Picture books help children learn to understand the world
The stories children read help shape how they see each other. Many children's books emphasize beauty, perfection, or princess-like qualities. Good looks, intelligence, or social status are often woven into the fabric of the story and quietly linked to who matters most. Conversely, disability is often framed as "different" and can make a child feel like an outsider. Children subconsciously absorb these patterns — which is why it matters so much that the books on the shelves portray disability as part of life, not as less than or imperfect.
Every child deserves to see themselves in stories, including children with disabilities. They need to feel included and to see that they have a place in the world — and books are one of the first places children look. Including these stories in picture books is the first step toward normalizing disability. Whether your child has a disability or not, this page is designed for every family. The message is simple: when we learn to see each other, everyone belongs.
At what age should we teach children about disabilities?
Children as young as four or five can identify visible physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. As children get older, they become increasingly aware of "invisible" disabilities, such as psychological or emotional differences. Both direct and indirect experiences shape children's attitudes toward disabilities and their understanding of these differences.
Picture books are one of the most effective tools for introducing young children to visible and invisible disabilities. When a child sees a character using a wheelchair or reading Braille, they learn to recognize visible differences. Books that depict characters with anxiety, depression, or autism help educate children about invisible disabilities, which may not be readily apparent. Some people live with both at once — and explaining how one disability may affect another, and that it is not always either/or, is an important lesson for children and adults alike.
The chart below outlines some of the most common visible and invisible disabilities, and serves as a foundation for conversations among children, parents, and teachers.
Visible and invisible disabilities
Not every disability can be seen — but every child deserves to be seen.
Some disabilities are immediately visible, such as a wheelchair, a walker, or a hearing aid. Others are invisible, such as anxiety, dyslexia, or a learning difference. Both are equally real, even when one of them cannot be seen.
Children with disabilities want to see themselves in the books they read. A child who uses a wheelchair wants to open a book and find a character who uses one too — and a child with a disability that isn't immediately obvious, like dyslexia, wants to find their story reflected as well. Sometimes the children whose disabilities don't show feel the most invisible of all. Every child, with a disability or without, wants to be seen and heard.
Common visible & invisible disabilities
A side-by-side starting point for conversations at home and in the classroom.
Every disability is real. Every child deserves kindness
Be curious. Be kind. Make room for everyone — seen and unseen.
Choosing the right books — and advocating for change
How to choose a book that's good for your child
Seek out books in which disabled characters are central to the story — books that show the character's strengths, relationships, and friendships. Stories in which the disabled character is marginalized or "cured" only teach your child that they aren't accepted or included as they are.
Books written by authors who are disabled, or whose families include a child with a disability, are often more empathetic — and that understanding is visible as you turn the pages.
Ultimately, you want your child to smile while reading, and to feel that their disability is not something that needs to be overcome. Our differences are worth embracing, and picture books are among the first places a child learns these lessons.
Change your child's school, one book at a time
Inclusion begins in the classroom. Parents of children with disabilities can feel sidelined — present at school meetings but not truly heard. School bureaucracy is often built around families of children without disabilities. That's no reason to stop advocating for your child. Change happens one person at a time.
- Ask your child's classroom librarian to include picture books about disabilities.
- Share our list of children's picture books with your child's teacher to help ensure the best titles make it onto the shelf.
- Raise it at your child's IEP, and encourage disability representation as part of the classroom learning environment.
- Connect with other families of children with disabilities to advocate together — there is real strength in numbers.
Every family's path here is different — but the goal is the same: raising children who see difference with curiosity, not distance.
Inclusion begins at home
Your child's classmates influence their school experience more than almost anything else. Research shows that peers' attitudes are among the largest barriers to real inclusion — and those attitudes usually begin at home.
Children model their parents' behavior
How children treat others, and the values they carry, begin at home. We tend to assume that teachers and schools shape disability inclusion — but newer studies highlight how much parental involvement affects the inclusion of people with disabilities.
Children unconsciously emulate their parents. When a parent walks past a disabled child or speaks in hushed tones about disability, your child absorbs that message. The opposite is true as well: when a child sees their parent embrace disability as a part of life, that message is instilled in them too.
When you speak about disability in a clear and honest way, you give your children the tools they need to understand it — and to build empathy.
Reading picture books with disability themes
Consider reading books about visible and invisible disabilities with your children. By encouraging conversation and answering their questions, we help foster empathy and inclusion that carry into the classroom and onto the playground.
The work doesn't stop with books, though. Inviting a child with a disability to a playdate — at your home or at the park — does more than any book can. This is how inclusion truly begins: with friendship.
Santilli, S., Ginevra, M.C., Israelashvili, M. & Nota, L. (2022). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(24).