Novel Ideas: Disabled Authors and Books normalising Disability Compiled by KEEN UK (Plain Text Version)

This list is by no means exhaustive, but a place to start when looking for writers with disabilities or additional needs, or looking for books that normalise disability in their characters.

For younger readers: ● Jon Blake - a writer who has written a huge number of books, mainly for children ○ The Thimble series, which currently has three books, features main ​ ​ character Jams who has cerebral palsy and uses a walker. The character is loosely based on Blake’s son Jordi ○ Ethan the Great also features a main character with cerebral palsy ​ ● Rose Robbins - books based on Robbins’ own experience of having a sibling with . However, neither of the books directly name the autism, allowing children to identify with the story in their own way ○ Me and My Sister - written from the perspective of a brother with an autistic ​ sister. They have a normal sibling relationship and enjoy lots together ○ Talking is not my Thing - written from the perspective of a non-verbal autistic ​ girl. She explains to the reader that she can’t speak, but we see her thoughts, which shows us that she is just like any other little girl. Her family does normal things and she has a great relationship with them ● The ‘Bookmark’ section of the BookTrust website has a list of children’s books that have positive images of disability, as well as a blog and the Bookmark book of the month: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/bookmark-disability-and-books /

For older readers: ● Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan - writes about mental health issues from her ​ experience of spending 10 years in a mental health unit ● : My Life with Asperger’s by John Elder Robinson - a memoir about ​ his life with undiagnosed Asperger syndrome and savant abilities ● Daniel Tammet - a writer with Asperger syndrome and savant syndrome: ○ Born on a Blue Day - a memoir about his life ​ ○ Embracing the Wide Sky - a unique and imaginative exploration of how the ​ brain works ● - a writer whose autism was left undiagnosed for nearly 30 years and many simply called her ‘disturbed’ and ‘psychotic’. She went on to write four autobiographies which detailed her experience living in an often inhospitable non-autistic world: ○ : The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic Girl ○ Somebody Somewhere: Breaking Free from the World of Autism ○ : Soul Searching and Soul Finding ○ Everyday Heaven: Journeys Beyond the Stereotypes of Autism ● The Hospital Poems by Jim Ferris - born with a mobility impairment in which one leg ​ grew faster than the other. This collection of poems won the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award ● Cyborg Detective by Jillian Weise - a witty satire of traditional assumptions around ​ disability ● Black Disabled Ancestors by Leroy F. Moore Jr - a Black disabled poet, activist and ​ author of three books on Black Disabled issues ● On Book Riot, there is a great list of YA books which represent disability well: https://bookriot.com/ya-books-with-disabled-characters/

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