Reflection on my Text Set

Working on this project with these three books significantly opened my eyes to cerebral palsy. Before this project and reading these books, I didn't know exactly what cerebral palsy was besides that it was some form of a physical disability. The books that I chose for my set gave me a mixture of view points from children living with cerebral palsy, and gave me both the informative and emotions side of the disability. Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair actually states what causes cerebral palsy and while I know that it was a very simple explanation, it got the point across to me, and it was definitely in a way that young children would understand. Reaching for the Sun and Nathan's Wish show emotional struggles and made my heart go out to these children while I was reading them, but left me with a positive feeling at the end. These books show the emotional struggles of living with this disability, but they also show the characters building confidence and loving who they are which is very important for young children to see. I think that it is important to see both the struggles and the accomplishments of living with a disability in order to get a well-rounded understanding of what it actually entails, and I think that this text set does just that.

I also liked how the authors of these books had experience with children with this disability and others, whether it was being a special education teacher, or working at a rehabilitation center for children with physical disabilities. Although these books weren't written completely from an insiders point of view, it is still a view that readers can trust. These authors have seen these struggles and understand what comes with having this physical disability, and I think that it is great that they wrote these books in order to educate children and make them aware that this is out there. It is also great that these books show the characters with cerebral palsy living close to normal lives. I think that some children are afraid to talk to other children with physical disabilities because they think for some reason that they are completely different than them, when really they are similar in more ways than a child might think.

I feel very comfortable putting these books into my classroom library. I think that they would reach a wide range of readers because they're three completely different genres: poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. From these books, I learned that it is very important to stress to students that people with physical disabilities are just like them in more ways like us in more ways than they might think. It is important to include these children in conversation and activities just like you would any other person; just because they might not be able to move around like we do does not mean that they cannot still participate in the activity in some way. These books contain reliable information and representations of living with cerebral palsy, and I think that they could have a very positive affect on young readers, making them more informed and accepting.