Informational Essay

When breaking stereotypes in childrens books with characters with special needs,
there are many factors that need to be taken into account. Creating an accurate and safe
environment to read and show students characters with special needs has many steps, but
can be easily done with the proper knowledge through research and what it means to
teach critical literacy in a positive light. First, through multiple sources, critical literacy
can be defined as to allow students to see beyond what is familiar and comfortable for
them. According to Clarke and Whitneys article (2009), by widening this exploration,
students can have a better understanding of others, a greater appreciation of diversity, and
an awareness of how to live in a globalized world (p.534). Another article explained that
giving students background knowledge can increase their interest in critical literature and
can help develop critical thinking about issues that can occur in their lives daily. Teachers
can ask questions throughout a book and even promote a social action project for the
students.
Now that teachers know what critical literacy means, they can search for books that
embrace special needs correctly. According to Brenna, there is a lack of literature that
features protagonists with special needs or disabilities. While many books have
characters with disabilities, many of them need help from other characters that support
the development of the disabled characters growth. These books do not encourage nor
promote stereotypes related to their specific disability and do not represent the right
perspectives of these disabilities either. Moreover, at the end of most of these books, the
character with special needs showed no growth. The common stereotypes that people
have: dependent, they cannot communicate well, disabled persons are not capable,
persistent and that these disabilities are all encompassing. In the article by Dyches, Prater,
and Cramer express that literature should reflect the way people treat a person with
disabilities today. . When children are taught to be accepting in the classroom when they
are young, they are more willing to show their acceptance of others with differences
outside of the classroom for years to come. The authors came up with guidelines for how
a character with disabilities should be written. These characters should be seen in a
positive and realistic light; they should be consistent, multidimensional, growing, and
credible, just like the other characters.
Another article examined books and evaluated them with four topics: characterization
of the individual with the disability, the relationships between the character with the
disability and other, changes in character without the disability character, and lastly,
special topics related to disabilities. Many of these characters were males and are now,
more likely to be portrayed correctly. Lastly, finding books with correct portrayals of
children with disabilities help students who do have disabilities feel more comfortable
when they can see themselves as these characters. In addition, a teacher should provide
books that help students develop acceptance, empathy, and understanding for all students.
After reading these types of books, students without disabilities were better able to
discuss their feelings about disabilities. According to the article called Literature Opens
Doors for All Children (2012), when books communicate that special needs youth are not
alone in the world, they encourage us to accept-not ridicule- the ones who are different
(p. 29). With all this information on how to choose the right books that express special
needs, I hope teachers can make a difference for all of their students.