Authentic Disability and Neurodivergence Representation in Middle Grade Literature
Presenter Bio
Nicole Panteleakos earned her MFA in Children's Literature from Hollins University and her BA in Theatre: Scriptwriting from Eastern Connecticut State University. Her debut novel, Planet Earth Is Blue, was published by Wendy Lamb Books (Random House) in 2019. She lives in North Carolina with her wife and their family.
Session
Panel: Representing Disability and Neurodiversity
Location
Zoom
Start Date
29-6-2024 1:15 PM
End Date
29-6-2024 2:30 PM
Abstract
The increased inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent characters in middle grade literature has enabled more children to see themselves in books, which is a positive, but with this inclusion comes a responsibility to depict disabled and neurodivergent child characters in a way that is authentic, sensitive, and nuanced, avoiding othering or stereotyping, and not using the disabled or neurodivergent child as a prop, pawn, or life lesson for a non-disabled, neurotypical protagonist, while also ensuring the world of the disabled or neurodivergent character is one in which there are multiple disabled and/or neurodivergent people rather than risking tokenism; this is most effectively done when the author combines research with lived experiences in creating their characters, and ideally involves employing the use of authenticity/sensitivity readers even when an author writing a character that shares their own diagnosis/diagnoses.
Authentic Disability and Neurodivergence Representation in Middle Grade Literature
Zoom
The increased inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent characters in middle grade literature has enabled more children to see themselves in books, which is a positive, but with this inclusion comes a responsibility to depict disabled and neurodivergent child characters in a way that is authentic, sensitive, and nuanced, avoiding othering or stereotyping, and not using the disabled or neurodivergent child as a prop, pawn, or life lesson for a non-disabled, neurotypical protagonist, while also ensuring the world of the disabled or neurodivergent character is one in which there are multiple disabled and/or neurodivergent people rather than risking tokenism; this is most effectively done when the author combines research with lived experiences in creating their characters, and ideally involves employing the use of authenticity/sensitivity readers even when an author writing a character that shares their own diagnosis/diagnoses.