Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...

Special Olympics). Most of the recreational
activities mentioned <strong>in</strong>volved peers or sibl<strong>in</strong>gs
(e.g., Autistic Planet, Keep<strong>in</strong>g Up with Roo, Look<strong>in</strong>g
After Louis, My Best Friend Will, To Be Me, Al
Capone Does My Shirts, This Side of the Sky)
rather than solitary activities.
Residence. In the books where residence
was depicted, all ma<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> support<strong>in</strong>g characters
with DD lived <strong>in</strong> their family home, except
for characters <strong>in</strong> The Decod<strong>in</strong>g of Lana Morris
(Tilly <strong>and</strong> other m<strong>in</strong>or characters with DD live
<strong>in</strong> a foster home) <strong>and</strong> Apart (Timmy, a 10-year
old boy with autism is sent to live <strong>in</strong> a group
home).
Family characteristics. Various types of families
were depicted <strong>in</strong> the books, but primarily
the characters with DD lived <strong>in</strong> traditional
families (e.g., mother <strong>and</strong> father at home).
However, some lived with s<strong>in</strong>gle parents (e.g.,
divorced or widowed), or foster parents. Sibl<strong>in</strong>gs
were portrayed <strong>in</strong> many of the families,
<strong>and</strong> were often the primary caregivers of the
<strong>in</strong>dividuals with DD. The book, So B. It, isan
exceptional illustration of a family situation.
In this book the character with a developmental
disability, Sofia, is cared for by her daughter
who does not have a disability.
Discussion
Children’s books <strong>in</strong> this study were evaluated
to determ<strong>in</strong>e how characters with developmental
disabilities are portrayed to young
readers. Specifically, four topics were evaluated:
(a) characterization of the <strong>in</strong>dividual
with DD, (b) relationships between the character
with DD <strong>and</strong> others, (c) changes <strong>in</strong> characters
without DD, <strong>and</strong> (d) special topics related
to DD. Results of this analysis will be
discussed <strong>and</strong> compared to two previous studies
of children’s books that <strong>in</strong>clude characters
with DD (Dyches & Prater, 2005; Dyches et al.,
2001).
This study analyzed 41 books that <strong>in</strong>cluded
ma<strong>in</strong> or support<strong>in</strong>g characters with developmental
disabilities published between 2004
<strong>and</strong> 2007. Annually, this rate of publication is
10.25 books per year, which is an <strong>in</strong>crease
from 2005 (8.5 per year) <strong>and</strong> 2001 (6 per
year). The criteria for <strong>in</strong>clusion <strong>in</strong> this current
evaluation excluded several books which were
self-published or <strong>in</strong>cluded non-human characters
with developmental disabilities, <strong>and</strong> no
such exclusions existed <strong>in</strong> the previous studies.
Therefore, we can conclude that more
commercially-published books with human
characters with developmental disabilities are
be<strong>in</strong>g published than <strong>in</strong> the recent past.
Books <strong>in</strong> this study depicted characters with
several types of developmental disabilities,
with the proportion of characters with <strong>in</strong>tellectual
disabilities decreas<strong>in</strong>g from 75% <strong>in</strong>
2001 to 47% <strong>in</strong> 2005, <strong>and</strong> 48% <strong>in</strong> this study,
<strong>and</strong> characters with autism spectrum disorders
<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g from 25% <strong>in</strong> 2001 to 53% <strong>in</strong>
2005, <strong>and</strong> 52% <strong>in</strong> this study. This representation
is disproportionate to reported enrollment
of school-aged children with these
disabilities <strong>in</strong> the U.S., where students with
mental retardation represent 9.6% of the special
education population, <strong>and</strong> autism represents
only 2.3% (U.S. Department of <strong>Education</strong>,
2007). However, the recent <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong>
children’s fiction that features characters with
autism spectrum disorders may be reflect<strong>in</strong>g
the recent media attention to the significant
<strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> children with this diagnosis with
a rate of 6 per 10,000 for autism, Asperger
Syndrome, <strong>and</strong> Pervasive <strong>Developmental</strong> Disorder—Not
Otherwise Specified comb<strong>in</strong>ed
(Dyches, <strong>in</strong> press). Also, <strong>in</strong> the present study
almost half (n 9, 41%) of the characters
with autism spectrum disorders were portrayed
specifically as hav<strong>in</strong>g Asperger Syndrome.
Of the 20 characters identified with
<strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities or unspecified developmental
disabilities, only 6 (30%) had Down
syndrome, down from 53% <strong>in</strong> 2005 <strong>and</strong> 64%
<strong>in</strong> 2001. The books <strong>in</strong> this study also <strong>in</strong>cluded
characters with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
<strong>and</strong> Multiple <strong>Disabilities</strong>, which were previously
not represented.
More male characters than females with DD
were depicted <strong>in</strong> the books reviewed; however,
the trend is decreas<strong>in</strong>g (from 86% <strong>in</strong> 2001 to
87% <strong>in</strong> 2005, <strong>and</strong> 61% <strong>in</strong> this study). A decreas<strong>in</strong>g
trend was found <strong>in</strong> males with <strong>in</strong>tellectual
disabilities from 86% <strong>in</strong> 2001 to 78% <strong>in</strong>
2005 <strong>and</strong> only 58% <strong>in</strong> the present study. The
current percentage is lower than actual proportions
of those with <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities
<strong>in</strong> the U.S. population (1.5 male to 1 female)
(American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
Results <strong>in</strong>dicate a decreas<strong>in</strong>g trend of males
with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). All
characters with ASD <strong>in</strong> 2001 were male, de-
Juvenile Literature <strong>and</strong> the Portrayal of DD / 315