When I was a teenager a friend of my Dad's, who was blind, stayed with us for a few months. Since then I have learned to see the world differently.
This man became like and uncle to me and has continued to be an important part of my life. Cliff has always talked about his life's experience, as a child when he had enough sight to see colours, his time at the blind school etc and I am always amazed how exciting his life has been.
I have also seen how many people don't understand how to react around a blind person and realized that I have had this privilege in my life. As a children's author I have always made by books focus on inclusion, acceptance, friendship and kindness as well as be conversation starters for topics that may be a little harder to discuss.
So I thought a book series with a main character being visually impaired would allow everyone to glimpse how awesome life can be with a blind friend.
Adventures with My White Cane is a picture book series that I am creating to tell some of Cliff's stories, and to share with others a different view of the world.
book recommendation: Manny's Flight
Join us in the Kindness Kangaroo Library for a special storytime session featuring Manny's Flight. Manny is a little gnome with a big dream and the determination to make it come true. Despite the obstacles, his struggles and those who think he dreams too big Manny takes flight. Manny's Flight was written by Sandra Wilson and illustrated by Jayson Tench and is available from Amazon
Dino Stars
One of my most rewarding class visits was to the Room 6 Stars where I went to get ideas for the book Dino Stars. I was not aware when I first went that some of the children did not have speech and at first I worried about how we could share ideas for the story. But I needn't have worried. These kids were welcoming and very good at communicating their ideas, through whatever means worked best - sign language, pointing to pictures, using a tablet app - their imaginations were strong and their excitement to share was big.
And what I discovered was that this class visit was very much like any of my other class visits where I gathered ideas from the kids to create a book. These children just communicated a bit differently than most of the other children I had worked with. But I adapted and all these amazing children were included in the Kindness Kangaroo Project.
And as exciting as it was for them to be part of a book, it was so rewarding to me to be part of the experience. To be able to learn different ways of communication, to observe special ways of interacting and to be included in their circle of friends made it one of my best days.
Inclusion for All
We are all so different and unique beings and it makes us feel good when we see characters in books that we can relate to because they are like us. It is important then that children's books feature characters that have a variety of differences so many more children can find a character to relate to.
It is important that differences are shown in books so that every wonderful uniqueness is recognized, accepted and made mainstream. How sad would you be if you were a child that couldn't connect to any book because none of the characters depicted someone like you? And, how excited would you? be if you found a book that had a character just like you?
I am reminded of the story of the little boy in the wheelchair that was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a poster in a store with a little boy in the wheelchair. Every child should experience the joy of connecting like this.
“You have a responsibility to make inclusion a daily thought, so we can get rid of the word ‘inclusion.’
–Theodore Melfi
To find out more about the Adventures With My White Cane series visit this post
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