Credible and Discerning Depictions of Disability
- harrisonse
- Sep 21, 2020
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 25, 2020
Just Ask!
Summary
Just Ask! does an incredible job at introducing several common diverse abilities that young students may encounter in the world. The primary message of this story is that everyone is different and if you do not understand that is okay, just ask! Several different disabilities, such as asthma, dyslexia, and autism are described through the anecdotes that are shared by different children in the story. Each of these excerpts describe the disabilities in a way that is easy for the reader to understand, explaining how it affects the child’s life and how they work to overcome their disability. This normalizes individuals with disabilities rather than focusing on how different they may make people. To conclude the story, Sotomayor summarizes the main idea from the story by comparing each of our differences to the differences we see in a garden. She states that just like the garden, all of the ways we are different make our world more interesting.
My Thoughts
As someone who is passionate about accepting others for their differences I loved this story! The author and illustrator worked together to create meaningful stories and captivating images that would aid the reader in understanding several different common disabilities. Telling the story through children’s experiences will help younger readers especially in understanding and accepting individuals who have disabilities. It truly is important for us to take the time and ask questions rather than jumping to conclusions when we do not understand something. I think this message is equally important for the adults and children who read this story because it will lead to a more accepting world.
Recently I listened to an NPR podcast interview with both Sonia Sotomayor and Rafael Lopez, the two great minds behind Just Ask! These individuals are members of #OWNvoices because they are each a part of a marginalized group. In this interview they each share their personal experiences that inspired them while creating this amazing picture book. Sotomayor described a personal anecdote of a time when she was judged for her disability. She was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes which means that in order for her body to be healthy she needed to give herself insulin shots. While administering her insulin one day, a woman made a comment about how she was a drug addict using drugs. Instead of asking her what she was doing, which is the main idea presented in this story, the woman made a crude judgement about Sotomayor. Lopez can also relate to feeling different or excluded because of your disability as he struggled with dyslexia in school and has a son who is on the autism spectrum. Both Sotomayor and Lopez wanted to work together on this book because they know how important it is to understand the challenges that people face, such as having a disability.
For more information about the author visit the link below:
For more information about the illustrator visit the link below:
Here you can find an interview with the author and illustrator about the book:
A Boy Called Bat
Summary
A Boy Called Bat by Elana Arnold is a sweet story about a young boy named Bat who loves animals. Bat is fascinated by all animals and loves to learn about them any chance he can. Throughout the story you will notice that Bat navigates his world a bit differently than other people because he is on the autism spectrum. Although this is never stated in the book, you can make this inference by analyzing the different things Bat does in his everyday life. This story begins with Bat and his family living their lives as normal until one day his mother, who is a veterinarian, came home with a surprise that would amaze him; a baby skunk! Since Bat wanted to be a veterinarian like his mother, he was thrilled for the opportunity to take care of a skunk kit all on his own. His goal throughout the story was to convince his mother to keep the skunk until they could release it into the wild instead of handing it over to a wildlife center in a few short weeks. Everyday all he could think about was the baby skunk, named Thor, and how much he would enjoy taking care of it for as long as possible. We see Bat learn more and more about baby skunks and how to care for them throughout this story. Luckily for Bat, at the end of the story his mother decides that she will let him continue taking care of the skunk until it is ready to be released.
My Thoughts
One of the things I loved most about this book is that it never explicitly stated that Bat had any kind of disability. This will keep the reader from defining this character by his disability which I think is incredibly important. It can be easy to label someone using their disability rather than seeing the disability as an underlying part of who they are. Since I have taken courses to understand the autism spectrum I could determine this was the disability being portrayed in the novel but realizing this was not crucial to the story. I appreciated how Bat’s behaviors, such as flapping his arms or avoiding eye contact, were normalized in this story. The author wrote about them in a way that made these behaviors seem so reasonable; if you are excited you may feel like flapping your arms or if you are upset with someone you may not be comfortable looking them in the eye.
For more information about the author visit the link below:
For more information about the illustrator visit the link below:
After reading each of these texts I analyzed them using a few guiding questions to determine any affordances or challenges I noticed. For Just Ask! I appreciated how the goal of describing each of the disabilities was not for the reader to feel sympathy toward the individual, but it was to educate them on that specific disability so they could begin to understand it. Although I wish even more disabilities could have been included, I realize that would be a lot of information presented to the reader at one time. I would love a sequel to this book that included even more disabilities because texts like this are important to include into your classroom library. When looking at A Boy Called Bat, I felt like I really got to know Bat while I was reading. I learned about his likes and dislikes, his passions, his friends and family, and how he perceives the world. Arnold did an incredible job at providing these details about Bat, not just focusing on his disability, which will allow the reader to view him as a person rather than a person with a disability.
Schneider Family Book Award:
The War That Saved My Life
Summary
Compared to the previous two texts I have discussed, this novel discusses a child with a disability but using a more serious tone. The novel The War That Saved My Life was based on the events that were occurring during World War II in London. Ada is the main character of the story and we hear about the hardships she endured relating to her club foot. Ada’s mother is embarrassed by her daughter’s disability and refuses to allow her to leave her bedroom, even for school. She spends each day in isolation, watching the world go by day after day through only a window. Eventually, after Ada and her brother Jamie were forced to evacuate their mother’s home because of what was happening in the world, they ended up in a much more accepting home that belonged to a woman named Susan. Susan was able to provide the children with a loving home where they received anything they needed, including unconditional love. This was the life Ada had been longing for. She was able to experience new things under the care of Susan, and was finally able to feel loved by her caretaker.
My Thoughts
While reading about the hardships Ada faced while being isolated from the outside world I was not only able to understand how she felt but also how unfair her treatment was. She was truly just like any child, she just had a disability that made some everyday tasks more challenging. As I was reading my heart ached for Ada because she deserved just like any other child to be able to go outside to explore, make friends, and receive an education. Although it could be easy to feel sorry for someone experiencing Ada’s struggles, I felt empowered as I read about her bravery when she was teaching herself how to walk. I could see how strong she was as she pushed through the pain to overcome her greatest obstacle. Once she began living with Susan you could see even more of her true personality shining through. She was building a new relationship with someone who truly cared for her and you could see her beginning to open up as the story continued. After analyzing this book I would conclude that it is a humanizing text to share with students because of how Ada’s experiences and feelings are explained.
Questions:
When looking at the front cover what do you notice? Do you notice anything about the girl? Can you infer what this book is about based on the cover?
Why is freedom such an important concept in this story? What does it mean to be free? What do you think it would mean for Ada to be free?
How are Ms. Smith and Ada’s mother different? Can you think of any ways they are similar?
How did Ada change throughout the story? What personality traits would you use to describe her at the beginning of the book? What about at the end of the book?
For more information about the author visit the link below:
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