Discover K-12 resources in the UFV Library collections featuring disabled characters and content. All of the books in this guide feature at least one main character who is disabled, neurodivergent, or living with a mental health condition.
While more inclusive children's books have been published in recent years, there are still areas of disability lacking representation in literature. This guide is a collection of the library's current resources, which will hopefully expand as more books are created and added to our collections.
Image Credit: On a video call by Dana Chan for Disabled and Here
Disability often doesn't fit neatly into the categories used in this guide. Many of these resources fall into multiple categories. To aid findability, resources in this guide have been categorized according to their predominant focus. When multiple disabilities are given significant focus, they are housed under "Various".
Terms used to describe characters' disabilities aim to honour the language used by the authors/editors whenever possible.
Disability is used as an umbrella term in this guide. Note that some authors and characters featured in this list might not used the term "disabled" to describe themselves. For example, some neurodivergent people do not identify with the term "disabled".
Image: The Disability Pride Flag
Many of the resources in this guide are written by authors who have personal experience with the disabilities they write about. Sometimes instructors may prefer these "Own Voice" resources for assignments.
Authors may disclose their lived experiences in the author bio at the end of the book, on their website or social media, or in interviews.
However, note that sometimes authors may choose not to disclose their lived experiences with disability.
