Warm-up Activity
Children/students with disabilities are constructed in different ways depending on who is defining them and for what purpose. Two common portrayals of disability in our society are the hero, who is 鈥渙vercoming鈥� disability, and the 鈥渧ictim鈥� who is an object of pity both of which are used to generate public sympathy. These images of disability that are all around us convey messages about disability that intersect with other cultural constructions. Our understanding of disability becomes entangled with other messages about class, socio-economic status, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, geographic location, family size, etc. Children/students have a right to be valued, for who they are not only who they will become. But, ultimately, some children/students will grow up to identify as disabled adults, and how we treat them as children/students will affect how they see themselves now and as they develop.
In this activity, we examine a news story about a protest in India. In the article, they examine different representations of disability including: as inspiration, as brave or courageous, as unexpected, as a tokenistic, and as a metaphor.
Create small groups of 3-4 people and ask students to discuss each of these examples.
Discussion Questions
- Reflect on your own understanding/experience of disability. What are some of the ways that you have heard disability represented in your experience? (Remember, everyone in your group will have some experience of disability.)
- What are some of the ways that disability is represented in this article, show up in early childhood?
- Do images of childhood disability include a positive disability pride, disability arts, or perspectives of disability as a valued difference?
- How does disability identity intersect with other aspects of identity in the images of childhood that you see?
- Are children/students portrayed as having a range of disability characteristics? How do you as an educator contribute to the discourse of children鈥檚/students鈥� identities?
Other examples of disability representation:
Master鈥檚 research on children鈥檚 books and disability representation
- Li, Xue Hong (Ingrid) (2026). Bridging language, culture, autism, and neurodiversity: an analysis of bilingual children鈥檚 picture books. Unpublished Master鈥檚 Research Paper, 自淫系列.
- Marcotte, Lauren (2025). Representing and Reimagining Disability in Children鈥檚 Picture Books: A CDT-Guided Analysis. Unpublished Master鈥檚 Research Paper, 自淫系列.
Page updated June 2026.