Final Project: Cerebral Palsy in Young Adult Literature

Everyone has had those dreams where they are screaming or talking but nothing is coming out. You try moving or anything to get someone, anyone’s attention but nothing is working. Maybe at best all you can do is make some sort of sound but no one can understand you. Well what would you do if that was your life? For some it is and to those people that are living with Cerebral Palsy. Some people that are living with Cerebral Palsy are able to communicate but that does not mean that everyone can understand what they say and some may be able to move their body but not the way they intended. Yet just because their appearance makes it look different does not mean that these people can not think and have feelings like the rest of us. And for that reason their story needs to be told because they deserve to have their story told just as every one else does.

Johnson, Harriet Mcbryde. Accidents of Nature. New York: Henry Holt And Co. (Byr), 2006. There are always two sides to a story and Jean and Sara each have their own side. While these two are at a camp for what they call the “crippled” they learn a lot about each other along with the other kids that go to the summer camp. Jean the main character is constantly struggling with the “crippled” world and the “normal” world. While going through camp with Jean you start out having the same thoughts about children with disabilities but then going with Jean through her transformation you learn that maybe there is no need for a cure that these kids like their life just the way it is. Jean says, “But now I yearn for a Bible story about a cripple who isn’t cured.” (p.74) At one point everyone at the camp goes into the water and takes off all their braces, extra limbs, out of their wheelchairs and are just who they are. This shows that no matter who you are or what you have everyone is the same in the water just a body that can float. There are great insider things that one on the outside would never think about because outsiders are just never put into that situation.

Mikaelsen, Ben. Petey. New York: Hyperion, 2000.
When reading this story you can not help but to fall in love with Petey just like every other character in the story did. This is a great story telling how things use to be if you were not born “normal”. Petey who has a form of Cerebral Palsy and his friend/brother Calvin who is slower mentally and has club feet were both sent to the Insane Asylum where they lived out a majority of their life. Eventually when the laws changed they were put into certain homes to live out the rest of their lives. When people first met Petey throughout the story they started as an outsider then as they got to know Petey as a person and not as Cerebral Palsy they were an insider. It is a very compelling story and to see someone with so little who loves life the way Petey and Calvin do makes one look at their own life and see what it is that they take for granted. One of the people that Petey touched said this about him, “His incredible appreciation for life even though life hasn’t always been so good to him.” (p.154)

Trueman, Terry. Stuck in Neutral. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2002.
Right on the cover it says, “I think my father is planning to kill me.” That right there pulled me in and I wanted to see how this story was going to turn out. The book is written as if you are in the main characters head and can hear all his most deepest thoughts. The book is based around the question of what is the right thing to do. Shawn who has Cerebral Palsy can not talk or move to try and communicate with anyone. This story helps explain what a seizure might be like for someone. To most seizures seem like a scary thing but with Shawn he loves them because it is the only time he feels like he can be free. Not only can he be free but he also laughs while he is having them which are the only verbal communication that he has. It is a great book to show that even though he may not be able to communicate he can fully understand everything that is going on around him.

Matthew, Nicole , and Susan Clow. "PUTTING DISABLED CHILDREN IN THE PICTURE: PROMOTING INCLUSIVE CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND MEDIA." International Journal of Early Childhood 39.2 (2007): 65.

The article describes just how important it is to have disabled children in books so that not only the children who are disabled can see themselves in a book but also for other students to be introduced to them. That way the students are aware of what disabilities can look like and are more accepting of others. Also in the article it says how not only does it help the children but also the parents are made aware of the different types of kids that there are out there. That way they can explain to their children why a child may act a certain way or why they are they way that they are. The article is full of parents of children with disabilities that explain what it means to them for their child to seem themselves in a book and what it means for them to be included in their social lives. It is a great resource to see just why there needs to be books about disabilities and that they should not just show the child as a disability but as a regular child.