Disabilities in Children's Literature

The presentation of disabilities in children's literature, while historically infrequent, has nonetheless offered a breadth of insight into as well as perpetuated stereotypes for an otherwise underrepresented minority group. Often by necessity, studies of how individuals with special needs are represented in children's literature link a disparate variety of handicaps together in their examinations of the issue, regularly classifying mental, physical, cognitive, and emotional impairments together under a broad definition of the term "disability." While the issues associated with each group vary dramatically in both their individual concerns and needs, ultimately they face many of the same hurdles with regards to their representation within the broader scope of children's literature. Over the course of the evolution of English-language children's literature,...