Children with Diverse Abilities in Literature

This week I read two texts that feature children with diverse abilities. As a TA in a self contained Autism classroom I was so excited to see characters that shared similarities with my students featured in the texts! It made my heart so happy and excited to share these two books with my coworkers and students.

A Boy Called Bat

by Elana K. Arnold, illustrated by Charles Santoso

Summary:

Bat stands for Bixby Alexander Tam. Bat lives with his mom and sister and every other weekend Bat and his sister Janie go stay with their dad, One day Mom comes home late from work and she has a surprise for Bat and Janie. Mom is a veterinarian and she brought home a newborn baby skunk! Bat loves learning facts about animals so having an animal come to live with him is very exciting. He does lots of research about skunks and even emails a skunk expert about if he should be able to keep Thor, the skunk, as a pet. In this story Bat is learning about how to be a good caretaker and about friendship. Bat has never had a friend that is another kid before, he's only had adult friends. A student in Bat's class, Israel, takes an interest in getting to know Bat and his baby skunk. The story ends with Bat's mom allowing Bat to keep Thor for a little longer before releasing him into the wild and with Bat having a new friend and fellow skunk lover, Israel.

Reflection:

I have so many connections to this text, it's unreal! Right now I am working as a TA in a self-contained Autism classroom. All of my students range from low to medium functioning. Many of Bat's characteristics reminded me of a different characteristic each of my students also have. Elana Arnold is 100% correct when she says "If you've met one person with Autism, you've met one person with Autism" during an interview she did on the Making Neurodiversity Visible podcast by KidLit. No two people with Autism are exactly the same, they may share a similar characteristic but they are all so diverse! Bat's fascination with animals reminded me of one of my own student's fascination with ceiling fans. This student is literally an expert on ceiling fans, he can tell you the make and model, how many ceiling fans are in the school, and he can even tell you what speed setting the fan is on just by looking at it! This same student can also tell you what day of the week you were born on if you tell him your birthday. Each of my students has a different ability that makes them unique like Bat. In the book when Bat is experiencing a sensory overload and needs to put on his earmuffs it reminds me of another student in my classroom that has to do the same thing to focus and regulate his sensory intake. Bat does not represent every child with Autism, but this text does do a good job of representing Bat's thoughts and feelings when he is dealing with sensory regulation and discerning social interactions. Elana's descriptions and dialogue give the reader a peak into the mind of one person with Autism and it is a very insightful glimpse.

A personal connection that I have to the text is when I was in 8th or 9th grade, a tornado touched down near where I lived and tossed a baby flying squirrel out of its nest! Luckily my dad found it before my cat got a hold of him! So like Bat, my family and I, took in this adorable baby flying squirrel to try to save him. We couldn't be sure if he was sick or had any broken bones from his fall out of the tree, but we did our best to help him grow big and strong and he did! We named him Rocky, like from Rocky and Bullwinkle. We had to feed him puppy formula like Bat used to feed Thor and teach Rocky how to use the bathroom by rubbing his bum with a damp cotton swab. Rocky, like Thor liked to be carried in a pouch. We would put Rocky inside of sweatshirt pockets or fold up the bottom quarter of our shirt and tie it tight with a hair band to make him feel snug and secure. Reading this book gave me so many memories of my family's time spent raising Rocky. Neither of my parents are veterinarians, but my dad's mom had a big heart for taking care of left behind or wounded critters. Her passion for caring for animals has been passed down to my dad, myself, and my sister.

Affordances and Challenges:

This text has so many intriguing aspects. It has a unique story line, features animals, represents a child with diverse abilities, displays Autism in one person, and has some illustrations! One of the most exciting things about reading a chapter book is when they still have illustrations every now and then. I love getting to see what the other chooses to highlight through illustration and I am a visual person so any opportunity I get to connect written text with visual representation is very appreciated. The challenges of this text are that it is a chapter book. Most of the kids in my classroom are still working on CVC words or they can read fluently but cannot comprehend anything above a 1st grade reading level. I would love to let them read a text like this so that they can see themselves in literature, but it isn't in their current range. I'm sure there are other students with Autism that would be able to read a text at this level and it would be beneficial for them to do so! I also think it would be great for neurotypical children to read this text as well. It gives them a glimpse into the mind of one student with Autism, which can help neurotypical students develop understanding, empathy, and kindness for students and people in their lives who have Autism.

Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You

By Sonia Sotomayor, illustrated by Rafael López

Summary:

This book gives the reader a representation of each of the following diverse abilities: diabetes, asthma, mobility, deafness, blindness, dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), stutters, Tourette's Syndrome, ADHD, and Down Syndrome. Each child with a disability gets their own page to share about their disability, their strengths, and what they contribute to the garden. By the end of the text, the garden is full of bright, beautiful, and unique flowers. This is a metaphor for what all people no matter their abilities offer to the world and to the classroom.

Reflection:

The illustrations in this text are incredible! Illustrator, Rafael López, was very critically aware of the populations of people he was attempting to represent and spent time reflecting on his own encounters with people with diverse abilities and research to create the most accurate and authentic illustrations possible for this text. López has a son with ASD and I particularly love the pages in this book that are dedicated to Autism.

My favorite aspect of the pages about Autism is that they demonstrate how ASD can be differently displayed in each person. I have students that express their Autism more similarly to Jordan and some more similarly to Tiana. This shows the reader two people with Autism, so the reader can say they have seen two people with Autism. This still doesn't represent all people with Autism but it does show the reader some of the qualities and characteristics that some people with Autism can have but don't always have.

Affordances and Challenges:

This text does a wonderful job of representing a plethora of disabilities, but it does not represent every single one. It does do a good job of really solidifying the metaphor that we all have something unique to offer in the garden of life even if we are different from others. This text also normalizes the idea of "just ask[ing]" someone instead of making assumptions. The affordances of this text include: beautiful illustrations, reflective questions, and understandable introductions to several disabilities and what they can look like. Another big affordance is that this picture book would be a fantastic read aloud, there are so many colors and questions and thought provoking representations that I think no matter the grade level, students will be engaged. The challenge of this text is "wordy" pages (not the greatest book to have low to mid elementary students read independently, it would have to be a class read aloud). Other than that I think this text is really terrific and is a necessary text to have in your classroom library.

An Additional Representation:

My Brother Otto by Meg Raby, illustrated by Alea Elisa Pallmer

You can read this text for free on Epic!

How is the life of the character with a disability presented as multidimensional?

Otto is a crow who has ASD. He has behaviors and expressions that differ from neurotypical crows but he still enjoys playing, learning, making friends, and being loved by his family. Autism does not define who Otto is, Otto's interests do.

Whose voice is represented and emphasized in the telling of this story?

Piper is the narrator of this story, but she tells it with so much love and empathy for her brother. Piper also acts as an advocate for her brother to the reader. She addresses that some of Otto's actions might make him look like he isn't listening or that he doesn't care, but in fact he does and he is doing those things to self regulate and soothe his sensory needs. Piper's explanations give readers the opportunity to see how seemingly everyday things can be perceived differently by others and challenges us to consider how what we are perceiving might be different from someone with ASD.

How are readers positioned to think and feel about the character with a disability?

Readers are positioned to think twice about their judgments when they see children that react to everyday life differently than themselves. The text encourages the reader to empathetically and lovingly consider what a person with ASD might be experiencing and that their actions might be a reflection of sensory regulation not disrespect or meanness. Overall, readers are positioned to feel and think positively about Otto.

What steps has the author taken to create and present authentic relationships?

Meg Raby is a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) MA and has a certification in Autism Spectrum Disorders. As an SLP, many of Meg's clients are people with Autism. She has worked closely with the disability represented and studied it as well. This gives her a valid credibility for writing this text. She is not an #OwnVoices author, but does have experience with the population she is representing in her this text.

Why I like this book:

I really enjoyed this book after hearing about it on the Making Neurodiversity Visible podcast by KidLit. It really is the perfect text to share with younger elementary students (maybe older ones too!) to introduce them to ASD and how it may be observed in people they interact with. It is not an award winner but I still think it does a fantastic job educating young children about what children with Autism can experience and why they might do what they do. The book does this in a kind and empathetic way that models to students how I hope they will interact with and build relationships with children who have Autism.

Classroom Applications:

Using all three books together as a set, teachers can

1. Introduce the perspective and open the discussion by reading My Brother Otto

2. Reinforce the initial ideas and aspects by reading A Boy Called Bat and use it to explore another person with Autism's perspective

3. Conclude with Just Ask! and use it to create a classroom garden

The garden activity will have students reflect on different interests, labels, and qualities that they think define them. Each student will create a self portrait to put in the center of their flower (or you can use a picture of the student) and they will also write the interests, labels, and qualities they brainstormed about on each petal. Once everyone has made their flower as a class, we can discuss how we are all made up of lots of different components, we are not just one thing, we are many. The discussion can deepen to encompass how people with Autism or other disabilities are not defined by their disability, they are defined by all of the many other aspects that make them themselves! Then all of the flowers can be placed on the bulletin board in the hall or in the classroom and your class will have a reminder of all that they learned through their exploration of children with diverse abilities in literature and in life!

Authors and Illustrators

Elana Arnold, Author of A Boy Called Bat

Charles Santoso, Illustrator of A Boy Called Bat

Sonia Sotomayor, Author of Just Ask!

Rafael López, Illustrator of Just Ask!

Meg Raby, Author of My Brother Otto

Elisa Pallmer, Illustrator of My Brother Otto instagram

(her website is currently down, but I will link it when it is fixed!)

More resources

KidLit podcast featuring interview with Elana Arnold

Sonia Sotomayor and Rafael López interview

A blog that features an interview with Elana Arnold