Learning About Disability
Knowledge is power and when we know more we can do better. As much as I have been trying to diversify my reading life there has been a big gap. I have not read many books written by authors with a disability or about disability itself. The team at FOLDKids, as always, comes up big by recommending The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt with illustrations by Belle Wuthrich.
Although this remarkable text is marketed to kids, specifically middle graders and teens, I truly believe it’s a book for ALL readers, most especially adults. There is so much that able bodied people don’t understand and cannot appreciate about disability and this comprehensive text lays it all out for readers in a way that is really easy to understand. Broken into six different sections readers learn about different types of disabilities, some history and disability culture as well as how technology and advocacy is changing the way persons with a disability (PWD) navigate a world build for able bodied people.
As an able bodied person there are times when my children ask questions and want to know about the world around them. Since reading The Disability Experience, I have confidence I am providing them with correct information about disability. There is a ton of work still to do and advocacy still needs to be front and centre. Since COVID has forced many organizations to provide accessible ways for people to perform their jobs, it’s vital that those programs continue to be in place to support PWDs. The more decision makers understand the impacts of policy decisions the more accommodating experiences will be for all. If you have a work place book club, if you are a teacher, if you are an employee who would like to see their workplace be more accommodating, provide your co-workers with a book like The Disability Experience to help guide understanding and policy.
Teachers, please read this book and share it with your students. The information within these pages will help to combat ableist thinking and language and to help demystify disability.
