It will take time, and you must have a great deal of patience. After being such a good child all the years, I am sure you won't fail now. Remember, any imprudence will put you back. You must be content to gain very little at a time. There is no royal road to walking any more than there is to learning. 

These words of Susan Coolidge's 1872 novel What Katy Did were among the first I read, aged eight years, about disabled children in fiction. Katy, like so many Victorian disabled protagonists (think Clara in Heidi or Colin in A Secret Garden), 'gets better'. The books that I had didn't speak to my experiences as a child: ones of not 'getting better', of being bullied – verbally, physically – through primary school, into high school. Maybe I wasn't good enough, like Katy, or as faithful as Clara? 

I learnt not to report the bullying. It made no difference, because it was never the same person twice. Tripped up deliberately, again. In the mud. Late to class, again. But why would my classmates behave any differently? They'd learnt, perhaps, as I certainly had, that having congenital hemi –  an impairment caused by a brain injury, that results in weakness, stiffness and lack of control in one side of the body – meant that there was something 'wrong' with me. I was at a mainstream school, but if I'd been born five years earlier, chances are, I'd have been in a specialist school by default. Teachers' and children's knowledge of disabled people was low. What they did know made me 'lesser', and 'other'.

Ableism and disability literacy

As I came into academic Psychology and teacher education as an adult and lecturer, and as the only physically disabled person in my Division, research by Favazza and colleagues (2017) was showing that disabled people were still not frequently represented in children's classrooms – in the wall displays, in their curriculum materials, in libraries. This non-representation is one example of something that is pervasive in educational settings: ableism. 

Ableism is a type of discrimination and exclusion that devalues and oppresses disabled people, often by omission and inattention, rather than through deliberate acts of meanness. Blackwell et al. (2017) defined ableism in education as 'explicit and implied statements, suggestions, and messages that a) value and promote socially-normed methods for children and youth to learn and engage in curriculum and society, and b) are positioned so that any deviation from those preferred statements, suggestions, and messages is considered inferior and undesirable' (p.39). In line with the disadvantaging of disabled people, past research on disability justice has noted an inequality in the extent to which disabled people are present in children's material culture (for example, in their picture books; Hayden & Prince, 2023, in their television; Carmel et al., 2024, in filmography; Gibson, 2023, and in video games; Madej, 2024). Another area of children's material culture is the toys with which they play. The lack of representation of disabled people in children's material culture is one example of the privileging of non-disabled people.

Few pupils are likely to encounter disabled teachers as role models in the classroom. Less than 0.007 per cent of teachers in Scotland disclosed a disability in the Teacher Census (2007). Since then, the DfE (2023) have been criticised for not collecting these data systematically, and the Scottish Government (2023) did not publish statistics on teachers according to whether they declared that they were disabled or not. At the same time, the number of disabled children in mainstream education is rising.

This imbalance perhaps leads many educators to shy away from conversations about disability due to their uncertainty about what to say to disabled pupils, and their fear of causing offense (Crowson & Brandes 2014; Hansen et al., 2023). Additionally, the scarcity of student-teacher courses focusing on how to address disability with students contributes to educators' low confidence in and avoidance of this area (Bialka et al., 2019; Hansen, et al., 2023). Support for education professionals is lacking, in terms of having those discussions with pupils, and building confidence, acceptance, and belonging. 

There's a clear need in educational settings, then, to shape disability literacy (Hubrig, 2023) – how non-disabled and disabled people read disability, how we collectively and individually read and understand disabilities, our relationships to disability, and how disabled people engage with communities.

Theorising disability

I set about examining ways in which more positive representation of disabled people may enhance disability literacy and foster more positive responses to disabled peers. I found that existing psychological work focused almost exclusively on non-disabled children, and their prejudice, using scales that were often inherently ableist in their questionnaire items and scale names (the Peers Attitudes Towards the Handicapped Scale, for example, Bagley & Green, 1981; still used in 2021). Reviewing the literature, I found (see Jones, 2024) that many psychological researchers, before they begin their research, see disabled people as having lower status (see also Albrecht & Devlieger, 1999). For example, Cocco et al. (2022) used vignettes to look at outcomes following an imagined contact intervention. The authors used the terms 'high' and 'low status' to describe the people in their vignettes, i.e. 'a different low status group, children with disability' (p.1042). I needed to take an interdisciplinary stance. 

I started with something called the social model of disability (Oliver, 1993) which, in contrast to the medical model, separates out the concepts of impairment and disability. From this perspective, a person may have a medical impairment, but it is attitudes and environments that disable. Advocates of this approach, in line with my writing, use identity-first language to reference a society that disables, for example, by not interpreting information into British Sign Language or not providing screen-readable versions of documents.

Further theorising around disability in the field of Disability Studies is seen in affirmative models of disability. Such models, aligned with the social model of disability, adopt a human rights perspective and were developed by disabled people themselves (e.g., Swain & French, 2000). They directly challenge the assumptions often held by non-disabled people, which view the lives of disabled individuals as 'lesser', 'tragic', or which label them as 'abnormal' due to their 'impaired' bodies. Swain and French (2000) contrast the social model – rooted in disabled people's experiences of a society that marginalises them – with the affirmative model, which arises from their experiences as empowered citizens who have control over their lifestyle, culture, and identity.

Affirmative models, then, envision a society that celebrates differences and values all individuals. In addition to advocating for environmental and attitudinal changes, affirmative models promote a positive, collective identity for disabled people. From this perspective, policies, theories, and practices can only be considered disability-inclusive if they acknowledge disability culture – that is, how disabled people view themselves. To effectively build disability literacy, we must include disabled people's voices, their positive identities and their culture, in the conversations taking place in educational settings and in research about them. 

Enhancing disability literacy through material culture

When it comes to attitudes to disability, educational research shows the promise of a 'mirrors and windows' approach (Bishop, 1990). This approach argues that enabling students to see themselves reflected (to have mirrors) in the curriculum (for example, for a child with a limb difference to read a book like Catchpole's What Happened to You about a child with a limb difference) is important for belonging and self-esteem. At the same time, What Happened to You offers a window into the world of children with limb difference, for children who don't have this experience, building empathy and positivity.

Work on children's literature, using the mirrors and windows approach, has demonstrated the critical importance of positive representation. As discussed earlier, teachers lack support and confidence in discussing disability. As such, mirrors and windows are called for. Hayden and Prince (2020) reviewed picture books featuring a main character, as a disabled person. They found that non-apparent disabilities were featured more frequently than apparent disabilities. Still, the disabled main character demonstrated self-awareness, agency and acceptance, further disrupting the ableist prevalence for those who read them. Consequently, such representation would allow push back against stereotypes and bullying. In this vein, Adomat (2014) showed that children's discourse about disability surrounding such picture books changes: children not only learn about various disabilities but come to understand disabled characters as full and complex beings.

Armed with the social and affirmative models of disability, and with the theory of mirrors and windows, and together with my research team, I carried out some research on behalf of the not-for-profit organisation, ToyLikeMe, headed by Rebecca Atkinson. We looked at the impact of a resource called Toy Box Tales , which is linked to UK primary curricula in England and Scotland. The resource focuses on a collection of 12 images depicting artist-generated disabled characters – Olaf has a cochlear implant and Barbie has a prosthetic limb. These sit alongside class activities, give key subject knowledge for educational professionals alongside conversation starters for learners. The resource starts with a series of videos. These highlight the social model of disability and link to the Professional Learning Framework (2023) themes of Equality, Rights, and Relationships, as well as to key reflective questions around learner identities in the National Framework for Inclusion (Scottish Universities Inclusion Group, 2022). But would that build disability literacy, or simply further stigmatise disabled children in classes using the resource?

Our research shows that the resources change perspectives on disability. Using a repeated measures design, we invited children in mainstream schools, regardless of whether they were disabled, to complete a short questionnaire, followed by a story completion task, before and after engaging with the resource (see figures below). Story completion is a novel qualitative research method which allows for attitudes to be explored thematically via stories written by participants. This has garnered support in recent years as a topic in its own right, distinguishing it from its roots as a psychoanalytic measure (see Clarke & colleagues, 2019, for further discussion). 

Story completion as a qualitative method has many advantages (Braun et al., 2019). Not only is it suited to research on sensitive issues due to its anonymity, but it is also easy to implement, allows participants freedom to express potentially socially undesirable views, and is highly adaptable to explore a wide array of research questions in a classroom environment where socially desirable responses to disabled people are going to be normative and could skew the results (Wilkins et al., 2016). It is an inherently creative and playful method, and children found it fun and engaging to take part. Their stories ranged from very life-like to fantastical, allowing them full creative rein (as has been reported elsewhere; see Lam & Comay, 2020). We found that discourse around disability changed after engagement with the resource [see examples below]. Story themes reflecting relationships between story characters, responses to disability, paternalism, medical and social understanding of disability and emotional response were generated (see Rennie, Uytman & Jones, forthcoming). Further consultation with local schools has added to our evidence-base, with disabled and non-disabled children and educators finding them useful and positive.

A Pre-engagement story

Once upon a time there was a normal kid called Jess. One morning he was playing a new video game called Splatoon 3. Then a random ding dong came from the door. It was a letter from Superman? It said  'meet me at the city centre.' 

 Well that'll be easy, I'm at the centre. The very next day he opened his gate: boom Superman was there... 

"I can't believe it's you". 

"You do realize that you are in a film?" 

They walked past a newspaper but they didn't read it. Then Superman went high. On the news it said JAIL BREAKK. 

Then BANG! Superman's cape was ruined. Superman is in hospital. Read on to find out. Will he be in a wheelchair? * finished 

A  Post-engagement story

My best friend is Barbie. Even though she only has one arm she's got so many hobbies; she does swimming, football and coaches trampolining, and I do all this with her, but I don't swim, I coach swimming. Last year me and Barbie became roommates in a mansion. We made so many friends and they're so nice. And my bedroom is so big. Good night, but we were at school all day!

Get involved

We started with children's toys and imagination, but we know that there is scope for much more. How could we build greater confidence in addressing ableism and talking about disability in educational settings? Which further aspects of children's material culture should represent disabled people better? How do you think you could use or adapt the resources we have made in your own practice? Are you interested in developing our resources further, as part of your professional practice or research? If you'd like to join the conversation, head to https://qmutoyboxdiversitylab.com/dlesnetwork/ and join our network of people dedicated to this work.

Read more information about our research via https://toyboxdiversitylab.com or follow us on Instagram @toyboxdiversity

• Sian E. Jones, CPsychol is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She thanks Dr Clare Uytman and members of the ToyBox Diversity Lab, without whom this work would not be possible.

References

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Bagley, M. T. & Green, J. F. (1981). Peer Attitudes Toward the Handicapped Scale (PATHS). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Bialka, C. S., Hansen, N., C Wong, S. J. (2019). Breaking the Cycle: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Disability-Related Discussions. Teacher Education and Special Education, 42(2), 147-160. 

Bishop, R. S. (1990). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Retrieved from Scenic Regional Library.

Blackwell, W., Fisher, M., Buss, J. & Sturm, E. (2017). Addressing Ableism in the Common Core State Standards. National Teacher Education Journal, 10(1).

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Carmel, J.-M., Chapman, S. & Wright, P. (2024). Seeing disability in children's made for television programmes: An Australian case study. Children & Society, 00, 1–16.

Catchpole, J. (2021). What happened to you? Faber & Faber.

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Clarke, V., N. Hayfield, N. Moller, and I. Tischner (2017). Once Upon A Time…: Story Completion Methods. In Collecting Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide to Textual, Media and Virtual Techniques. ed. V. Braun., V. Clarke and D. Gray, 45-70. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Rennie, C., Jones, S.E. & Uytman, C. (forthcoming) Unlocking Imaginations: Lessons Learnt from Using Story Stem Completion with Young Children. Qualitative  Research in Psychology.

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