{Guest post from Dr. Jennifer Stratton}
Seven years ago my daughter wanted to share a poster featuring her cousin, Nick Springer, in his Team USA uniform and medals hanging from his neck. However, her kindergarten teacher wouldn’t allow it, she said it would scare the children. What was it about the poster? Well, Nick, a two-time Paralympian and wheelchair rugby champion was also a meningococcal meningitis survivor and quadruple amputee. This painful and discriminatory moment led to a lot of reflection and started our family on a new journey.
Nick Springer: a two-time Paralympian and wheelchair rugby champion
Being a professor of education specializing in multicultural education and literacy, I knew this teacher was wrong but I wanted to know more about the topic of representation of people with disabilities in picture books. After reading many journal articles, the research was disturbing. Not only were disabled people missing from picture books across genres, when they did appear they were often misrepresented. For example, in books about pirates, you will find an overrepresentation of amputees portrayed as villains carrying weapons, stealing, or drinking. While at the same time, you could not find one picture book sports biography featuring an amputee despite the growth of the Paralympic Movement. Therefore, I decided to write Nick’s sports story and start a blog, Jen Stratton and Team Possible, to fill this chasm and to demonstrate that there was a platform for these stories.
The blog led to many interviews with athletes who played adaptive sports or traditional sports in an inclusive manner. During every interview, the athletes spoke about wishing there were books where they could see themselves. In 2015, Lee and Low shared their Diversity in Publishing survey results uncovering that less than 10% of people involved in the publishing world identified as disabled. Determined to push hard against this trend, I selected an independent publisher and non-profit, Mouth and Foot Painting Artist USA, to bring Nick’s sports story to the bookshelves. MFPA artist, Christopher Kuster, created every image in the book with his mouth due to paralysis caused by a spinal cord injury. To capture the hard-hitting sport of wheelchair rugby, Kuster uses bold colors and splashes of comic-style word bubble across images of athletes racing after or smashing into each other in their specialized sport wheelchairs.
To support this game-changing book, many resources are being developed for educators, caregivers, and clinicians to use with Nick Springer on the Move. On Jen Stratton and Team Possible blog, one can find videos, original articles about Nick, lesson plans, and much more. Readers are also encouraged to write and share their “on the move” stories. It is our hope that the words and images in Nick Springer on the Move will redefine ability and change the world. As Nick states, “It is not an ability that makes you strong, but your ability to push past your weakness that makes you strong.”
Please consider purchasing Nick Springer on the Move and donating one to your local library. All proceeds go to Mouth and Foot Painting Artists USA and Wheelchair Sports Federation. Click here to purchase.
Dr. Jennifer Stratton, a professor of education at Bay Path University, loves teaching students from kindergarten to the graduate level. At all levels, she is committed to creating inclusive learning environments in and outside of the classroom. Believing in the power of picture books, she works to expand and challenge the representation of people with disabilities in children’s literature. Jennifer has presented at numerous regional and national conferences, however, children remain her favorite audience. In 2020, Jennifer received the President’s Award for Innovative Thinking at Bay Path University.