I haven't blogged lately, but I have been busy revising and adding to the website. I've added two new sections: one discussing the importance of equality regarding access to computers and the world wide web ("Tech Talk") and another section which discusses the role libraries have to play in supporting customers in creating and disseminating their own content instead of focusing solely on being a repository of art and information for consumption ("Writing and Libraries"). I have also revised the content on both the home page and the introduction to the Booklists section. I hope the new sections give my readers "food for thought." Comment and let me know what you think!
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Today I added another baseball book to the list of reviews of children's books about real or fictional characters with disabilities. Given my childhood hatred of sports,it seems a bit odd to me that I am finding it enjoyable to read and write positive reviews of "sports books." In retrospect, my diagnosis of NLD as an adult explains my complete and total lack of success at sports as a child. I am finding as an adult, who feels successful in many endeavors, I can find a way to approach sports (at least books about sports) from a position of strength. I find myself using this position of strength as a platform to advocate for children with disabilities which are different from mine, children whose success in sports can form the beginnings of the sense of competence that is necessary to live life fully. I am also free to marvel at the resilience of those who cling to a dream of participating in some way in a world that at first may appear to be attractive and yet impossible to reach.
Today I added a review of the best book I've read since finishing "One Step at a Time" a few days ago: The Good Guys of Baseball: Seventeen True Sports Stories by Terry Egan, Stan Friedmann, and Mike Levine. Outdated (as any book published in the 1990's and focusing on current sports must be by now), but still in print and still inspiring. I'd love to read a book similar in content, but published in the past year or two, and focusing on "good guys in sports" who are playing currently.
Today I added a review of one of the most fascinating books (a biography) I have read in a long time,: "One Step at a Time" by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. I have also included "The Last Airlift" by the same author in the review. These are excellent books in their own right, but also offer a wider perspective of disability--from both a historical and an international standpoint. Although I have reviews of historical fiction and fact on the website (for example, "I Thought My Heart Would Rise and Fly)," these all depict events and people in the U.S. These may even be the first titles I am including from Canada and is certainly the first to depict events outside of North America. I would like to locate and read other books that offer an international perspective on disabilities.
Today I added a review of "The Normal Kid" by Elizabeth Holmes to the website. It is a favorite book of mine, one I think is often overlooked. What other books do people feel should be given more attention?
I just posted a review of Kids of Kabul by Deborah Ellis on the "Books for Teens and Adults" page. This book is not specifically about disabilities or kids with disabilities--it includes profiles of kids from Kabul who are diverse in many ways--including the fact that some have disabilities and some do not. This book's inclusion was so matter-of-fact and yet so respectful of how central having a disability is to the lives of the children profiled. This title reminded me that creating libraries is more about talking books and ramps--it also means having "inclusive" texts available for all children to read.
I've been struggling a lot with the book "Wonder." It's popular. It's a "New York Times" bestseller. There's a reserve list for it at the library where I work--unusual for a children's book. It's also respected: one of Booklist's Best Books of 2013. I find all of this frustrating, because the book perpetuates misconceptions about birth defects--and a general lack of understanding about living day to day with many disabilities--and the book's popularity (especially as a children's book) means these misconceptions are being perpetuated in at least one more generation. I went to a new immunologist this week and I am so excited because she understands the my cleft was not "just cosmetic" and that the surgery I had to repair it, while incredibly important, was not the end of things--that medical problems related to a cleft palate are lifelong. This is something that almost no MD's understand. She "got" something else that medical doctors also rarely understand--the fact that my multiple disabilities interact and its important to consider the whole picture and not look just at the parts that officially fall into one's area of expertise. These are very important points--without this understanding, it is very difficult to get correct medical care--and poor care not only fails to solve problems, it compounds them.
I opened "Booklist" today and immediately my eye fell on a review of Josh Hanagarne's book, "The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family." I was absolutely astonished that another tourtettic librarian exists in the world. As soon as I got home from work, I sat down to google him.
Today I added a review of "Out of my Mind" by Sharon Draper to the "Books for Children Featuring Characters with Disabilities" website. I recently recommended this title to a ten year old customer with disabilities similar to that of the protagonist. I was absolutely delighted with her reaction--as well as convinced that this is an important title as well as a "good read." I would love some reviews from readers with disabilities different from mine--since my disabilities are all "invisible," it is often difficult for me to judge the accuracy of a title such as this, which discusses the experiences of a character whose disability is almost always the first thing people notice. The "emotional truth" of a novel such as "Out of my Mind" is very important.
I've revised the welcome page to explain the connections between what initially may seem like two different parts of this website: information on disabilities and information on early childhood education research. In my mind--it is all connected, because one interest led to another--my own neurological quirks led to an interest in how children learn--which in turn led to an interest in adapting early childhood education research for use by librarians in public libraries.
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AuthorThe content on this website mostly comes from my perspective as a youth services librarian with disabilities. The further I travel along life's road, the more entwined these two parts of my identity become. Librarian: I have an MLS from Rutgers University and have working in public libraries for nearly 20 years. The focus on my career has always been youth services. Disabled: I've been disabled more than twice as long as I've been a librarian. My experience started at birth when I was immediately diagnosed with cleft palate. Also present was a non-verbal learning disability (NLD) for short. This was not formally diagnosed until I was 19, leading to years of frustration. My Tourette Syndrome was not present at birth, but surely started young as I don't ever remember living without it. The Tourette was also not diagnosed until adulthood, further compounding my frustration. Coincidentally, I was also diagnosed with IBD (more commonly known as Chron's\Ulcerative Colitis) at the age of 19. That was another easy diagnosis--as with cleft palate, they look and they see it. Archives
September 2015
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