Disabilities in Fiction

When I was writing the NewEarth Series, I was a Special Education Teacher. I have a feeling that once you are infected with the bug of Special Education, you carry a changed point of view with you where ever you go. After teaching since I was 20, At 50+ I was more comfortable in the classroom than in most other places. I didn’t question my inclusion of characters with challenges in my stories, it simply made sense. I only ever allowed myself to write in the summer, but I was still a sped teacher from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.

It wasn’t planned to make a political statement or to consciously include a variety of disabilities or to show how people can be included and looked after if they have extraordinary needs. My goal was to write an unforgettable story, it still is. Do some of my characters have different needs? Yes. Are they stories about surviving with a disability? NO!

My stories are about love, friendship, faith, hope, and cooperation. They are stories about the pitfalls of prejudice, the corruption of superior thinking, and the pain of rejection. My stories encourage acceptance, and yes that includes people who are different, all kinds of different.

But my stories are also about growth, how characters grow. How a society grows, and a culture. The series even incorporates how a language grows.

Might someone who is struggling with daily grind depression and painful rejection find my stories uplifting? I certainly hope so. If you are looking for a story of hope, love, and friendship that has meaning, my epic fantasy, utopian world may fit your needs. However it is not a story about surviving with disabilities, instead my books are about people who struggle to survive, and some of the characters also have disabilities.

As for those who think that disabilities have no place in fiction, look around. Disabilities have a place in life. Since my writing is about acceptance and personhood, differences will alway be highlighted, celebrated, and survived.