Everyone is Different for a Reason

This week we participated in reading two books, the first one I am going to write about is titles A Boy Called Bat written by Elana K. Arnold, and illustrated by Charles Santoso. This children's chapter book highlights the life of a young boy named Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat) and his love for animals, his way of thinking and communicating, and his journey to making his first friend. I think an important aspect of this book is two major things. The first one being that the author never once mentioned the word "Autism," or "disability." I think this helps the normalization of differences take a huge step in its journey. What a beautiful story for children who may feel the same or act the same to relate to Bat without being reminded that they are "autistic" or different. In this story, the reader may have the opportunity to relate to Bat, feeling like he is not the only person who may go through struggles of communication, for example. The other thing I loved about this book was the way Elana Arnold depicted his racing thoughts and curious mind. Bat was constantly sharing new facts, asking questions, and thinking about the interactions he was having with people. This is a commonality for many children, especially those who may have been diagnosed with ASD, and I think the relation between Bat and the reader could be very strong because of this.

The second book is titled Just Ask! Be Brave, Be Different, Be You written by Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Rafael Lopez. This book is written from many perspectives of many children who live life differently. Some have special medicine that helps them live, and some don't like to speak very much. This book is such a beautiful representation of being different while accepting one another. I loved this page of the book specifically because I

have a lot of experience with ASD in my own life. There are two people in my life with ASD who impacted me the most: My older sister Carrie, and one of my students I taught during my student teaching experience, Daniel (pseudonym). These two rays of sunshine have a completely different life, with different ways of communicating, thinking, and behaving.

My older sister is nonverbal and very chill. She has a strict routine that she follows everyday to keep her at a comfortable level of feeling. She is not potty trained but she can feed herself. Although she can feed herself, she cannot prepare her own meals. She is very smart, wicked smart to be in fact, but not by textbook standards. She can pull up her own pants after using the bathroom, and she can put her plate in the sink when she's done with dinner. These things, to my family and I, are astronomical. Daniel on the other hand is so loud and hilarious, he loves to talk and he loves playing the drums. Music is his favorite thing, other than recess. Daniel can brush his own teeth, tie his own shoes (even though he'd trick me into doing that for him), and even take tests. He is a brilliant math student, but when it comes to reading I think he just hasn't found the right book yet. These two people are completely different in almost every single way. I think this is why I connected so heavily to this book and this page. Two people who are very important to me, who both have ASD, are represented PERFECTLY in this page. I think this is why this book is so important. Everyone is so different, there are not two people who are the same in this world and that should be celebrated. I always thought about teaching my future students the importance of acceptance and love for others. After reading this I was intrigued by the author and illustrator and wanted to know more. While reading about Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's experience in the restaurant with her insulin, or Rafael Lopez's child with autism, I knew that they understood it too, and since this book comes from the perspective of #OwnVoices authors and illustrators I felt even more connected to the literature. I feel like we are a community trying to teach the future generations the importance of differences, and I feel like we are doing it together.

I decided to look further into other books that incorporate disability experiences. There is a book titled Zoom written by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Martchenko. The author of this book, Robert Munsch, grew up with a learning disability. Reading his words about his learning experiences are truly inspiring. After failing grade after grade, he was able to prosper and become a writer. This book in particular is about a kid who uses a wheelchair, and his inspiration came from a child who wrote to him. I think this is extremely powerful, especially reading this book from the perspective of a young child who uses a wheelchair. Other children will be able to relate to this story and feel themselves as someone with super powers. I thought this book was an awesome tool for the classroom to remind students that everyone has different abilities. This is definitely a humanizing experience for children to read. I included a link here to Robert Munsch's page for you to check out his words and be able to read more in depth about the inspiration he gained to write this book.

I would love to use this in my classroom and ask students questions about how Lauretta's feeling throughout the book. What kinds of things inspire her to be her and embrace her abilities? I think this conversation can open a great platform for students to be able to relate to someone who may not be the same as them.

Munsch, R. (n.d.). The Official Website of Robert Munsch. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://robertmunsch.com/about