Depictions of Pediatric Neurological Disabilities in Graphic Novels, 2010-2022
Dorottya B. Kacsoh1, Maya C. Ayoub2, Diana Cejas3, Danielle Guez Barber4, Yolanda Holler-Managan5, Young-Min Kim6, Talia Shear7, Jennifer Kim8, Stacy Kitsis9, Elinor Christy10, Alison Christy11
1University of Florida College of Medicine, 2Pediatric Neurology, University of California - Los Angeles, 3Pediatric Neurology, University of North Carolina, 4Pediatric Neurology, Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, 5Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University School of Medicine, 6Pediatric Neurology, Loma Linda University, 7Pediatric Neurology, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University School of Medicine, 8Square Pegs Round World, 9Arlington High School, 10ACCESS Academy Middle School, 11Pediatric Neurology, Providence Health and Services
Background:
Graphic novels - long, book-length works of sequential art - were relatively rare in children's literature before 2010, when books like Raina Telgemeier's autobiographical Smile set off a publishing phenomenon. Now these works are an omnipresent part of children's literature, capable of conveying difficult concepts through the combination of words and art.
Design/Methods:
A. and E. Christy and Y-M. and J. Kim reviewed popular graphic novels intended for children and young adults and sought depictions of pediatric neurological disorders. A group of pediatric neurologists, along with a school librarian, a children's "book-stagrammer," and a 13-year-old reader, read selected books and met online to discuss themes related to disability.
Results:
We identified four major graphic novels: El Deafo, by Cece Bell; Stargazing, by Jen Wang; Sepak Up! by Rebecca Burgess, and When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, in which neurologic disabilities are central to the story: meningitis leading to hearing loss; a brain tumor causing seizures; autism; and a sibling with epilepsy and intellectual disabilities, respectively.
Themes related to medical and social models of disability; to privacy and sharing with the wider world; to caregiver worries and fears; and to disability as identity and as a strength were seen in each of these graphic novels.
Conclusions:
The medium of the graphic novel can use visual art and story to potently convey the experience of the person with neurologic disability - or the caregiver - as a mirror for children with disabilities, or as a window to aid in understanding for those without.
Themes of disability and ableism are present in the graphic novels we read. These can be recommended to patients and families, or read by providers to better understand the patient experience of disability.