Brought to book
Well, that’s it done for another year. Aren’t we so lucky in Scotland to have the biggest and best book festival in the world? I love the book festival and go to several events every year. It’s got something for everyone, hasn’t it?
Actually no, it doesn’t. I spent hours checking their brochure and their website and eventually resorted to messaging them on Facebook because I couldn’t believe that there was nothing, absolutely nothing at all for 2.3 per cent of the UK population. It is true though, and they confirmed that there was not one event for people with a learning disability.
Is it just a simple error and they’ve they just been overlooked, or even worse, is it assumed that if you have a learning disability then you have no interest in books and stories?
Nothing could be further from the truth. People with a learning disability love stories in all their many and varied forms, but primarily because stories help them to communicate, they’re fun, they’re educational and they require imagination. Why wouldn’t they love stories?
My daughter has a severe learning disability and her favoured style of story is in the form of picture books, but she also enjoys multi-sensory stories and oral storytelling. She is now 29 and over her lifetime will have consumed a conservatively estimated 3.000 books, and will continue to do so for many years to come.
There are precious few picture books specifically for people with a severe learning disability, although you might occasionally see the odd illustration of a small child in the background in a wheelchair, but Lauren loves them anyway. Her picture book enjoyment will continue for her whole life and not just for a few years.
Are there no publishers, bookshops or book festivals out there who have realised the size and value of this market? When the penny finally drops, we will be ready and waiting to buy the books and attend the events.
So as to leave no doubt, people with a learning disability like The Gruffalo too!
PAT GRAHAM Milton Road, Kirkcaldy