Final Project Reflection

My final project focuses on people with disabilities within children’s literature. I am a special education major so I thought it was fitting that I learn more about this section of diverse literature. Going into the project I knew that I wanted to find and review books from a range of levels. I read one early childhood book, two early elementary books, and one late elementary-early middle school book. Without knowing it, I also chose books that had a range of severity of the disabilities represented within it. Two books dealt with Down syndrome, We’ll Paint the Octopus Red and My Friend Isabelle, one with Autism, Ian’s Walk, and one with only a physical disability, The Great Quarterback Switch. Each book portrayed the disability in a positive manner and I also found similar themes between the contexts of each.

One main similarity between three of the books was sibling relationships. The Great Quarterback Switch told the story of twin brothers. Neither of them were born with a disability but an accident caused one of the boys to be confined to a wheelchair. The story shows how a relationship can still be strong even after someone’s life is changed forever. We’ll Paint the Octopus Red shows how one child is expecting to do all these things with her new sibling but is unsure if she can since he was born with Down Syndrome. The story explains that with time and patience, her little brother will be able to do anything she wants him to do. Ian’s Walk describes the struggles and responsibility that may come with having a sibling with Autism. Throughout this heartwarming story, you can see the narrator’s growth of acceptance of her brother. Each of these books can be used for different circumstances but they all depict events that occur daily in people’s lives. These books can be beneficial to people who are going through similar situations as well as expose people to the way some families are.

Another similarity between a couple books was that they both dealt with Down syndrome. This issue is close to my heart because my cousin was born with Down syndrome and she is the one that made me want to get into special education. I found that these books were very accurate with their portrayal of children with Down syndrome and I would definitely recommend them, as well as have them in my own library.

Overall, this project has really opened my eyes as to how difficult it is to find diverse literature. So far this semester, we have been given books to read that are from specific multicultural groups. But, actually having to go out and find books on my own allowed me to experience what it will be like when I have my own classroom, which is definitely beneficial to me at this point in my college career.