Marieke Nijkamp

We’re happy to have a chance to chat with Marieke Nijkamp — WNDB VP of finance, autistic author, and previous Disability in Kidlit contributor — about her work and autism in literature.

For all that there are moments when Rose’s voice is nuanced and shines, those nuances continuously pushed aside for a far more stereotypical narrative. This is not the story of an autistic character written for an inclusive audience; this is a story about an autistic character written for a neurotypical audience.

Diversity in children’s literature is often represented as an either/or, without intersectionality; characters can either be autistic or gay, for example, or a wheelchair user or Black, but rarely both. Why is that?

Clichés, ableist language … what kinds of words, phrases, or situations used in book or character descriptions send up warning flags for our contributors?

If our contributors could tell an author writing a character with their disability one thing – besides “do your research” – what would it be?

Is any representation better than no representation? That argument frequently comes up in response to criticism, but is it valid?

For disabled characters, being cured is a common trope. What’s more, in most of these narratives, the characters are cured because they’re better than they were at the start of the book: kinder, gentler, braver. And finally, finally, they’re normal and whole.

Which are our contributors’ least favorite disability tropes?

I’ve always wondered what it would’ve looked like to the outside world, this dance of ours. (Would we be pitied?)

In terms of disabled characters, what would our contributors like to see more of in children’s literature?

How do our contributors define the dreaded concept of “inspiration porn,” and how do they feel about it?