Exploring Children's Literature With Authentic Representations of Disability

Experiences about Reading and Writing Development Narrated by Students with Severe Speech and Physical Impairment

“…Bandura's (2012) theoretical contribution emphasising three factors in developing a resilient efficacy -mastery experiences, social modelling and social persuasion -are applicable to the reading and writing development for the students in our study. Without doubt, the students in our study have shown resilience in reading many books to experience mastery, even when characters and contexts have been far away from their own realities (Matthew & Clow, 2007;Rieger & McGrail, 2015). Also, social modelling appears to have happened in their classrooms' literacy contexts.…”

Interrogating Depictions of Disability in Children's Picturebooks

“…Others have added to this important work by attempting to create frameworks or selection standards for building inclusive libraries (Pennell, Wollak, & Koppenhaver, ; Prater & Dyches, ). These include lists of book recommendations (Kaiser, ) and characteristics of high‐quality literature to promote classroom inclusion (Adomat, ; Rieger & McGrail, ; Sigmon, Tackett, & Azano, ). Much of this collective work has played a role in increasing disability visibility and awareness in the field of children's literature.…”

Laughing Back: A Phenomenological Study of Disability Humor Using Culturally Responsive Methodologies

“…These images persist in dramatic representations of disability and are harmful because they misinform the public about what life with a disability is like and the capabilities of disabled people. The lack of familiarity with disability makes it harder to combat these stereotypes (Rieger and McGrail, 2015). Humor can be used as a tool to either dispel or disseminate these stereotypes.…”

“…Additionally, disability is thought to be a serious subject, which means that most nondisabled people do not get to see that disabled people like to have a good time (Haller and Ralph, 2003). Nondisabled people may focus on the surface differences between themselves and disabled people, but the strategic use of humor can humanize disabled people for mainstream audiences (Rieger and McGrail, 2015).…”

“…This is how humor builds bridges of understanding between disabled and nondisabled people. Authentic representations of disability portray disabled people as able to appreciate and produce humor (Rieger and McGrail, 2015).…”