Graduate Research Papers

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Graduate Research Paper (UNI Access Only)

Abstract

The purpose of this literary qualitative content analysis is to determine the accuracy of the portrayal of characters who have autism in current picture books to assist librarians in making recommendations to students with ASD, their peers, and teachers. Twelve picture books published between 2017 and 2020 were analyzed. The books were evaluated using Azano et al.’s (2017) five assertions about the instructional uses of children’s picture books about autism. The findings showed that three books encompassed all five assertions within the text and/or illustrations, five books demonstrated four assertions, and four books exemplified three of the assertions. The assertions most commonly identified were: children’s books about autism can teach children about the core characteristics of ASD (present in all 12 books); books expand upon ways neurotypical children are similar to and different from children with autism (in 11 books); and books present knowledge and insight about autism through multiple perspectives (in 12 books). The two assertions seen less frequently were: books about autism illustrate how individuals with autism may be “at risk;” (in 6 books) and books emphasize the importance of influential language (in 6 books). Therefore, this researcher concluded that all 12 of the books exemplified at least three of the assertions, and thus all books portrayed autism in an accurate manner. Librarians could recommend all 12 books as appropriate for students with ASD, their peers, and teachers to use as read alouds

Year of Submission

2021

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Department

Division of School Library Studies

First Advisor

Karla Krueger, First Reader

Date Original

7-2021

Object Description

1 PDF file (36 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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