Grant Hardy previews his interview with author Hanna Leavitt

By Grant Hardy

Growing up with vision loss, Victoria-based author Hanna Leavitt always encountered curiosity and even skepticism from her peers. Kids want so much to interact with peers who have disabilities to learn what their lives are really like, but often fear, or the reactions from adults, hold them back. And indeed, generally childhood is the only time we are taught that it is acceptable to ask curious questions related to disability. Adults tend to quickly shut down these thoughts and don't ask questions for fear of being rude. This is unfortunate, as ignorance only leads to fear and thus ostracizing and excluding a community of people one may in fact have a lot in common with. 

Enter Hanna Leavitt's first book, The Disability Experience: Working Towards Belonging. Hanna describes it as a Disability 101 book. It features true stories, photos and illustrations of the disability experience, across the spectrum of physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities. Some of the content is about people in the disability community tackling the extreme, like climbing tall mountains with a prosthetic leg. Other content is very day-to-day, like a cute moment between a blind parent and their child. Other content is practical, like people with disabilities in the work world or the specific achievements of individuals with cognitive disabilities. Ultimately, the goal is to normalize the disability experience, educating kids and teens about the capabilities and lives of people with physical or cognitive differences.

I applaud Hanna's work for several reasons. Many people in the disability community have had the experience of being the only one who has a specific disability in the whole school or, possibly, the community. People want so much to be included and to be treated normally, but others' fears and misconceptions are hard to dispel. And the resources kids may turn to in hopes of expanding their knowledge, like their parents, teachers, or the Internet, might not always be as authoritative or knowledgeable as one would hope. I think it's fantastic Hanna has produced a book featuring stories of people in the disability community, doing extraordinary things but also just living their lives and participating in work or school or parenting. By having a resource like this that young adults can consult discretely, I hope it will inspire at least a few people to approach the guy in the hallway they've always wanted to say hi to but have been too shy.

For more on Hanna's book, including an interview with the author, her illustrator, and one of the participants featured in the book, check out our piece on AMI This Week.

AMI This Week airs Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern on AMI-tv. Want to read more from Grant? Search his name!