Breaking stereotypes of disabled characters in children’s literature

With the increasing popularity of disability studies, social model has emerged, which claims that disability is caused by societal barriers not by impairments of the individuals. Based on this idea, disability has become more visible in the field of children’s literature, and the portrayal of disabled characters has shifted from being victim, evil, supercrip or secondary characters. These stereotypes contributing to societal misperceptions and reinforcing ableism has been broken in the late twentieth century. This article delves into the negative representations of disabled characters in the past and then examines the representation of disabled characters in two picturebooks Amazing and My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by focusing on the changing attitudes towards stereotypes. The disabled characters are protagonists with no superpower but ordinary children who enjoy spending time with their friends. Both of the books celebrate diversity in terms of disability and break the negative stereotyping of the characters by depicting them with their weaknesses and strengths in authentic settings.