Research guides: Special Education: Teaching About Difference in the Classroom

Resources for Your Classroom

Teaching about difference and disability awareness in the classroom can be challenging, especially with younger learners. The resources below may be used in your classrooms to provide entry-points to the subject with students in grades K-12.

For support in searching for additional children's literature at the OISE Library, see our Children's Literature research guide.

Recommended Books

All My Stripes: A Story for Children with Autism by Shaina Rudolph; Danielle Royer; Jennifer Zivoin (Illustrator)
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC R917A
Publication Date: 2014
Zane the zebra feels different from the rest of his classmates. He worries that all they notice about him is his "autism stripe." With the help of his Mama, Zane comes to appreciate all his stripes - the unique strengths that make him who he is! Includes a Reading Guide with additional background information about autism spectrum disorders and a note with tips for finding support.
El Deafo by Cece Bell; David Lasky (Illustrator)
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC B432E
Publication Date: 2014
El Deafo is a funny, deeply honest graphic novel memoir for middle graders. It chronicles the author's hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with a powerful and very awkward hearing aid called the Phonic Ear.
Playing by the Rules: A Story About Autism by Julie Olson (Illustrator); Dena Fox Luchsinger
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC L936P
Publication Date: 2007
When Great Aunt Tilda comes to visit, it takes her a little while to learn to understand Josh, who has autism, just as it takes him some time to get used to her.
Brian's Bird by Patricia A. Davis; Layne Johnson (Illustrator)
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC D263B
Publication Date: 2004
Eight-year-old Brian, who is blind, learns how to take care of his new parakeet and comes to realize that his older brother, while sometimes careless, is not so bad after all.
Lily and the Mixed-Up Letters by Deborah Hodge; France Brassard (Illustrator)
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC H688L
Publication Date: 2007
When Lily was in kindergarten she enjoyed school and she was happy. Now, she's in grade 2 and she doesn't feel like she's good at anything. The trouble is reading. Whenever she tries, the letters jump around and get all mixed up -- and so does she. By working together, Lily's mom, teacher, and friend Grace find a way to help Lily understand that she has very important strengths and talents. Gentle illustrations realistically portray the fear, isolation, and low self-esteem that children with dyslexia can experience.
My Pal, Victor by Diane Gonzales Bertrand; Robert Sweetland (Illustrator); Eida de la Vega (Translator); Raven Tree Press Staff (Editor)
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC B548M Dual Language Spanish
Publication Date: 2004
Why do we choose the friends we do? In My Pal, Victor, two young Latino boys experience carefree camaraderie despite one boy's disability. Full text translation in both English and Spanish. Keyword vocabulary page included to introduce words in both languages.
Splish, Splat! by Alexis Domney; Alice Crawford (Illustrator)
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC D673S
Publication Date: 2011
When Colin tells his mom he doesn't like the yellow colour on his bedroom walls, she asks around for a house painter, and hires two women who happen to be deaf. A light-hearted introduction to sign language and how deaf people communicate, Splish, Splat! was produced in conjunction with the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the cultural lives of Deaf people.
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC D766o
Publication Date: 2010
Eleven-year-old Melody is not like most people. She can't walk, talk, or write -- all because she has cerebral palsy. But she also has a photographic memory. She's the smartest kid in her whole school, but no one knows it, until she discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC P153W 2012
Publication Date: 2012
August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid -- but his new classmates can't get past Auggie's extraordinary face.The book begins from Auggie's point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community's struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.
Rebound by Eric Walters
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC W235Re
Publication Date: 2001
Sean vows that this year will be different: he'll stay out of trouble and make the basketball team, even if it means ditching his old friends. David also needs to make a new start after a serious accident has left him confined to a wheelchair and bitter about how his life has changed. Forced together, the boys learn to like each other, and their friendship may be what they both need to get back in the game.
Kids Like Us by Hilary Reyl
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC R45615K
Publication Date: 2017
Martin is an American teen on the autism spectrum living in France with his mom and sister for the summer. He falls for a French girl who he thinks is a real-life incarnation of a character in his favourite book. Over time, Martin comes to realize she is a real person and not a character in a novel while at the same time learning that love is not out of his reach just because he is autistic.
Rain Shadow by Valerie Sherrard
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC S553R
Publication Date: 2014
In this historical novel set in small-town Manitoba during the 1940s, Bethany knows that she is special. She doesn't learn things as easily as her classmates do and that sometimes makes them mean to her. But Bethany has friends like her neighbor Mrs. Goldsborough as well as happy times with Dad. When tragedy strikes, though, Bethany's world is torn apart, and she starts to wonder if there will ever be a place that feels like home again.
Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Call Number: OISE Children's Literature JUV FIC P545F
Publication Date: 1993
Two boys - a slow learner stuck in the body of a teenage giant and a tiny Einstein in leg braces - forge a unique friendship when they pair up to create one formidable human force.

Web Resources

University of Wisconsin: Disabilities in Children's Books Bibliography
This is a comprehensive list of fiction and non-fiction children's books that are about or include characters with disabilities. The list is organized into subheadings, including ADHD, Autism, Visual Impairment, Cerebral Palsy, Deafness, Down Syndrome, Genetic Disorders, Learning Disabilities, Mental Disabilities, and Physical Disabilities. It may be a good starting point when searching for additional classroom-appropriate materials.
Disability Awareness Class Activity Lesson Plans
The HIE Help Center has compiled a number of resources and activities for teachers to use in classrooms to foster disability awareness. The organization seeks to support and inform the families and loved ones of children with disabilities stemming from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), but provides resources related to a number of disabilities.
Teaching Tolerance: Understanding Disabilities Lesson Plan
This jigsaw activity is appropriate for grades 6-12. It asks students to research a disability, identify any misconceptions that they may have had about that disability, and share their findings with their peers. Extension activities are included. Teaching Tolerance is an American organization devoted to providing anti-bias and social justice resources to teachers to supplement their curricula. Additional resources related to ability and diversity in the classroom can be searched by topic on their website.

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