Amplifying Disabled Voices: Why and Why Now?
Rebecca Butler writes.
As we continue the National Year of Reading 2026, we must focus on the under-representation of disabled children in literature and in our society.
One of the catalysts for this article was the EmpathyLab selections for 2026. For the first time, out of a total of sixty-five titles, there were two focused on disability. They are the brilliant Owning It, an anthology of letters to their younger selves from disabled writers, and the groundbreaking How to Be Disabled and Proud (or at least kinda sorta okay with it…), a non-fiction work by Cathy Reay, an author with Achondroplasia. These are two of the best examples of own-voices disability writing for young people.
In Reay’s work, she discusses the phenomenon of disabled people having to disassociate from their body during intimate personal care. This is such a private coping mechanism for disabled people that it is very rarely written about and hardly ever with such compassion and understanding. This is one of the primary reasons why children’s publishing needs to increase its amplification and support of disabled voices. If disabled young people don’t see writing like this, how can they believe that they too have a right to express themselves?
There are other reasons why the amplification of disabled voices is vital and timely. The government has just announced the much-awaited reform of the Special Educational Needs and Disability system (SEND) in England and Wales. There is agreement that the system needs reform but there is concern from the disabled community and the wider sector that the changes to eligibility for EHCPs (Education Health and Care Plans) and future reassessment during the transition from primary to secondary education, could be detrimental.
We await further details, particularly on funding, but those with invisible disabilities such as chronic illness or autism and ADHD could find it harder to access specialist education with a risk this could create a multi-tier system and increase segregation between disabled children and those who are not.
There have been attempts to ensure parity for disability and other minorities in research. CLPE (Centre for Literacy and Primary Education) has published several Reflecting Realities reports highlighting the depiction and number of racially minoritised characters in children’s books. Within the last two years, Inclusive Minds has been attempting to conduct similar research into the portrayals of disability in children’s fiction in a report to be called Reflecting Disability. They have completed the first stage: designing the scope of the research and, in consultation with disabled people, designing the questions to be asked. This has been well received and has had very positive reactions among the publishing and disability communities. Disappointingly, however, the second stage has had to be paused due to lack of funding.
The disabled community is simply asking for parity with other minorities. Pausing any programme seeking to improve representation of a minoritised community cannot be justified, whether that’s race, disability or other protected characteristic.
On a brighter note, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), publishes a list every two years where each national section is invited to submit up to twelve titles each which they consider outstanding examples of disability representation, including mental health, for inclusion in the international selection. This is one of IBBY’s most affirming and long-standing projects. Anyone can access this list via the IBBY website.
To highlight some recently published outstanding examples of disabled characters in children’s literature, look no further than Under the London Sky by Anna Woltz, translated from Dutch, in which four teenagers meet at the height of the London Blitz, one of whom, Ella, is a polio survivor. Her internal monologue, reflecting her experience, is at once beautiful and exquisitely painful.
A novel set in contemporary times How to Rollerskate with One Leg by Ella Dove is an own-voice, first novel about twelve-year-old Mia who is a below-the-knee amputee of her right leg. Dove deals exceptionally well with the range of emotions Mia experiences in relation to her leg. She also writes explicitly about some of the negative attitudes Mia endures. Readers should be hugely excited by the upcoming sequel How to Do Paris with One Leg.
In historical narratives, rarely is a disabled character credible for the time period but in Sheena Wilkinson’s recent works, set in 1920s Ireland, First Term at Fernside and True Friends at Fernside, we meet feisty Sadie who uses crutches for mobility, as a result of polio. She is an ordinary schoolgirl and her disability is not her only character feature.
Disability representation in children’s literature has come a long way in the last twenty years. This progress is much appreciated. We must fight to ensure its upward trajectory flourishes.
Dr Rebecca Butler writes, lectures and tutors on children’s literature and is a regular reviewer for Books for Keeps. She is also an active member of the IBBY UK committee.
