Disabled Characters

[suzie2672]

As a reviewer, I find myself gravitating towards books that feature disabled characters. I feel these books are few and far between. In my opinion, an author who is able to write successfully about a character with a disability is superior to their peers.

What book have you read that featured a disabled character?

[DATo]

The Bone Collector, by Jeffery Deaver.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time, by Mark Haddon

I don't necessarily think that a writer who writes about disabled characters is "superior" to his peers. I do think however that to do this successfully, especially if the author has no direct experience of the disability of which he writes, bespeaks a talented author. Of course many talented authors write about subjects of which they may have little or no personal experience, that's why a good author employs a great deal of research before beginning his project.

[moderntimes]

Read? I've written a disabled character into my new novel. He's an Afghanistan vet whose bunker got hit with a rocket and is a paraplegic. He's also African-American.

Right now, he's a secondary character, son of the neighbor across the street from where my private detective lives, and they are pals. In my next novel he'll be a hero and save some people from a vicious killer.

[I-Need-a-life]

Flowers for Algernon. It's about a mentally retarded guy going through a brain surgery to be smart. Don't worry about the grammar and spelling mistake, its suppose to be like that.

[LivreAmour217]

As someone with a minor disability (Asperger Syndrome), I would love to read more books that feature disabled characters. I've read autobiographies and self-help books written by people with my condition, and they've all been wonderful, but I haven't read any fictional works featuring characters with high-functioning forms of autism.

[Ryan]

I don't know of any and I'm sorry for that, but I would like to give kudos to you for this awesome thread. However, I share DATo's opinion regarding the ability of the author who is able to write about disability. The author may very well be disabled and therefore understand the difficulties pertaining to that, but that does not necessarily mean that they're a superior writer. We all have experiences of things that others do not, which for others may be subjects that are difficult to write about. That hasn't anything to do with their ability, but experience.

[zeldas_lullaby]

As someone with a minor disability (Asperger Syndrome), I would love to read more books that feature disabled characters. I've read autobiographies and self-help books written by people with my condition, and they've all been wonderful, but I haven't read any fictional works featuring characters with high-functioning forms of autism.

Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine
I haven't read it, but I've come across it.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult
I couldn't get into it and don't think it was one of her best novels, but it featured Asperger's.

Maybe you could write one?

-- 19 Jan 2015, 16:53 --

I have a comment on the original post: if writing about being disabled makes an author talented, would it also make a disabled author talented to write about being non-disabled? Like, if someone lived their whole life with a horrible illness or condition, but he or she wrote a brilliant book about regular people living normal lives?

[gali]

I recommend The Rosie Project/ Graeme Simsion and The Kitchen Daughter/Jael McHenry (the heroes have Asperger Syndrome).

[RJohnReves]

Has anyone mentioned Susannah from the Dark Tower series? Legs chopped off at the knees by a train.

[rayjamrac]

Good thread. I have an invisible disability and would love to read about more disabled protagonists. I have come across more secondary/background disabled characters than anything else. The most recent novel I've read concerning disability is The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen. It was pretty good.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Yeah, I have an invisible disability too!

It kind of makes me think of books I like about teenagers who have a special psychic or medium-type power. They feel "different," like a freak, because they talk to the dead, or whatever. (Secretly I get mad at those characters, because I think it would be awesome!) A lot of the best books in that genre have a mystery surrounding what the psychic power even is. The Fingerprints series by Melinda Metz (I think she's the author?) is a great example of that.

Sometimes, though, the disabilities that we have do wind up seeming like a third eye. If you've experienced a health condition that most people haven't, then you learn things that other people don't know. Like... for example, if you're blind, your other senses get heightened and incredibly reliable. Or if you're a juvenile diabetic, then you might know about the importance of diet, and you might learn to feel the effect of every single food you eat. Etc.

I thought of a book to add: Envy by Sandra Brown. One of the main characters is in a wheelchair. I really liked that book.

[ejcogan]

There are a few fantastic books I've read about families living and growing with autism. These are real life stories. The first is Dancing with Max: A Mother and Son who Broke Free by Emily Colson. This book is fantastic! The title says it all. I identified with just about everything this family went through on a daily basis, raising a son with autism is one of the most difficult and yet rewarding things a family can go through and Emily told their story and I believe through their story was able to open so many eyes to the world of autism. The second book right off the top of my head is The Horseboy by Rupert Issacson. Man oh man this book was great! Also about raising a child with autism and what a family will do to help their child. We are not in a position to take our son to Mongolia and visit shamans, but they are and they did and the journey was amazing! These are two of my highly recommended books about people who are extraordinarily special. They are not in any way "disabled" and they enable us and the people around them to be so much more. I rate both of these books 4 out of 4 stars.

[Miss_Jane2014]

I can honestly say that I've never read a novel with a disabled main character, just secondary characters. Even still, if the author has never experienced a disability, it could be quite challenging to write from the perspective of having one. After reading through everyone's replies, I have a few books to add to my "must read" list.

[gali]

Another book with disabled characters is "Whip Hand" by Dick Francis. The main protagonist Sid Halley is crippled. It is a series of 5 books actually and I loved it.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Another book with disabled characters is "Whip Hand" by Dick Francis. The main protagonist Sid Halley is crippled. It is a series of 5 books actually and I loved it.

Get out! I was going to name that book, but I didn't.