| Picture books and young readers novels can bring insightful portrayals of individuals with disabilities. These portrayals can be empowering to both the unimpaired and impaired as they view each other's worlds. Individuals with disabilities, although a significant part of our society, are often overlooked or ignored. Persons with exceptional needs exists in all races, cultures, languages, age groups, and socio-economic groups. This study identified and critically analyzed sixty-two picture books and young readers novels of artistic and literary merit published in the United States from 1975 to the present that portray people with disabilities for authenticity and effectiveness. The few available selections of contemporary realistic fiction and non-fiction written before the 1970s were used to illustrate the changes in society's attitudes and perceptions towards disabilities, then and now, and the evolution of the treatment of those disabilities formerly written about or discussed in children's books. The analysis of similarities and differences of individuals with disabilities gave voice and empowerment to the experiences of the protagonists as they told their stories.;Hermeneutic literacy and critical education theory provided the theoretical foundation for the study. Milestone of human development and how developmental disabilities interfered with those stages of growth, along with the nature and etiology of the disabilities and conditions, were discussed. The nature and etiology of the seventeen developmental disabilities analyzed in this study formed a basis of knowledge to ascertain its effectiveness and authenticity as well as the evolution in the treatment of the topic of disability in children's literature. Critical analysis of text and illustrations revealed sensitivity, family support, focus on strengths not the disability, desire for independence, and how all children should be considered similar yet special. |
