Not sure where to put this as there doesn't seem to be a forum for"Ask Jasper Anything You Like" so I thought I'd post it here:

Dear Jasper
I am a seriously 'mature' PhD student who happens to be paraplegic since birth. For part of my thesis I am examining perceptions of disability within modern fiction (for the other part I have to write two children's novels which challenge those perceptions).

I am a big, big fan of TN novels - just got TN6 delivered from Amazon yesterday, yay! (I have also read the Nursery Crimes series and Shades of Grey, honest).

But I can't help noticing there is a definite lack of characters with physical disabilities, particularly from birth rather than acquired. (Being blue doesn't count as a disability, does it?) Is there a reason for this? I did wonder if Goliath had hearded them all together and shipped them over to the People's Repubilc of Wales, it being much more cost effective than providing them with assistive technology, or researching cures...

As an aside, I would love to have had an Uncle Mycroft in my life. I'm sure he would have invented for me the most amazing super-dooper multi purpose wheelchair that could cook my breakfast, take the dog for a walk and hoover round before I even got out of bed in the morning. And, let's face it, who would want a 'cure' if you could have all that? I've heard walking is pretty over-rate anyway :-)

Hope to see you in Brecon in July.

Nettie63
BTW Just realised this is actually being written from the People's Repulic of Wales so maybe I've stumbled onto something Goliath have trying to brush under the carpet...

Hi Nettie63, welcome back.

May I suggest dropping a line to Jasper (at the address at the top of this page) 'cos he doesn't seem to drop in as often as he used to do. Perhaps he lurks, but Panjandrum postings seem few and far between.

Please note, that I have no more info than anyone else here,so this is just a personal guess. (Next post will probably be from JFf and I will look a complete pranny!)

regards


(edited because it needed it.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2011 12:31PM by SkidMarks.

I wonder...

Does being a neanderthaler count as a handicap?

Or having a mindworm (though admittedly this is acquired rather than from birth)...

Or being eradicated (not sure whether such a state counts as acquired of from birth... both, maybe)...

Or being a robot...

I would say Jasper does put disabilities into his books, but in a form quite different from what one is used to in every day life. Shades of Grey is extreme in this respect as everybody in it is colour-blind.

Not sure whether this answers you question...

Hmm...being a Neanderthal is a race rather than a disability, isn't it? (As is being a robot kind of) and they may not get the respect they deserve, but that is racism, and though one of life's greater evils, it doesn't count as a disability.

Mindworms are a poisonous substance, though I suppose the effects are disabling.

Eradicaton - isn't that just murder jazzed up to be quasi accecptable? Rather like Hitler's T-4 euthansia program which was eradication of 'life not worthy of life' in other words, disabled people.

I would love for Jasper to write in a sassy protagonist who uses a wheelchair, and maybe a side kick with a hearing disability. The propensity for good humoured banter is almost endless - I know I'd be rolling in the aisles (pun intended)

Interesting.
I didn't realise that the EU had a required that books include a person, or persons, with disabilities.
As a Health and Safety Compliance Officer I am well aware of the requirements for researching, documenting and ensuring the safety of disabled persons. As of yet we have not been required to import disabled persons to test the procedures.
I can say, from first hand knowledge, that Jasper's book are wheelchair, and disability friendly, unlike the London Tube system.

nettie63 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not sure where to put this as there doesn't seem
> to be a forum for"Ask Jasper Anything You Like" so
> I thought I'd post it here:
>
> Dear Jasper
> I am a seriously 'mature' PhD student who happens
> to be paraplegic since birth. For part of my
> thesis I am examining perceptions of disability
> within modern fiction (for the other part I have
> to write two children's novels which challenge
> those perceptions).
>
> I am a big, big fan of TN novels - just got TN6
> delivered from Amazon yesterday, yay! (I have also
> read the Nursery Crimes series and Shades of Grey,
> honest).
>
> But I can't help noticing there is a definite lack
> of characters with physical disabilities,
> particularly from birth rather than acquired.
> (Being blue doesn't count as a disability, does
> it?) Is there a reason for this? I did wonder if
> Goliath had hearded them all together and shipped
> them over to the People's Repubilc of Wales, it
> being much more cost effective than providing them
> with assistive technology, or researching
> cures...
>
> As an aside, I would love to have had an Uncle
> Mycroft in my life. I'm sure he would have
> invented for me the most amazing super-dooper
> multi purpose wheelchair that could cook my
> breakfast, take the dog for a walk and hoover
> round before I even got out of bed in the morning.
> And, let's face it, who would want a 'cure' if you
> could have all that? I've heard walking is pretty
> over-rate anyway :-)
>
> Hope to see you in Brecon in July.
>
> Nettie63
> BTW Just realised this is actually being written
> from the People's Repulic of Wales so maybe I've
> stumbled onto something Goliath have trying to
> brush under the carpet...

-----------------------------------------
Joint winner Colouring Competition 2007
and outright winner of the 3 time winner of the Ffestival Dodo Feeding competition.
Fforde Ffiesta Ffotos are here - [www.flickr.com]

Fascinated by the topic of your thesis, I've spent the last few days trying to think of any novels that I can recall making any reference to physical disability. To be fair my grounding in modern literature is a little shaky, I just keep coming back to Tiny Tim. So is it that its absent, or is it that I don't notice it because its just not something I'm tuned to?

I also saw the shadow of Hitler march across the pages of Shades of Grey, but I question how deliberate it was. If you hold a mirror up to any society and reflect the absurdities of the arbitrary qualities that are considered desirable, be that having blond hair, blue eyes, being able to see purple or being thin, brown and Botoxed, wouldn't you always get the same effect?

One of the Ben Elton books featured a protagonist who was disabled. i will search to find it on the shelves.

Skid - I'd be really interested to kone which BE book it is, thanks

geg - I think it's a fascinating topic, and I'm linking it to finding positive role models within literature for children. We all have our childhood literary heroes. But what about disabled kids? Shouldn't they have access to stories which feature strong, positive role models who happen to have a disability? Wouldn't that be something they could relate to on a more fundamental level? Wouldn't it lift their self-esteem? That's where my stories come in, I hope!

There is another theme that runs strongly through literature, especially children's - where the disabled charater either undergoes a miraculous cure (think Heidi, The Secret Garden) or dies (Beth in Little Women) and this is even quite prevelent in today's media. You only have to think of the film Avatar, or Dick King-SMith's book, The Crowstarver. What message is that sending to todays' kids with disabilities? You aren't good enough unless you become 'normal,' if that is not possible, please die quitely and save society the burden of helping you!

Enough of my rant. I love Jasper's books, I really do. I just hope one day to read about one of his characters who give today's yougsters the message that it's ok to be different, you can still enjoy life and you don't have to feel second class.

Nettie63, it was "Gridlock" 1991. It is not bad book, but very heavy-handed with the moralising. It is his second book.

I think I mentioned "Very bad deaths" by Spider Robinson in another thread. The protagonist is definitely handicapped someway and the author knows what he is talking about. Not everyone's cup of tea, though.

I guess Watson's wandering war wounds do not qualify him as disabled?

Thanks guys
I'll look out for those, in the meantime, does anyone know when Jasper might be around? I don't want to bug him as I know he must be incredibly busy right now - I've seen the signings tour dates...but does he hang out here at all?

How about "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham?

Anyone who does not conform to the image of the norm is sent into the badlands.
The hero of the book is telepathic and spends his childhood in fear that the his society will find out about him.

When I read it as a child, it was merely an adventure. As an adult it is much more disturbing.

Thanks Annie,
I will try to look that one up, too!

Cheers
Nettie

EVIL GENIUS- Catherine Jinks

There are 2 more books in the series, which I've read, thought I haven't gotten to that one yet-
anyway, the main character's best friend is extremely disabled & also quite brilliant...

**************************************
Signature or shameless self-promotion?
You decide:

[www.myspace.com]

**************************************

One thought: while an acquired disability, rather than from birth, Landen is an important character in the TN series.

Wouldn't you think of everyone in "Shades of Grey" as disabled?

Cheers

Its an interesting one, Shades of Grey, and I see where you are coming from. But when I read it I saw it more akin to racism than disabilty. It seemed to address stereotyping/misconceptions/ignorance arising from colours percieved, in much the same way we humans do regarding colour of skin. (Oh, they are black so they must do that, Oh, they see yellow so they must be that...) It was also about subjugation of one colour by another (again, perception rather than skin, but you see the parallels, I'm sure).

I have been watching "Game of Thrones" on TV, which got me thinking of your question. I've also read all the books (4 to date) on which the TV series is based and although the story is fantasy (Lord of the Rings crossed with the Hundred Years War with dragons!), the characters are human and true-to-life. One of them is a dwarf - not a Gimli-type dwarf, but a genetic one. Another is a child who is paraplegic. His helper is a severely retarded man who can only speak one word.

All three characters continue through the books and the first two have major roles. Their disabilities are frequently mentioned, have plot significance and as far as I can tell, are realistically handled.

The book series is "The Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin.