Children briefly
Call for Proposals, September 2002
Proposals are invited for papers on the theme of Disability Culture in Children's Literature, for Disability Studies Quarterly, an online peer reviewed journal published by The Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at http://www.cds.hawaii.edu/dsq. The purpose of the Quarterly is to provide an opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds to share ideas across disciplinary barriers.
The rapidly growing study of modern children's literature has recognised the significance of bias concerning issues such as race and gender in contributing to children's understanding of themselves as individuals and of society at large. In contrast, there is less debate concerning portrayals of disability in relation to current definitions and experiences of disability or illness with regard to the development of constructive personal and social attitudes in children.
We seek papers that explore how modern children‰s fiction portrays disability and illness, what perceptions may be drawn from it by children or their adult associates and possible strategies for literary criticism which may be used to extend understanding. Collaborations between scholars of disability and children's literature studies, or other interested parties, who can offer new perspectives are particularly encouraged.
Papers on the theme of Disability Culture in Children's Literature might include:
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Analyses of disabled characters, disability images or disabling situations in any genre, or by individual writers, for any age group of reader.
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The factors governing appropriate presentations of emotions such as humour or anger in relation to perceptions of all disabling conditions but particularly learning difficulties or mental health issues.
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The factors governing the presentation of disability or illness in addition to race or national boundaries, or in addition to other cultural influences such as gender or age.
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The challenges and opportunities for illustrators and translators in relation to the portrayal of disability issues.
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The development of resources for scholars of children‰s literature, writers of fiction or curriculum resources, teachers, literary critics, illustrators or translators to better inform their work involving portrayals of disability.
Proposals of approximately 500 words should be submitted by the end of September 2002 and accompanied by a short biographical statement of the contributor/s including professional credentials and affiliations where relevant, and contributor/s postal address.
Proposals should be sent within the body of an email (attachments will be deleted unopened), to Kathy Saunders, email address k.saunders1@ukonline.co.uk. Subsequent correspondence will be by email only. It is anticipated that suitable proposers will be notified by December 2002, with completed submissions in the region of 5,000 words required by August 2003, for publication in January 2004.
The Joint Symposium Editors for this issue of Disability Studies Quarterly are Kathy Saunders, Ann Dowker and Jane Stemp.
Kathy Saunders
Consultant for Disability Awareness in Children's Books and author of Happy Ever Afters - a storybook guide to teaching children about disability. (Trentham, 2000)
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/happyeverafters
email: k.saunders1@ukonline.co.uk
Ann Dowker
University Research Lecturer
Department of Experimental Psychology,
University of Oxford,
South Parks Road,
Oxford OX1 3UD
Interests: Developmental psychology; History of children's literature with special reference to representations of disability and illness.
e-mail: ann.dowker@psy.ox.ac.uk
Jane Stemp
Author: Waterbound (Hodder, 1995); Secret Songs (Hodder, 1997)
c/o Caroline Walsh,
David Higham Associates Ltd.
5-8 Lower John Street
Golden Square
London W1R 4HA
tel: 020 7437 7888
fax: 020 7437 1072
Taking Care of the Family of Disabled Children
Mykola Swarnyk, a parent from Lviv, Ukraine offers this advice to parents who have disabled children:
"Each of us has the right to show our feelings, including anger, frustration, and hurt. It is no secret that a child with a disability can be a source of frustration that can lead to feelings both of guilt and of being wronged by the world. Sometimes with this comes the laying of blame on a family member. However, we must also think about how this affects others in the family -- the husband or wife or mother or mother-in-law who is being made to take the brunt of our feelings of guilt.
"Often we extend great latitude to the child with the disability, while at the same time placing unrealistic demands on other members of the family such as an older child. It is here that we must be extremely careful, even though it may be hard to imagine that a healthy child could be jealous of a sibling with disabilities. If a parent is delivering sweets, toys and kisses only to the child with special needs and reserving the dustpan, mop, and dirty dishes for the sibling, it can lead to jealousy expressed covertly or through outright rebellion.
"This is true for other family members as well. The father, eldest child, or grandmother who is not excluded from the tired mother's attention, but allowed to be part of the family, will be more likely to help care for the child with a disability and share in the love of the family. Love is such a wondrous thing, because when it is divided, it does not become smaller but multiplies in volume."
This quote comes from Mykola Swarnyk's article, "What Every Child with a Disability Needs," which appeared in the Winter/Spring 2002 issue of Educating Children for Democracy, the journal of the International Step by Step Association.
The International Step by Step Association is a member of the World Forum Alliance. For more information about ISSA go to their web site at www.issa.nl.
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