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Some Kids Wear Leg Braces
January 28, 2008

When I am reviewing books for children with disabilities, there are so many questions I just don't know the answers. If I share this book, will a student feel spotlighted? Will this title make everyone focus their attention on the differences or help them understand similarities? I asked one of my students who wears a leg brace and uses a walker to give me her opinion on Some Kids Wear Leg Braces from the Pebble book series Understanding Differences.

She told me that she really liked this title and that more students should read it because (leans in and whispers) then they won't be "staring at me and kids with braces." She said that it would help the kids by answering their questions so they don't ask her rude questions.

 I sent this title home with one of my first grade teachers who has a daughter using leg braces due to a brain development issue. Both of them enjoyed this book and asked where I'd been hiding it. When her daughter saw the cover, her eyes lit up in amazement to see someone else using a walker.

Other titles in this series include:
Some Kids Are Blind
Some Kids Are Deaf
Some Kids Use Wheelchairs

Perhaps more children's illustrators will include teachers or librarians who wear hearing aids. Then I might go in to get another hearing test and explore getting help. I have had 6 or 7 ear surgeries and don't really like admitting to how much I miss.  I thanked the captionist during the ALA Council meetings for her work in captioning the speakers. It's amazing how much I would miss if I couldn't read along with the various speakers. I'll blog more about that later this week.

Posted by Diane Chen on January 28, 2008 | Comments (0)