disability representation was often vague and unclear. This lack of description results in a highly inaccurate depiction of disability that was based heavily on stereotypes. Disability representation was also often tied to moral character. For example in Katy Did (1872), the main character Katy’s disability is depicted as an opportunity presented by God to experience the “School of Pain” through which she will learn important moral lessons. Other disabled characters, such as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol (1843), were depicted as saintly and pure.

Hans Christian Andersen's work present the opportunity to explore disability representation in 19th-century fairy tales. Dr. Vivian Yenika-Agbaw found that in these fairy tales, the relationship between disabled and able-bodied characters was defined by power imbalances. She argues that these relationships reinforced existing societal hierarchies. In four of Andersen’s fairy tales—The Little Mermaid (1837), The Brave Tin Soldier (1838), Little Tiny or Thumbelina (1835), and The Ugly Duckling (1843)—the character’s place in the social hierarchy was determined by their disability. In all of these examples the disabled character was portrayed as “other” and at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Though these problematic themes were common, not all disability representation in 19th-century children’s literature was harmful. Dowker identifies a few examples in 19th-century literature in which the disabled characters were not helpless or saintly. The Pillars of the House (1873), The Clever Woman of the Family (1865), and The Fifth Form at St Dominics (1887) contain multidimensional disabled characters.

The majority of 19th century disability representation reduced disabled characters to the “other” while preaching messages of obedience to God’s will and moral lessons taught through suffering.

20th century
The 20th-century brought changes in laws regarding disabled individuals, resulting in a shift in public attitudes towards disability. Beginning in the 1970s, the United States Congress passed several Acts to legally protect the right of children and adults with disabilities to be included in schools and the workforce. With the integration of children with disabilities into public schools, educators, librarians and publishers took a new interest in children's literature that dealt with disability in a balanced, accurate, and constructive way. Overall growth in public awareness of disability and its portrayal in the media supported a trend towards more detailed medical descriptions of conditions in juvenile literature. Barbara Holland Baskin and Karen H. Harris conducted influential research into the portrayal of disability in children and youth literature in the late 1970s. They published the seminal study Notes from a Different Drummer (1977), followed by More Notes from a Different Drummer (1984).

Trends in children’s literature at the time reflected the changes in public attitudes towards disability. For example, Judy Blume shows the experience of a teenage girl diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis in Deenie (1973). The protagonist, Deenie, faces the challenges brought by having to wear a body brace during her treatment, which impacts her perceptions of herself and those of her family and fellow students. Deenie does not overcome the disability by the end of the story, nor is she defeated by it; the conclusion more realistically shows her continuing to face challenges and learning to adjust to them.

Other books from this time period depict characters with “hidden disabilities.” Examples include Petra Mathers' Sophie and Lou (1991), about extreme shyness that is an emotional and social disability, and Caroline Janover's The Worst Speller in Jr. High (1995) about a boy with dyslexia. In fiction for older youth, disability has recently been dealt with in complex situations with nuanced techniques such as multiple-perspective narrative; an example is Erika Tamar 's Fair Game (1993), about a group of male students who repeatedly sexually assault an intellectually disabled girl at their school.

Bibliographer Debra Robertson, who wrote Portraying Persons with Disabilities: An Annotated Bibliography of Fiction for Children and Teenagers (1992), pointed out in the early 1990s that not every disability has to be a "metaphor for a protagonist's development", and the tendency of writers to romanticize or stigmatize medical conditions in this way is a persistent problem in juvenile literature.: 69–71

21st century
Every two years, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) publish a list of books for and about young people with disabilities. Stand out titles from the 2021 IBBY selection include The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor, The Good Hawk by Joseph Elliot, Heit Som de Andre by Annie Bahnson, Talking is Not My Thing! by Rose Robbins, No Somos Angelitos by Gusti, and many others.

Despite improvements in disability representation, 21st century children’s literature still includes negative stereotypes and harmful language. In an empirical analysis of a sample of children's literature, Professor Angharad Beckett and colleagues analyzed 100 children’s books for representation of disabled characters. They identified 15 books in this sample that actively worked against negative stereotypes of disabled characters. However, they identified various problematic themes in their sample including outdated language, views of disability as a tragedy, unrealistic “happily ever after” endings, depictions of disabled characters as oddities or freaks, and the “School of Pain '' theme. Some of these problematic themes, specifically the “School of Pain '' motif, have been present in children’s literature for centuries.

Despite these problems, researchers and librarians are actively invested in evaluating the literature that children are exposed to for positive disability representation. Today, disability in juvenile literature is a standard topic included in bibliographies, research, criticism, and review sources. Several bibliographies and studies reviewing fiction and non-fiction have been produced in the years since.

Features of harmful disability representation
The inclusion of disabled characters in literature can perpetuate harmful stereotypes if not done correctly. Throughout history, there have been many ways that inclusion of disabled characters was harmful. Most often they were not included in stories and when they were, many negative stereotypes prevailed, such as characters who were pitiful or pathetic, evil or superheroes, or a burden and incapable of fully participating in the events of everyday life. Often the difference or disability was the main personality trait emphasized to the reader, not a balance of strengths and weaknesses. Blaska, 1996. : 69

The article "Disability Bias in Children’s Literature" identifies common problematic stereotypes in the depiction of disabled characters in children’s literature.


 * Person with a disability portrayed as pitiable and pathetic — ex: Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol
 * Person with a disability as the object of violence — ex: Of Mice and Men
 * Person with a disability as sinister and/or evil — ex: Captain Hook in Peter Pan
 * Person with a disability used as peripheral atmosphere — ex: The amputee brother in Betsy Byar's, Summer of the Swans
 * Person with a disability is depicted as an overachiever or given extra powers — ex: people with disabilities endowed with superpowers
 * Person with a disability as a joke or gimmick — ex: person who is visually impaired becomes the brunt of many jokes and pranks
 * Person with a disability as his/her own and only worst enemy — ex: Clara in Heidi 
 * Person with a disability as a burden — ex: A Glass Menagerie
 * Person with a disability never depicted in romantic relationships — ex: Flowers for Algeron
 * Person with a disability unable to fully participate in life — ex: Whose Life Is It Anyway
 * Person with a disability is portrayed as a loner or isolated — ex: To Kill A Mockingbird

Features of positive disability representation
Professors Alicia Rieger and Ewa McGrail discuss how authentic disability representation portrays disability as a part of the character, rather than making it their entire identity. Dr. Monica Kleekamp and Dr. Angie Zapata introduce four guiding questions for evaluating disability representation in children’s literature:


 * How is the life of the character with a disability presented as multidimensional?
 * Disabled characters should not be defined by labels and stereotypes but should be as developed and nuanced as the other characters. Ex: Kami and the Yaks by Andrea Stenn Stryer (2007)
 * Whose voice is represented and emphasized in the telling of this story?
 * When a book is told from the point of view of the disabled character the representation is often more humanizing. Ex: Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz (2014)
 * How are readers positioned to think and feel about the character with a disability?
 * Humanizing representation involves a balance between moments where the character is ostracized and moments of agency. Ex: The Girl Who Thought in Pictures by Julia Finley Mosca (2017)
 * What steps has the author taken to create and present authentic relationships?
 * Relationships and friendships should be built on enjoyment and shared interests giving them a genuine feel. Ex: Kami and the Yaks by Andrea Stenn Stryer (2007)

Additional examples of children's books with positive disability representation include:


 * Silent Dancer by Bruce Hlibok (1981)
 * Making Room for Uncle Joe by Ada B. Litchfield (1984)
 * Between Friends by Sheila Garrique (1978)
 * My Mother is Blind by Margaret Reuter (1979)
 * Do you remember the color blue by Sally Hobart Alexander (2000)
 * Waiting for no one by Beverly Brenna (2011)
 * Wendy on wheels saves the day by Angela Ruzicka (2011)

Importance of disability representation
Books are an important tool through which children can learn about the world around them and reflect on themselves. It's important for children to read about characters who have disabilities, as it helps promote acceptance and empathy. Representation in literature can have a significant impact on the children reading it, whether they personally have experienced disability or not. Stereotypes of disabilities could also cause children to misunderstand and view disabilities in a negative way.

Professors Linda Gilmore and Glenn Howard argue that children’s literature is an important opportunity to prompt awareness and acceptance of individuals with disabilities. Positive disability representation can also combat existing negative stereotypes. Professor Donna Adomat studied changes in student perception and behavior following discussions of books that include characters with disabilities. This study found that students’ treatment of classmates with disabilities improved following this discussion. Furthermore, disabled students' perceptions of themselves improved.

Dr. Kathy Saunders discusses the possible benefits of analyzing children’s literature through a disability studies lens. Saunders emphasizes that these books have the power to shape societal attitudes towards disability. She argues that the social model of disability could be a useful tool for analyzing children’s literature. This model and other disability studies tools can help evaluate the quality of disability representation to ensure that children are exposed to positive representation.

Illustrated depictions of disability
Dr. Emily Hayden and Dr. Angela Prince discuss disability representation in children’s picture books highlighting the fact that a strength-based depiction of disabled characters is rare. They emphasize that illustrations should also be examined for stereotypes and harmful representations. This study looked for illustrations that were realistic, showed the distinctive personality of the character with a disability, and depicted the disabled character as actively engaged with their environment.

Kleekamp and Zapata present three examples of picture books that include positive disability representation:


 * The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca
 * Kami and the Yaks by Andrea Stenn Stryer
 * A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz

Blindness
Independent researcher Patricia Kirtley describes how blindness has often been depicted in literature as compensation for some great power. This frame diminishes the accomplishment of the individual, reducing the feat to chance or good fortune. When examining the representation of visual impairment in children’s literature, Kirtley found some positive results. This study highlights the following books for their positive representation of blind characters:


 * “The Seeing Sick”, Jane Yolen
 * “Through Grandpa’s Eyes”, Patricia MacLaughlin
 * “Louis Braille: The Blind Boy Who Wanted to Read”, Dennis Fraden
 * “Knots on a Counting Rope”, Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambaul
 * “The Black Book of Colors”, Menena Cottin

Kirtley argues that these texts should be implemented in classrooms to promote positive discussions about disability.

Dr Lois Keith noted that the portrayal of blind individuals was in excess of their actual numbers in the real population. Blindness was noted as being the most common disability among African-American characters in children's fiction, used as a plot device to represent the ability to see beyond racial prejudices, making the disability secondary to its significance as a plot device.

The Credo Reference entry on Disability Bias in Children’s Literature mentions the blind character in Summer Dreams by Barbara Conklin as an example of negative disability representation. The blind character is one dimensional with their disability being shown as a burden and the source of all their problems.

Mobility impairment
In the Credo Reference, Arlene Sacks includes examples of both positive and negative mobility impairment representation in children’s literature.

Positive representation:


 * Run, Don't Walk by Harriet Savitz (1979)
 * Darlene by Eloise Greenfield (1980)

Harmful representation:


 * Nick Joins by Joe Lasker (1980)
 * The Promise of Moonstone by Pat Engebrecht (1983)

Children’s literature in Spain
Professor Cristina Cañamares Torrijos explored disability representation in Spanish children’s literature, finding that the number of available books with disabled characters increased with the age of the reader. Physical disabilities were the most commonly represented type of disability in this sample. When the main character is disabled, the representation is often well balanced and developed. When there are multiple main characters and only one is disabled, the representation relies more heavily on stereotypes.

Some of the books explored in this study include:


 * El robo del caballo de madera by Aguirre Bellver (1989)
 * El saltamontes verde by Matute (1986)
 * Loco como un pájaro by Pelot (1986)
 * La gorra by Carbo (2000)
 * Óyeme con los ojos by Dias (2001)

Children’s literature in Greece
An analysis of 50 Greek children’s books published after 1990 revealed key themes about disability representation. Disabled characters in Greek children’s books are presented as separate from the group, incorporated through a connection to other characters, grouped with other disabled or different characters, or are depicted as brave or unique. In 2010, Cyprus schools implemented the New National Curriculum which suggested that diversity topics should be explored through literature. However, there are inconsistencies in how teachers and schools talk about disability. Current lists containing Greek children’s books with disability representation either rely on stereotypes or are not evaluated for quality of representation. Therefore, the current system for implementing inclusive literature in Greek-Cypriot schools is in need of improvement.