Cultural Representation of Disability in Children’s Literature

Abstract

Research indicates that people’s reactions towards disability and disabled people are based more on what we learn through popular culture than on public policy or personal encounters (Mitchell & Snyder, 2000). Attitudes are learned, and in the Western part of the world disability and impairment are not seen as something that will probably touch all of us at some stage in our life, but rather as undesirable deviations from the norm and from desirable ideals. In Western societies, the emphasis is on health, beauty, and fitness, and this emphasis is reflected in the material that we introduce our children to. This chapter explores the way disability is represented in popular children’s literature and folk tales. The purpose is to examine how disability is portrayed in children’s literature and to relate this to social attitudes towards disability.