Saskatchewan woman writes children’s book about people with disabilities

The book, My mama is a superhero ( My mom is a superhero), addresses issues related to acceptance, inclusion and people with disabilities.

With her book, Lindsey Stephenson takes us into her personal life while inviting young audiences to take another look at people with disabilities.

It all starts with a conversation Lindsey Stephenson had with her young daughter Ella when she was just 3 ½ years old. She wanted to help her daughter answer her classmates’ questions about her wheelchair and her disability.

The mother wanted to make it understood, among other things, that she too can do activities like the others, but that she simply does them differently.

Most often, disability is associated with a disability or limitations. I want to present my daughter Ella’s point of view that disability can be something extremely positive like a super powershe says.

Mom and author Lindsey Stephenson hopes her book will be an opportunity to have an open conversation about people with physical limitations.

Photo: Courtesy: Lindsey Stephenson

Already at the age of 3 and a half, Ella could explain to her friends that in her eyes her mother’s disability seemed more like a superpower than a limitation. She sees her mother’s wheelchair as a nice tool, explaining to her peers that she was able to do the same activities as any other parent.

” I have the ability to do any activity, I just do them in a different way from my chair. »

Lindsey Stephenson admits not having asked her daughter how she felt seeing her mother in a wheelchair. She says she believes the book is an opportunity to start a conversation about people with physical limitations.

Even when Ella sees her mom as a superheroine, she thinks that the real heroine is her daughter, now six years old.

She says she is proud that Ella is able to explain diversity and inclusion to her friends at a young age. The girl has an overwhelmingly positive outlook on her mother’s situation, Ms Stephenson said.

The role of the media for the cause of people with disabilities

The author and disability rights activist laments the absence of disabled characters in the media.

According to Lindsey Stephenson, there is a lack of representation of this category of people in the media. She laments the fact that she couldn’t see characters in books or in the media that she could relate to when she was growing up.

There were no characters in wheelchairs, characters with any kind of disability, or simply with a cane, she says.

There weren’t many TV shows or movies that portrayed characters with physical limitations, she laments.

Ms. Stephenson thinks it would be good if people with disabilities were represented in the media. According to her, this could allow children to develop much more the spirit of tolerance and acceptance when they meet a person who is different from them, and who does not have the same physical abilities.

The book My mama is a superhero is currently available online.

Lindsey Stephenson hopes that the message conveyed by drawing and writing will eventually be transformed into a television animation project.