Reflection of Final Project

As I look at the collection of books I selected for my topic which is books about children with chronic illnesses, I feel satisfied by them.
The books are by no means perfect, but I am happy that they are at least at the library available for children to look through and read and begin to think about how the characters and similar and different to them. It also gives me hope that children who are affected by serious illnesses, or physical deformities find a connection in some of the books I chose or the others that are available in bookstores and libraries.
However, I am concerned by the lack of good, accurate novels that do not portray stereotypes of people with physical and mental disabilities. The most common problem I found when looking at books were the many generalizations that are made. For example, if the book is about autism, it seems that the characters exudes characteristics that are commonly thought of when thinking of a person with autism, but other characteristics are left out completely. It is important that there are a wide variety of books so that children can see the many different types of people and the complexities that arise when dealing with a chronic illness.
I also hope that libraries, especially school libraries, take notice of the importance of including these types of books because students are curious about these types of things because often asking a person about a deformity or an illness can be uncomfortable and seen as rude. By reading about characters that are not stereotypes students can get a glimpse of a day in the life of a person going through the many ups and downs that come with a disability whether it is physical or mental.