Review: One-Handed Catch by M.J. Auch
I regularly recommend One-Handed Catch as the best book for young people about limb deficiency because it captures two big aspects of life with one fewer limb: humor and problem solving.
Blog overview
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Chronic Illness and the Friend Factor
I’ve never written fiction about living with Crohn’s, and to be honest, I’ve never wanted to. Perhaps because I still feel what I felt for years growing up: that nobody wants to hear about my annoying, humiliating misery. Yet I know, intellectually, that this is a shame, because there should be more characters in YA literature who live with chronic illnesses like IBD.
Review: The Gone series by Michael Grant
Pete’s autism is portrayed over and over again as being non-stop pain and suffering. That got incredibly hard to read; do people really think this is what autism is like?
Living With—and Talking About—M.E./CFS
A snarky New York Times column referred to CFS as “yuppie flu,” and oh, it was hilarious. Those silly rich people imagining themselves sick!
Popping Pills: Mental Illness Medications in YA and Why They Matter
The two or three months I managed to get by on the reduced dose were enough to convince me: My psychiatrist is lying. I don’t need medication. I’m fine. I can beat this. Until, of course, I couldn’t.
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Fibromyalgia, and Invisibility
With one word, one look, it hit me that my experience really was abnormal.
Discussion: Tips for Research & Respectful Writing
What kind of tips do our contributors have for authors seeking to respectfully write disabled characters?
Review: Take a Good Look by Jacqueline Wilson
The only way I can describe Take a Good Look by Jacqueline Wilson is a book designed to educate young children about visual impairment gone horribly wrong.
Being a Poster Child
A poster child, to me, is a child with a disability who is “shown off” as a way to generate funds, awareness, understanding, more funds. Mostly funds, in my experience.
Being A Blind Teenager
That’s the thing about disability, I think. You’re a normal person, you experience normal things, and then, every once in a while, you hit that wall. That reminder that you aren’t quite like the majority of your peers.