Alex Winstanley speaks to us today about how lockdown and life
with his grandma inspired a new collection of children’s books seeking to
normalise impairment from an early age.
What do you think to his ideas?
What first inspired you to write children’s books centred around characters with
impairments?
I am
extremely passionate about giving a platform to people with lived experience,
to have their voices heard. I set up a not-for-profit social enterprise in
2019, alongside one of the young men I cared for, because I grew tired of
seeing disabled people being undervalued and underrepresented. When the first
lockdown prevented our organisation, which delivers training led by disabled
young adults, from getting into schools, I wanted to find another way to
positively impact children and young people. This is where the books started.
Through the books, I can give representation to characters from all
backgrounds, demonstrating a truly diverse and inclusive society for children
and young people. People who might looks, sound or act differently to yourself
doesn't mean that they should be treated or seen in a negative manner, and I
really want children to see that difference should be embraced and celebrated,
not challenged.
Did the people
around you influence your portrayal of the characters?
All
of my books are influenced and informed by real people with lived experience.
My first book, 'My Grandma Has Dementia’, was inspired by my own grandma. I had
always wanted to use my grandma's and my family's experiences of dementia to
help children to better understand the condition. Dementia is one of many taboo
subjects that families often think we should hide children away from. I don't
think that this strategy is ever successful and believe that we should support
children to be aware of the many health conditions that impact members of our
families and our friends. Only then can we empower children to offer support
and to reduce any anxieties they may have about particular family members or
friends. 'My Grandma Has Dementia' has since won an Alzheimer's Society
Dementia Hero Award for representing dementia voice. This is so important as
that is exactly what the books aim to do.
What do you think
about the historic representation of disabled characters in children’s books?
Disabled
characters in children's book are historically non-existent. Either that, or
they have been placed in a book as a token gesture or often to make people feel
sorry for those characters through a medical model mindset. I would suggest
that this reflects society's broader attitudes towards disabled people. I
wanted to instead empower disabled characters to feature prominently within my
books, often without having to reference any disability at all. For example, in
'My Uncle Has Depression', the niece character who supports her rugby-playing
uncle, uses a hearing aid. This isn't directly referenced but I wanted to make
sure that children noticed that, just because someone might have an impairment,
this doesn't mean that they can't achieve their potential and support others to
do the same. This is the same in 'My Cousin Has Tourette’s', in which the
supporting main character is a wheelchair user.
Who has been your
most favourite character to write so far?
It
has to be the character based on my grandma. Although I have loved exploring different
characters and using them to represent people's lived experiences, I couldn't
look past this character. Adam Walker-Parker, who illustrated the book, did an
amazing job of making the character look and feel just like my grandma.
Although my grandma passed away just before the book was released, her legacy
now lives on and will positively impact children for generations to come. This
is something that I am extremely proud of, and I know it would make her smile
too.
Do you have any
plans for future books?
Since
'My Grandma Has Dementia' was released, I have also released books on a range
of long-term health conditions and disabilities. This includes, 'My Uncle Has
Depression', 'My Brother Has Cancer', 'My Cousin Has Tourette’s' and 'My Child
Has Cerebral Palsy'. My sixth book, due out later this year, will be focused on
a person living with an eating disorder. This is another subject that isn't
spoken about widely enough and I am really looking forward to the challenge of
helping families to start those conversations, in a positive, realistic, and
supportive way.
Thank you to Alex for speaking with us. We're big fans of your work and wish you well 
Over to you:
- Can you remember any children's books from when you were younger with a disabled character? What were they like?
- What do you think to the premise of Alex's new book featuring a character who has an eating disorder?
- Do you have young children, and what are the characters like in books they tend to come across?
Any thoughts and messages for Alex welcome too, just leave a comment below.
