Abstract
Children with psychiatric conditions are often misrepresented in the literature they read. This creates misunderstandings regarding the realities that children with psychiatric conditions face for both the child with a condition and for their peers. Children with disabilities such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and autism spectrum disorder need a psychologically accurate resource to refer to. This should be a resource with which they can identify similar traits between themselves and the characters in the stories but also learn to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses mirrored in the characters as well. Having a resource such as this could help neurodivergent children to learn self-advocacy skills and could help neurotypical children to better understand their peers affected by psychiatric conditions. Within this thesis project, the information presented informed a creative project: a children’s chapter book surrounding five different psychiatric conditions common in children.
Semester/Year of Award
Spring 2021
Mentor
Myra Beth Bundy
Mentor Department Affiliation
Psychology
Access Options
Restricted Access Thesis
Document Type
Bachelor Thesis
Degree Name
Honors Scholars
Degree Level
Bachelor's
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Wertz, Alexandra, "Developmental Disabilities in Children's Literature: A Creative Project" (2021). Honors Theses. 811.
https://encompass.eku.edu/honors_theses/811
