Born This Way

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

For this month, the Genre-istas asked me to do a special post, as part of their April focus on Writing Other-Abled Characters. I've chosen to write about my work in progress, which features a disabled teen as one of the main characters. In this post you will get some history about disabled characters, as well as information on how I went about choosing to give one of my teens a congenital disability, cerebral palsy. You will also get a look at an excerpt from the manuscript. And, if anyone is interested in learning more about the story and getting a chance to be a beta reader, feel free to leave me a comment with contact information.

Last Saturday, Kathleen Delaney blogged about her experiences becoming an amputee, and how that effected her writing. A lot of the literature featuring disabled characters involve formerly able-bodied people who, through accident or disease, become disabled.

As a teen several (OK, a lot of) decades ago, I read my first story featuring a disabled character. Light A Single Candle by Beverly Butler, told the story of a girl my age loosing her sight. This book left me terrified by the possibility of facing such a disability myself as well as entranced by the courage of the once normal girl facing this disability.  Over the years, many of the books I read featuring disabled characters used the same trope, a "normal" person who became disabled and either learns to make the best of their disability, or who decide the right thing to do is end their lives so their able-bodied kith and kin will cease suffering in the ceaseless effort to care for them.

These are all valid and valuable stories. But they are not the only stories about disabled people. Many in the disabled community have noted the dearth of stories about who are differently abled their entire life. Most of the disabled are people living with a congenital or childhood condition. They are not nostalgic about the good old days before. Nor do they have to learn to adjust to their disabled status. Instead, they live a full life, at ease with the situation they have always lived in, like this father shopping with his daughter on his crutch.

Ever one to face a challenge head on, I chose to place a disabled person in my current YA project.

From a presentation on disability in children's literature

I began by choosing the disability, and settled on cerebral palsy, thinking I knew something about that condition. CP is often the result of some injury or insult that occurs in utero or during birth. Therefore, many people with CP are literally "born that way".

Fortunately, I teach classes to authors on the subject of writing about people outside their own group - Adding the Spice Of Diversity To Your Writing. (http://www.babinns.com/spice-class/) I decided to follow my own instructions to students. That means beginning by tossing out everything I thought I knew about the condition and start as a complete knowledge. Otherwise, "Write What You Know" could too easily result in writing how you would feel if you were in that situation. Or, worse still, it could pull up a stereotype or caricature instead of a real character. I take students through this issue in several lessons.

Practicing what I preach involved  following five steps:

1. Readers are number 1 – so I always keep track of who I am trying to reach. Yes, most of the readers will be able-bodied young adults. But I also strive to appeal to disabled readers, and their friends and family. I hope many of them will both sympathize with the character, and identify with both his disability and his unique strengths and abilities. 
2. That means taking myself, and what I think it would be like to be disabled out of the picture. 
3. Then I took everything I thought I knew about being disabled and cerebral palsy and tossing it in the proverbial wastebasket. 
4. Doing research, both secondary and then primary research from experts. 
5. Taking extra effort to steer clear of stereotypes such as the A-Sexual Cripple, the Always Happy Cripple, and his/her cousin, the Always Angry Cripple.

So, as I instruct my students, I symbolically burned anything and everything I thought I knew about CP, scattered the ashes, and began research. While I do have some disabled relatives and friends, I did not actually know much more than is presented in the popular media, which includes stereotypes and depictions of disability, some of which are watered down and twisted. (Take a look at some of the comments from the disabled community about the book and movie, Me Before You - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/me-before-you-disability_us_575add48e4b00f97fba81730.)

All ages at the Disability Expo

My efforts started with good old-fashioned books. I always begin by learning as much as I can on my own, then approaching experts. I don't want to waste an expert's valuable time, and those willing to provide me with cultural background and information are, in fact, experts who deserve every consideration for their expertise and willingness to share. I read through several hundred pages of Cerebral Palsy: A Practical Guide for Caregivers to gain a general understanding of the illness and its effect on individuals and their families.

From there I moved into primary research, including attending the 2016 Disability Expo in Chicago. There I found a variety of mobility aids, and people of all ages, playing tennis, dancing, and even giving dance lessons. I had a mixture of people to talk to, different ages, disabilities, and those disabled in their older years, as well as those born that way. The end result, I learned a lot more than I thought I would, and met a ton of new people. One of the side joys of being a writer.

My model for Alex. not 14, but too happy to ignore

The next step was to create my character, fourteen year old Alex Gruberman. In many ways, choosing CP was a fortunate decision on my part. This condition has many different aspects, and effects different brains in different ways. He's a small town high school student born with moderate left-side hemiparesis, That's a long term that means his left arm and leg are weak, the muscles are are contracted. It affects his muscle tone and ability to coordinate body movements. He is able to walk short distances with braces and medication. At home he goes without the wheelchair, but in school he uses a motorized chair. It also means he is subject to bullying.  Other kids in the small town, including his own cousin, call him brain dead, and lego-less.

The other main character is his next door neighbor, Tash Parker, an African American teen who just moved to this rural and predominantly white section of southern Illinois. In the following excerpt from the story I call Trooper, Tash has been walking her dog and hears sounds of pain coming when she passes the house and steps in to intervene.



TROOPER Excerpt:

“Parents aren’t supposed to hurt their kids,” I say sternly. Soft voice or not, I have to tell Alex's father what I think of him.

“I wish I didn’t have to,” he answers, and now he sounds both soft and sad.  

“He wasn’t hurting me,” Alex says and comes into view, standing beside his father.

Standing! “How?” I gasp. Has he been pretending at school?

He leans on a crutch held in his right hand. It’s decorated with a rainbow of different kinds and colors of tape. There is a handle for his right hand to grasp and a cuff that fits around his upper arm.

He walks closer, pushing past his father. Actually, he wobbles, even with the crutch. He wears shorts, letting me see that his left and right legs don’t work together. His left side drags in a way that looks painful.

Shango escapes my grasp, jumps to the ground and rushes at Alex, moving the way he did when still a puppy. He rears up and puts his forepaws on Alex’s thighs. Alex falls back, his right arm flailing as he loses balance. His father reaches for him, but stops when Alex grips the door frame without losing his cane and somehow stays on his feet.

Alex is closer to me now, and I smell what energized my normally sedate bulldog. “You have bacon,” I say accusingly. Nothing turns Shango on faster.

Alex pulls a piece from his pocket and tosses it to my dog. “Dad fixes bacon for me as a treat to help me survive home therapy sessions.”

His father sighs. “It’s hard on Alex. I hate being his enemy.”

“Not enemy,” Alex assures his father. “You have to do this.”

He leads the way inside the house. We settle on the sofa with Shango in his lap while his father goes to the kitchen to fix dinner.

“I owe you,” Alex tells me. “Dad ended my exercises early.”

“Is he a good cook?”

“Barely knows how to burn water.”

I can’t believe silent Alex made a joke. Maybe it’s not a joke? The odors coming from the kitchen are not spectacular. I smell stew. Onions, carrots, and beef, but my aunt would say it needs more spices. No wonder he made Alex bacon as a treat.

“Mom rolled up her sleeves and dove into things. I could moan and cry while she manipulated me. I liked that. I have to be extra careful with Dad. When I cry out his face tightens and his hands begin shaking. He hurts when I hurt. I try to remain silent, but sometimes when my muscles scream, my mouth screams too.” His right shoulder shrugs. “It’s not like school. Silent there is easy.”

“Do the exercises help you?”

Another shrug. “My muscles aren’t getting any worse.”

“What about your chair?” I ask, pointing to where it sits folded in a corner.

“I don’t use it at home. The crutch is harder and slower, but I hate the chair.”

“If you hate it, why use it at school?”

He looks at me like I’ve just asked the stupidest question ever. I feel my face grow hot as I realize he's right. He’d get creamed in the halls with those legs.

“I have moderate spastic hemiparesis,” he begins. “The muscles in my left arm and leg continually contract. That makes me stiff and…”

“And awkward.”

“Yeah, that. I was slow and shaky and kids kept knocking me down. They said it was an accident, but I was on the ground all the time. I managed kindergarten, even first grade, mostly by staying in my seat as much as possible. Then I started using the chair to survive. If kids act like they don’t see me or don’t get out of my way I’m not the one getting knocked around.”

“You didn’t knock me down today.”

He gives me a long, cool, penetrating stare. “You’ve never bullied me.”

No, but I have ignored him, just like everyone else.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you see Alex as a kid of inner strength, who doesn't bemoan his life and problems, but learns to live with him. And, by the end of the story, he even learns to dance.

If you are interested in reading more, let me know in a comment, and I will get back to you.
And if you want to talk about your efforts in writing about a differently-abled character, tell me that too.

Other-Abled Characters: Depression

 by Kristin Holt

Image: Courtesy of Pinterest.

My personal comprehension of physical and mental "disabilities" is limited to severe chronic pain. And, understandably, the depression walking hand-in-hand with pain. Like white and milk, pain and depression are inseparable.

To compensate, I seek joy and light and laughter everywhere, including my writing. Most of my titles have a significant dollop of humor, along with essential story components like conflict.

While pain and depression are my only personal disabilities, I know a little more from close family bonds.

One beloved brother was born with a cleft lip and palate. One nephew has Down Syndrome. A sister-in-law suffered from Cystic Fibrosis (a genetic condition), as does one nephew. A former boyfriend was diabetic and required insulin by injection.

Are these defects? Are they disabilities? Is my constant state of severe pain a disability? Is it more politically correct to say conditions? Circumstances?

Image: Courtesy of Pinterest.

I've read many well-written books with "Other-Abled Characters" that have stuck with me for years. Pamela Morsi's Simple Jess, and many "combat-modified" heroes in contemporary military romantic suspense by a handful of truly gifted writers. I still remember poignant details from Cheryl St. John's Sweet Annie--(a fictional romantic tale of a young woman in a Victorian rolling chair)...and I read the book for the first time many years ago.

I've never attempted to write a character who rivaled Morsi's unforgettable Jess--a "simple" man. "Slow", some might say. Nor have I attempted a character like Annie who many referred to as "crippled". Or worse. In today's P.C. world, numerous descriptions are inappropriate, unkind, unnecessary, limiting, and frankly--cruel. I'm grateful my mother taught me better, expected better, insisted upon better.

While researching primary sources such as Victorian American newspapers and books, I consistently encounter terms, descriptions, and word choices inappropriate in today's world.

Mower County Transcript of Lansing, Minnesota on March 1, 1877.

The realm of mental illness in Victorian America was dangerous. The condition was rife with misunderstanding, frightening and abusive "treatments", asylums that once entered became a death sentence. I've read Nellie Bly (a daredevil reporter)'s historic account of an undercover incarceration in Blackwell's Island prison/hospital for prostitutes--who must be insane, otherwise, why would they choose prostitution? (Attitudes of Victorian America--not my own.)

As an author, including a character with physical or mental challenges, conditions, or limitations in a nineteenth century setting makes for a significant challenge. How can I write an historically accurate book that includes a special needs individual, remains true to history (vocabulary, word etymology, social viewpoints), and yet is suitable for today's readers? And most importantly, embodies my personal respect for all individuals.

Precisely like the Huntsman Disability Campaign (of about 2006), I refuse to 'dis' ability.

Image: Courtesy of Pinterest.

I wrote my first "disabled" Point of View character in my new release, The Gunsmith's Bride (available only within the anthology Gunsmoke & Gingham.

The story contains a double romance as the fifty-ish couple, George Hudson and Zylphia Speare, brought together by a correspondence courtship, and the youthful would-be step-siblings Morgan Hudson and Elizabeth Louise Speare. Reviewers have indicated they like the double-romance, and the difficult (yet unsteady) Mother (and stepmother-to-be) Zylphia Speare. By today's definition, Zylphia suffers from depression and emotional instability. In addition to suffering the recent death of her beloved husband, she has yet to recover from emotional wounds sustained in childhood. Zee isn't the primary heroine and though seriously flawed, the scenes in her point of view were designed mostly to explain her reasoning, motivation, behavior, and choices that otherwise would be seen as unsympathetic.

This anthology has been well received by readers, currently with 57 customer reviews on Amazon and an average of 4.9 stars out of 5. I'm grateful to have been included with four outstanding and highly rated authors. All titles in this set are Sweet ("Clean and Wholesome") Western Historical Romance novellas.

At the top, I shared my two most memorable reads of "other-abled" characters. Who are yours?
 

Hi! I'm Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author.

I write frequent articles (or view recent posts easily on my Home Page, scroll down) about the nineteenth century American West–every subject of possible interest to readers, amateur historians, authors…as all of these tidbits surfaced while researching for my books. I also blog monthly at Sweet Romance Reads, Sweet Americana Sweethearts, and Romancing the Genres.

I love to hear from readers! Please drop me a note. Or find me on Facebook.

Sweet Romance Appropriate for All Audiences

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Copyright © 2017 Kristin Holt LC

My Favorite Other-abled Character by Lynn Lovegreen

The sad thing is, I had to think hard to come up with some favorite other-abled characters. I haven’t seen many books, movies or shows with other-abled characters that don’t turn them into  object lessons for main characters or PSAs to say “look, they’re people too.” But as I gave it more thought, I realized Charles Dickens, of all people, has several other-abled characters that are three-dimensional, not just clichés.

Victorian writers weren’t often politically correct, and Dickens made his mistakes. His Tiny Tim is stereotyped as a saint who helps to bring Scrooge to his redemption, and in Bleak House, Grandfather Smallweed’s disability is almost comic relief with his “Shake me up, Judy!” episodes. But Phil Squod, also in Bleak House, is a well-rounded character, with his mobility disability simply one of his many quirks, and we admire his devotion and service to his boss.

My favorite other-abled character is Miss Jenny Wren in Our Mutual Friend. Miss Jenny Wren is a poor doll’s dressmaker, whose "back is bad and her legs are queer.” But she is the “person of the house,” and not to be trifled with. She berates her ne’er-do-well father as a “bad child” and makes him turn out his pockets so he won’t spend all their money on drink. She pokes people with her sewing pins and can win an argument with anyone. Her friendship with Lizzie allows us to see inside her good heart and wish we had a friend like her.

The ALA (American Library Association) created the Schneider Family Book Award to celebrate the children’s and young adult book of the year “that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.” Learn more and find some great books for yourself and your kids at http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/schneider-family-book-award.

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. She taught for twenty years before retiring to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering at her local library. Her young adult/new adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest.