as small as a world and as large as alone, Do you know of any books with a protagonist with...

4:27pm August 8, 2014

newromanticswift-deactivated201 asked: Do you know of any books with a protagonist with cerebral palsy? I have cerebral palsy and I've only read two books that had a protagonist with cerebral palsy, and I would like to know if there is more. Thank you!! :)

madeofpatterns:

disabilityinkidlit:

squiditty:

A caveat on Accidents of Nature- the characters with disabilities that are mental rather than/in addition to physical in nature aren’t treated with the same degree of respect as the rest of the cast. Many of the other characters, even those championing disability rights and the social model, don’t seem to see them as full autonomous persons and near the end of the novel one character provokes an autistic character into a meltdown and the protagonist assures the inciting character that they aren’t at fault and that the autistic character has ‘something wrong with her mind’.

I don’t really know how the author intended the audience to feel about all of this, especially considering that it’s at least partially based on her own life experiences and that she may be describing interactions that actually happened, but as an autistic reader I was not expecting that kind of disparity and it made the the experience painful enough at points that despite having some absolutely amazing scenes (the reverse telethon was a thing of beauty), I don’t plan on re-reading it any time soon.

Well, ouch. That’s good to know. Thanks so much for sharing.

I’m autistic, and I actually liked the scenes with the autistic man.

Particularly this part:

disabilityinkidlit:

Hello! We know several books that qualify. We have a book list about protagonists with cerebral palsy in the works, but we’re waiting on a couple of things before that goes live. (We’ll definitely give you a heads-up when it does!)

In the meantime, check out our “cerebral-palsy” shelf on Goodreads, which lists eleven books. Five of those (Accidents of Nature, Reaching for Sun, Say What You Will, Gadget Girl, and Out of My Mind) feature protagonists with CP, while the other six feature significant secondary characters with CP. We have a review for Say What You Will coming up later in the year—our reviewers weren’t keen on it, unfortunately, so perhaps adjust your expectations accordingly. We haven’t heard anything about the others yet. If you read or have read any of them, definitely let us know what you think! We’d love to hear.

Of course, this is MG/YA only. There may be more out there in adult fiction for you to enjoy, but I’m clueless in that area.

I hope this helps!

I hear some sort of commotion down toward the lake. I can’t make it out. It’s a voice, possibly angry. Now, I hear it, clearly—a howl of rage. “Noooooo,” it bellows. “No. No. No. No.” It gets louder. Now it’s unmistakable: it’s the aussie. Robert . We listen. I think I hear Norm calls of alarm, but they’re just background noise, static, overpowered by the roar of Robert’s rage. Now the voice is making words. Human words. Words that strike the lake’s smooth surface and resound in bell-like clarity over the whole camp: “I AIN’T GONNA RIDE IN NO FUCKING CANOE!” With a crackle, the newspaper page Sara was turning falls to our feet. Our heads turn toward the voice. “Right on, Robert!” Sara yells loud enough to be heard all the way down there.

At the same instant, I send forth a wordless animal sound, half squeal, half roar— most definitely a cheer. Other voices join ours. From the boys’ cabins overlooking the lake. From the dock. From the path up the hill to the lodge. On the way to the stable. Pandemonium. The chorus swells like ocean waves and merges with what’s left of Robert’s roar. Sue rushes out of the lodge. “Be quiet, girls. We don’t want to reinforce Robert’s inappropriate language.” “Inappropriate?” Sara sputters. “Surely Robert’s language is very appropriate. In fact, it’s the only appropriate language I’ve heard from him in eight years.” “Don’t be so smart.” “But isn’t it great? He knows they’re trying to put him in a canoe . He knows he doesn’t want to get in. And he’s figured out how to say it. Loud and clear.”

“Yeah.” My voice is squeaky. I’m flushed. Sue ignores me and looks at Sara with a face that says “there she goes again.” “He’s like us,” I say. I know, five minutes ago I’d have been insulted if someone suggested I had something in common with Robert. Now I know better. He’s dropped his mask, a mask he’s worn for at least eight years. Maybe he’ll wait another eight years before dropping it again, if he ever does. But this one time has been enough. Enough to know: he’s like us. I can’t get the words out to explain all this, but no need. Sara knows. She understands my telegram-short speech, just as we both understand volumes from Robert’s yell. Only the Norms don’t get it.

Accidents of Nature is supposed to be a story about a fucked up place where everyone is ableist but they also find ways to value each other and respond to the fuckedupness.

And I think it did a good job of showing that everyone is a real person, even when Sara objectifies or condescends to them.

There were things I didn’t like but… overall, even about the cognitive stuff, I liked it.

I liked it too, for the same reasons, and I’m also autistic.

Also there’s a book I read about a girl who had CP who grew up on a remote Scottish island and worked out how to communicate by typing by tying her fingers together and using someone’s computer (there was an urgent reason she needed to get a message across, I forget what it was). I never remember the name of it though, whenever I want to reread it.

Notes: