When I found this article, I was really excited because it hit on everything I was looking for in a critical resource. Mary Anne Prater has written many articles regarding learning disabilities and she is very knowledgeable on the subject. First off, I looked for the professional source before I ever started looking for books for my text set because I felt I needed to be well-informed before I searched my book options. There are so many books on learning disabilities and I know, like this article also hit on, that as many are accepted in the LD community as “good” literature. After finding this article among her others, I knew I hit the jackpot!
From this article, I learned that authors typically include characters with learning disabilities to depict the life of person with a learning disability or to tell a tale that happens to include an individual with a learning disability. This article begins by comparing four past research studies on learning disabilities in literature. She based her research on similar methodology, which included her criteria for whittling down the list of all the books involving learning disabilities to concrete text set of about 90 books—“The book must include a main or supporting character with a learning disability as the character's primary disability” (47). The list includes both “good” and “bad” books. She concluded that most of the LD characters were the main character and more than half were written from the perspective of that character. Nearly 75% of the books were about reading and writing learning disabilities and 90% of the main characters were dynamic (50). Other statistics of her findings are included in an accompanying table. She even noted that most LD characters had very low self esteem and were commonly bullied or called names. What she wants us to learn from her study is that, as teachers, we need to take it upon ourselves to learn about the book involving learning disabilities and whether or not it is acceptable based on her statistics. She does, however, encourage us to use literature in order “to teach about learning disabilities in the classroom,” and that we should not be discourage from using these books, but rather use them as discussion tools in order to activate higher learning.
Each of the books I chose for a text set is included in her list of 90 books, which is how I became inspired to take a look at them critically. Leo the Late Bloomer is a narrative geared toward younger children and according to her, “Leo's problems may be accounted for by maturation,” and how the “characterization of LD could be questioned” (60). What Do You Mean I Have a Learning Disability? describes the testing experience from the main character’s perspective, which is generally good, although “the methods are mentioned without any detail” (56). In Thank You, Mr. Falker, the teacher is portrayed in positive light for working with the main character, teaching her to work with the learning disability, and get help for her. It demonstrates how “Those who had math problems also demonstrated difficulties in reading and/or written expression” (53).
Before selecting texts involving learning disabilities, I strongly recommend reading this study. I learned a lot from it and, hopefully, will be able to use this information when I am a teacher in the classroom.
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