The Disabled Child

This book examines the relationship between contemporary cultural representations of disabled children on the one hand, and disability as a personal experience of internalised oppression on the other. In focalising this debate through an exploration of the politically and emotionally charged figure of the disabled child, Harriet Cooper raises questions both about what it means to ‘speak for’ the other and about what resistance means when one is unknowingly invested in one’s own abjection. Drawing on both the author’s personal experience of growing up with a physical impairment and on a range of critical theories and cultural objects – from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel The Secret Garden to Judith Butler’s work on injurious speech – the book theorises the making of disabled and ‘rehabilitated’ subjectivities. With a conceptual framework informed by both psychoanalysis and critical disability studies, it investigates the ways in which cultural anxieties about disability come to be embodied and lived by the disabled child. Posing new questions for disability studies and for identity politics about the relationships between lived experiences, cultural representations and dominant discourses – and demonstrating a new approach to the concept of ‘internalised oppression’ – this book will be of interest to scholars and students of disability studies, medical humanities, sociology and psychosocial studies, as well as to those with an interest in identity politics more generally.

The classroom is a place where children form fundamental self-expectations, and where they also learn the standards of behavior and education that the world will expect of them. For a child struggling to learn, the classroom is an overwhelming world of practical and emotional challenges. The Learning-Disabled Child Wants to Learn proposes adaptive teaching modalities that transform the classroom environment for these children. Dr. Lorna Bennett’s fifty years of recognized teaching expertise presents the classroom as a place where a child’s learning potential can be freed from such impediments to success as low self-esteem, fear of failure, poor language skills, cognitive and memory impairments, an inability to plan and organize, not to mention exposure to social and economic stressors. In this invaluable teaching resource, Lorna Bennet shares methods for observing and analyzing students’ needs. She combines a teaching career with her school counseling experience to describe how children’s diverse behaviors and responses are their attempts to cope with particular kinds of learning difficulties. She underscores the importance of assessing a learner’s strengths and areas of deficiency in a way that is supportive of each child’s innate desire to do well. Dr. Bennett’s understanding of what children with learning disabilities need in order to be successful learners emphasizes goal attainment, positive reinforcement, the fostering of interests and independence and other teaching strategies, making this book a supportive guide for teachers who are committed to achieving positive outcomes for their learning-challenged students.

"Carolyn is in a wheelchair, but she doesn't let that stop her! She can do almost everything the other kids can, even if sometimes she has to do it a little differently"--

The story of a boy who struggles to accept his new born sister, when she is not what he expected. But the swifts which swoop over his home help to show him that she is truly perfect. 'Perfect' is a remarkable story about anticipation and disappointment, acceptance and love, and the power of nature in all our lives.

Introduction to the core concepts of teaching and supporting children with disabilities alongside their peers will help teachers ensure that all children meet their potential.

Who is the learning-disabled child? As theories multiply and research accumulates, this pressing question persists, leaving parents and educators and, particularly, students at a loss. The Learning-Disabled Child aims to provide an answer. A broad-based account of what is currently known and done about learning disabilities, the book gets at the roots of this perplexing problem - and offers a new outlook for its treatment.

The first ever picture book addressing how a disabled child might want to be spoken to.What happened to you? Was it a shark? A burglar? A lion? Did it fall off?Every time Joe goes out the questions are the same . . . what happened to his leg? But is this even a question Joe has to answer?A ground-breaking, funny story that helps children understand what it might feel like to be seen as different.'A revolutionary book on disability.' Inclusive Storytime'Catchpole's beautifully judged, child-friendly words ably evoke the fatigue and wariness of repeatedly being asked the same question rather than simply being accepted and allowed to play, while George's warm images amplify the delight of shared imagination.' The Guardian'Wonderful, delightful and important. [...] Not only will it help nondisabled adults and children understand what it is like to be singled out for being different, but it will empower disabled children and help them realise they don't have to justify themselves to people they don't know.' Jen Campbell, bestselling author of Franklin's Flying Bookshop'With beautifully characterful illustrations and plenty of calming white space, it exudes gentle energy and humour to appeal to every child. This is a stunningly clever book.' BookTrust'The beauty of What Happened to You? is its focus on empathy... a brilliant book to open up the conversation with pre-school kids.' Disability Arts Online'A groundbreaking picture book reflecting the world of a visibly disabled child... a funny and very enjoyable read that will nevertheless perform an urgently needed task and generate very useful discussion at home and school.' LoveReading4Kids