Inclusion Literature A guide to books for disability awareness - Lecture Notes - United Kingdom Literature - Angharad Beckett and Sam Barrett, Study notes of English Literature

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Angharad Beckett

and Sam Barrett

Inclusion Literature:

A guide to books for disability awareness

Introduction

Research suggests that providing

children with inclusive reading

material is important because it

reflects the increasing social

diversity of their classrooms,

promotes positive attitudes towards

peers of all abilities and, in the case

of disabled children, supports the

development of a positive self-

image.

‘Good’ examples also provide non-

disabled children with accurate

information about the lives of

disabled people and help them to

develop positive attitudes towards

disabled people as members of our

community and wider society.

As part of a wider project that

explores Disability Equality in

English Primary Schools (DEEPS

Project) we have reviewed a range of

resources available to schools and

which might be used as part of

strategies to:

 improve non-disabled children’s

understanding of disability

 help them to develop positive

attitudes towards disabled people.

Disability in the UK: Some facts and figures

Employment:

Employer attitudes: 33% of respondent to a DWP

survey said that hiring a disabled person was a major

risk for an employer and 47% said it would be ‘difficult

to retain an employee who became disabled’

Income:

Disabled people are more likely to live in poverty. Over

27% of individuals in households with one or more

adult of working age have incomes below 60% of

median income.

Housing:

Nearly a quarter of disabled people who need adapted

accommodation do not have it.

Transport:

The national average for accessibility of buses is only

around 30%.

Political Rights:

Over 68% of polling stations at the 2005 general

election were inaccessible to disabled people.

Media Representation:

During an eight week monitoring period national

newspapers used the following words to describe

disabled people: ‘freak’ 10 times; ‘cripple’ 20 times.

All facts and figures taken from the 2006 Scope Report

“Disablist Britain”

http://www.scope.org.uk/downloads/publications/Disa

blism%20audit.pdf

The Social Model of Disability

The DEEPS Project employs and is committed to the

Social Model of Disability, as a valuable ‘tool’ for

gaining insights into the position of disabled people in

the UK.

This model has been embraced by both local and

central government. The model makes an important

distinction between the ‘biological’ and the ‘social’ i.e.

between the barriers facing individuals associated

with their impairments (the ‘biological’) and those that

result from the ways in which society is organised

economically, environmentally and culturally (the

‘social’) and which ‘disable’ people.

 Based on this definition, people do not have

disabilities, they have impairments

 The ‘problem’ of disability is located within

society not the individual

 Disability is therefore a social state and not a

medical condition.

Example of Social Model-type thinking:

'My impairment is the fact that I cannot walk; my disability is the fact that the bus company only purchases inaccessible buses!’

We also considered how the books presented the ‘problems’ facing disabled people and asked the following: When describing the disabled person does the book focus only upon the problems associated with their impairment (i.e. what is different about their body/biology)? Does the book address any of the societal barriers that disabled people face – economic, environmental or cultural? I.e. are disabled people portrayed as sometimes encountering prejudice or problems of access/discrimination? Whilst it is not ‘wrong’ to provide accurate information about the nature and difficulties sometimes associated with impairments, it is also important that societal barriers are mentioned, because these are the things that ‘disable’ people. Finally, we looked out for – and hoped we would find! – portrayals of disability that subvert the stereotypes above and encourage children to view disabled people as valued and active members of a family/school/workplace/community and as multi-dimensional characters who are not defined solely by their disability. On a more gloomy note, we found that 45% of the books that we reviewed contained one or more problematic theme/issue/term. On a cheerier note, we are pleased to report that we DID find some very good texts that avoid the common pitfalls and present disability/disabled people in a positive manner. We would like to share some of the best examples with you!

Suggested Books

Infants: Harter, D. 2000. The Animal Boogie. Barefoot Books. (Disability content fairly minimal – a disabled child is pictured as part of the action. But a positive, fun book.) ISBN 1- 905236 - 22 - 0. Hudson, C. and L. Gardiner. 2006. Dan and Deisel. Red Fox. (An excellent story book about a child who is visually impaired and his guide-dog.) ISBN 0- 99 - 47585 - 5. Moon, N. 1994. Lucy’s Picture. Orchard Books. (An excellent story about a child making a sensory picture for her grandfather who is visually impaired.) ISBN 978- 1 - 85213 - 955 -

Naidoo, B. 1994. Letang and Julie Save the Day. Pearson. And others in series e.g. Trouble for Letang and Julie. (Book about two friends, one of whom is a wheel-chair user. Set within an inclusive classroom/school). ISBN 0- 582 - 12155 - 8. Wilkins, V.A. 1995. Boots for a Bridesmaid. Tamarind. (Story that is not ‘about’ disability, but where Mum is pictured as a wheelchair user and portrayed in a very positive manner.) ISBN 1- 870516 - 30 - 3. Caseley, J. 1991. Harry and Willy and Carrothead. Greenwillow Books. (We suggest that this is an upper infants text and probably best read together with an adult. It is about the inclusion of a child who has a prosthetic arm into a ‘mainstream’ school.) ISBN 10 0- 688 - 09492 - 9. Juniors: Gleitzman, M. 1992. Blabber Mouth. MacMillan. And others in series: Sticky Beak and Gift of the Gab. (Entertaining and well- written stories about a junior age girl who is unable to speak but who attends ‘mainstream’ school in Australia. Great fun and likely to be enjoyed by both girls and boys!) ISBN 0- 330 - 33283 - X.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you have

any questions or comments.

Deeps Project

School of Sociology and Social Policy

University of Leeds

Leeds LS2 9JT

[email protected]

© 2008 Angharad Beckett and Sam Barrett (University of Leeds). FRONT COVER: Clipart licensed from discoveryschool.com OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS: Clipart licensed from discoveryschool.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We are grateful to the ESRC for their financial support for the study upon which this booklet is based (ESRC Ref. RES- 062 - 23 - 0461).