Reflection on this semester

At the beginning of the semester, I didn’t really have a good understanding of what good diverse literature is. I knew what issues of diversity it could entail, but I didn’t really know much more about it. I had never really thought about all the stereotyping that occurs in books and had definitely never really thought about the importance of the author, or making sure I have diverse literature in my own classroom library. These are all things that I have learned so much about over the course of this semester.

Stereotyping is something that can be so easy for authors to do when writing about diverse issues. By stereotyping, it sort of relates to the reader because it discusses common ideas or perceptions people have on a particular topic. But what I have learned is to find those stereotypes within children’s books and make it clear that those stereotypes aren’t always true for every individual that is either from a particular culture or have a particular disability. I just always found myself believing whatever the author wrote about, never thinking of whether or not the author is stereotyping.

Another topic in this class that I learned a lot about is insider/outsider authors. This is something I had never thought about or heard about before this class. It never crossed my mind when I would read books about any topic how the author knows all this information. Are they an insider or an outsider to the particular topic? I again just always believed everything the author was writing about was accurate information. But this class has taught me to really research about authors, especially authors of diverse literature because maybe they really have no previous experience on the diverse issue they’re writing about and are making it all up. This is so important to do in order to have accurate portrayals of diverse literature in my classroom that will give the students a true understanding of the diverse issue instead of something made up by the author.

The last really big idea I have learned this semester is the importance of having diverse literature in my classroom library. I always knew that I needed to have a classroom library, but it really never crossed my mind to make sure I have diverse literature available too. This is so important because it is informing children of diverse issues and making them more accepting of the issues when they’re reading positive portrayals of these issues. But the one thing I have learned about having a diverse classroom library is to take the time to research about books and really read them first before putting them in my library. It wouldn’t be beneficial to my students at all if I were to put books that were either stereotyping throughout the whole thing or representing the diverse issue in a negative way. So I’m going to need to be picky about the books I chose to have in my classroom.

Overall, I have learned so much this semester about diverse literature. This class has changed a lot of my views on particular topics into more positive views. I’m really glad I took this course and learned about each of the diverse topics and got to read some really interesting diverse books.

My text set as a whole...

For our final project, I chose to focus on children's picture books about disabilities. I didn't focus on one particular disability but instead focused on a wide range that represents both positive and negative pieces of diverse literature. It did however take me a long time to find books that were written by insider authors. I know that it's hard to find books written by someone with a disability, but I found ones written by people who work with or have family members with a disability. That's about as close to an insiders as I could get. But I felt as though my text set as a whole has a wide range of books that can be inspirational and informational to all readers.

The majority of my books represented disabilities in a positive way and showed how people can learn how to manage their disability. Almost every book was either an inspirational story, informational story, or sometimes even both. While I tried to find books that were both positive and negative representations of diverse literature, it turned out that only one book was a negative representation, while the others were all positive. In that one particular book, the author was very stereotypical throughout the entire thing. The others seemed to avoid stereotyping which was one of the main reasons why the rest of my text set is considered positive representations of diverse literature.

The authors of the books in my text set are all considered insider authors. Two of the authors wrote stories about their own children with disabilities while the others have been working with people with disabilities form many years and have a lot of experience working in the field. However, one thing I did notice about the authors in my set was that they're all female, which was surprising to me. This children within the books were mixed with both boys and girls, just the authors were all female for some reason.

Overall, my set of books represents a wide range of disabilities. Each book was a quality pice of literature, while only one I wouldn't really recommend for others to read. These books can be used as great inspirational and informational tools in any classroom.

Book Review: The Flight of a Dove

Day, Alexandra. The Flight of a Dove. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2004.

The Flight of a Dove is a story about a young girl named Betsy who struggles with autism. Up until she was three years old she would never say or make a sound other than a clicking noise. Betsy would sit for hours in a complete motionless state and absolutely hated it when people came near her or tried to touch her. Her life changed when she saw a dove fly by her who opened her eyes and put a smile on her face. She became attached to this dove and eventually to other animals. Soon Betsy became more social and active within her classroom, but still never saying a word. Then finally one day she went running into her mother’s arms yelling “Mommy”.

Alexandra Day has spent a lot of time in hospitals and rehabilitation centers with her dog Zabala. Zabala is a certified therapy dog which was the main inspiration Day had for writing this book. This is why Day is considered an insider to disabilities, because she has been working with people with disabilities for many years. Alexandra Day wrote this book to show her readers how animals are common inspirational tools to people with special needs, especially people with autism. She uses her own personal experiences when writing this book.

The Flight of a Dove is a great example of a diverse piece of literature. Not only is this book informational, but it can be very inspirational to young readers. This book describes in a positive way how a child who was told there was no guarantee she would ever say a word because of her disability can find comfort in animals, leading her to be able to speak her first word, Mommy. The one thing that Day does a great job of doing was she avoided stereotyping within her book. Stereotyping is often times seen as a problem within a lot of diverse literature read today and even more so in the past. For example, one of the big stereotypes that the Linton article mentioned was using the phrase “overcoming a disability”. Day never used that phrase but instead said Betsy’s mother wanted to “help her condition”. It’s simply not physically possible for someone to overcome a disability, which is why this phrase should not be used in books. Day also describes common behavioral and emotional problems that people with autism can face, but stays clear or stereotyping Betsy (the main character). Some of the common behaviors she did include within this book are “she dislikes being touched” “she made no sounds except a kind of hissing of clicking” and “she would sit for hours swaying slightly with her arms at her sides”. Overall Alexandra was effective in this book in showing how children with disabilities can change in a way they never were before.

Professional Review of: The Flight of a Dove

Perring, Christian. Mental Health Net. 2008. CenterSite, LLC. 20 April 2008.

Review By: Christian Perring

Christian Perring is the editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews which is part of Mental Health Net. He does a lot of research on philosophy or psychiatry and psychology. He also works with medical ethics, psychology and personal identity. He has written many of his own book reviews while also mainly editing the reviews by others.

Perring writes his review of The Flight of a Dove by discussing the good and bad characteristics of this book. He makes an important connection between what was seen in the book and his review by stating that this was a “hopeful story, showing how the right treatment works so well for Betsy”. He continues by mentioning that the pictures went well with the story line and represented an accurate portrayal of “Betsy’s isolation, frustration and odd behaviors”. The only negative aspect of the book that Perring mentions is he is not clear on who might want to read this book. Since it is a children’s book, he knows parents aren’t going to want to read this on their own time, but a child with autism probably won’t benefit from this story, even if their parent read it to them. The only people that will benefit from it are siblings and friends of someone with autism. The only thing I would argue about that comment is what’s wrong with that? Isn’t that the whole point of writing books, to make them available to all readers, not just insiders?

While Perring wrote a decent review on The Flight of a Dove, I do feel as though he failed to go on and explain what he meant by “the right treatments working so well for Betsy”. I thought that this was a pretty significant part of the book, and pretty much the main point of the book and he never went on to explain anything about it. So I would have to say that not mentioning this was definitely a weakness of this review.

Perring’s review also fails to mention if this is a diverse piece of literature. This was obviously not what he was focusing on in his review but is something he could have definitely talked about. But I would have to say that I highly recommend The Flight of a Dove as I think it is a great piece of diverse literature, despite if Perring thought so or not. I think it could be used as an educational tool to people who want to know more about someone with autism and what they can do to help or to anyone who wants to read a well-written children’s book.

Book Review: This is Asperger Syndrome

Gagnon, Elisa. This is Asperger Syndrome. Kansas: Autism Asperger Publishing Co., 1999.

This is Asperger Syndrome is about a young boy with AS and the experiences he faces in school on a regular basis. Some common occurrences range from random outbursts, becoming easily frustrated, not adjusting to change and having bad social skills. After the author described each scenario, she ended the page with “This is Asperger Syndrome”. At the end of the book Gagnon gave a page of information about Asperger Syndrome.

This is Asperger Syndrome is not a very good representation of a diverse piece of literature. Gagnon was extremely stereotypical throughout the entire book. She made it seem to the reader that the experiences this young boy faces are the same experiences every person with AS faces. She does this by ending each page with “This is Asperger Syndrome”, making the reader assume that these scenarios apply to everyone with AS, which is not necessarily the case. For example, Gagnon describes this boy laughing too hard and then says “this is Asperger Syndrome”, and also says that people don’t get his jokes and then says “this is Asperger Syndrome”. These are very stereotypical examples because these aren’t necessarily things every person with AS will face. As the Tal article mentions “when the focus is on providing information, there is very little or no character development. Instead, stereotypes prevail because the disability is “the main personality trait emphasized to the reader”” (Tal, 31). This is exactly how This is Asperger Syndrome is because Gagnon didn’t really provide a plot and character development but instead stereotyped throughout the entire book. She was trying to inform her readers of the disability but ended up stereotyping instead.

Elisa Gagnon is considered an insider to disabilities because she is the coordinator of the Asperger Syndrome Project at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She has a ton of experience working with people with Asperger Syndrome as well as teaching others about the disability. It appears as though she has a lot of knowledge about AS and enjoys sharing this knowledge with others through her writing.

Book Review: Cory Stories

Kraus, Jeanne. Cory Stories, A Kid’s Book About Living with ADHD. Washington, D.C.: Magination Press, 2005.

Cory Stories is about a young boy named Cory who struggles with ADHD. It wasn’t until he met with a doctor who diagnosed him with ADHD when he realized why he was feeling and behaving the way he was. Then with the help of the medications, the “talking doctor” and especially the help from his parents, Cory’s life becomes not so complicated and made a turn for the best.

Jeanne Kraus is an insider to disabilities because not only does her son have ADHD (who inspired her to write this book) but she is an educational specialist with expertise in ADHD. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops where she discusses topics such as organizational and study skills, parenting and classroom management tips. Her goal is to make people more aware of ADHD and how to become familiar with ways to coop with the disability. Cory Stories provides an insider look at the life of a child with ADHD, Cory being Jeanne’s son. She writes about accurate first hand experiences she sees her son going through on an everyday basis. The only some-what negative aspect of this book is that Jeanne Kraus makes generalizations throughout her book as she is explaining some of the experiences her son faces that may not be true for all people with ADHD. For example, she writes, “I have trouble making friends” and “writing neatly is impossible. My pencil doesn’t work right.” These instances may be true for her son but not necessarily for all people with AHDH which is why these are generalizations.

Cory Stories is a great representation of a diverse piece of children’s literature because it turns all of the negative characteristics that a person with ADHD can face into positive characteristics. It proves to the reader that with not only the help of medications, but with the help of a psychiatrist and most importantly with the help from parents, a child with ADHD can look at their life in a positive way. Kraus avoided uses stereotypes throughout this book but instead described accurate examples of behaviors and feelings a child with ADHD can experience. This story shows that Cory can still do normal everyday things like making friends, doing homework, paying attention in school, etc. without his ADHD getting in the way.

Book Review: Victoria's Day

Campos, Maria de Fatima. Victoria’s Day. Great Britain: Frances Lincoln Limited, 2007.

Victoria’s Day is about a little girl named Victoria who has Downs Syndrome. Throughout the entire book it describes all the activities Victoria does on an every day basis ranging from eating breakfast in the morning, walking to school, playing with friends to going to sleep at night.

The author, Maria Campos, is the mother of Victoria. This means that she is an insider to this group of people with disabilities because she experiences what it’s like raising a child with Downs Syndrome. Maria Campos wrote this book to show readers the similarities between Victoria’s pre-school experiences and those of her classmates. She wanted to make it clear to her readers that her daughter’s life isn’t much different from anyone else her age. Victoria is capable of brushing her own teeth, painting her own pictures, playing on a computer, cooking with her mummy, etc. These are all the same activities people without Downs Syndrome do on a regular basis.

This book is considered a diverse piece of literature because it portrays Victoria’s disability in such a positive way. Never once does the author mention anything negative about Victoria and the way she accomplishes her tasks. Maria stayed clear of stereotyping throughout her book and avoided using “nasty words” as the Linton article mentions to describe Victoria. This book does a great job of showing how Victoria’s disability isn’t stopping her from doing anything and she can still live a life like anyone else.