Special stories and design make reading inclusive

Raising Parents Art and culture ideas to inspire both children and adults There are now efforts to create inclusive reading experiences for the neurodiverse and those with learning difficulties

- Avantika Bhuyan

Earlier this year I picked up Menaka Raman's How to Win an Election (Duckbill). In this book about school elections, the classroom becomes a site for politics, where favouritism and prejudices play out, strategies are planned, heated arguments take place, and exaggerated promises are made. At the heart of this middle-grade novel is the friendship between Sachin and Mini, two students with contrasting personalities. Sachin is rejected from the school elections on the grounds that he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

The 2024 book is one of the few titles in which one of the central characters is on the neurodivergent spectrum. The fact that Sachin is neurodiverse is never in your face. It comes up when his attention wanes during conversations with teachers, or when he seeks the comfort of the fidget popper in his pocket. It's an interesting way of including neurodiversity in a story, highlighting diversity while also making it seem matter of fact.

For quite some time, I have pondered over ways in which a more inclusive and accessible reading experience can be created for those on the neurodiverse spectrum and those with learning disabilities. And it is in the last two years, perhaps, that I have noticed a small but concerted effort in this direction within the publishing industry.

This is happening in two ways: One is by including characters that are on the spectrum or with learning difficulties without making them a subject of sympathy, and the second is through the design of books.