Fiction books often represent the social world we live in and can support readers’ understanding of themselves and others.  However, for these benefits to be realised, young people need to have access to books which reflect the diverse society we live in. Much of this work has focused, importantly, on increasing representation of different racial and ethnic identities in fiction, yet there has been much less exploration of the representation of other minority experiences, such as those of neurodivergent children and young people.

Session aims

- share findings from the Neurodiversity and Narrative Fiction project

- provide insight into neurodivergent young people’s perceptions of the importance, benefits, and potential harms of representing  neurodivergence in fiction books

- provide practical tips for incorporating books featuring neurodivergent characters into the library

Speaker

Charlotte Webber is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Edinburgh, working on a project to facilitate peer-support for neurodivergent students in secondary schools. She is currently finishing her PhD, which was conducted in collaboration with Scottish Book Trust and focusses on understanding and improving teenagers' reading experiences through collaboration with pupils and education professionals. She is Autistic and has a particular interest in representation of neurodivergence in YA fiction.