Growing up I clung to the characters in books I could identify with; Sophie from ‘The
Sophie Stories’ by Dick King Smith (same name, brown hair, likes animals), Susan from
Jacqueline Wilson’s Candyfloss (brown hair, glasses, a bit of a nerd), and Fiona from the
eleventh book in Lemony Snicket’s ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ (brown hair, glasses,
interested in science). These girls also share a characteristic I couldn’t relate to – they
are all able-bodied. I was a teenager by the time I encountered a young fictional
amputee; Augustus, the main love interest in John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars’
(spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well for him).
If a link as tenuous as hair colour and glasses could endear me to a character, imagine
how excited I would have been to read about a girl wearing a splint or using a prosthetic
leg.
It wasn’t just books that failed to reflect the realities of being a disabled child; television
and films let me down as well. There was the occasional side character, such as Layla,
a girl with cerebral palsy in ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’ (but how could I possibly relate to
her? She had blonde hair and hardly any lines!). And who can forget Colin from ‘The
Secret Garden’? He was a rather irritating little boy who ended up not being disabled
after all - going outside into nature cured him of all his ailments. So, by the time I was
15, the young fictional disabled characters in my life were either inconsequential,
nonexistent or dead.
I was lucky though, as although representation in the media remained sparse
throughout my teens, I was beginning to make a name for myself in the world of Para
athletics. Not only was I growing in confidence as my 100m times improved rapidly, but I
also got to meet fellow disabled athletes who would remain lifelong friends. Before this
point I’d never really hung out with disabled people, having been the only visibly
physically disabled child at my mainstream secondary school, I didn’t get the chance
until I started competing.
For many people, my cohort and I were the first positive representation of disability they
had seen on national television, thanks to Channel 4’s coverage of the London 2012
Paralympics. These Games were transformative, Paralympians were embraced by the
British public, disability wasn’t framed as tragic, and disabled people were genuinely
inspired to take up sport after seeing themselves represented (I competed against many
of them from 2013 onwards!). However, a sporting event every four years is not enough,
the years in between are just as important, not only in the disability sport world, but in
every other aspect of the media. It is estimated that around 25% of the UK population is
disabled, so why are our stories still so rarely told? (the answer to that is: ableism).
Having said this, things are slowly moving in the right direction, with a growing number
of books out there featuring disabled protagonists, kids today do have more access to
disabled role models compared to the early 2000’s. Though my contribution is but a
drop in the ocean, I have the same mindset when it comes to my sporting exploits as
well as my writing and illustrating – If I can encourage just one kid (or adult!) to follow
their dreams (for want of a less cheesy phrase), I’ve done my job.
Disability stats link- CBP-9602.pdf