Blog #179: Banned Books and Why they Represent Exclusion Instead of Inclusion?

I’m pretty sure that many of you out there have read at least of the great novels and popular stories in school as a student. I know I certainly did and it was my great exposure to the world of classic literature. Every single author who wrote these books that I read in school poured their heart and soul into this works.

As a fanfiction writer myself, I can relate to these authors when people either love or hate their works. Not everyone is going to love your work and that is something I had to learn when I was in college and during my time in the Brony Fandom.

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But there is something about these books that is a big problem, at least from my point of view. That is the fact that they are on a list when I read them back in my day is a mixed bag. Maybe they do have some inappropriate content that our children shouldn’t read, but they do have educational value.

I mean, take for example a book that I read my sophomore year of high school, “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. The novel does contain some religious similarities such as one of the boys, Simon, being a JC figure and the Pig Head on the stake being represented as the devil.

So, I can understand where there would be controversy on that as not everyone practices the same way.

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But, as a neurodiverse individual, I’d to think of these books as neurodiverse individuals themselves. Should these books be banned simply by being who they are as stories?

A lot of these practices are basically a literature version of ableism and I think it is wrong that these books are being swept under the rug. Sure, some of the material may be inappropriate, but that’s who they are because they hold value.

If our generation is not exposed to these stories, then they will never learn something about the outside world or something about themselves.

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Take for example, the character of Harry Potter. Many neurodiverse individuals who supposedly had never been diagnosed as neurodivergent will probably read the “Harry Potter” stories and say to themselves, “maybe I am different because I am like Harry Potter.”

Sure enough, they would read the books and then get a diagnosis of autism or some other neurodiverse condition or maybe they were diagnosed at a young age and would learn the truth about their diagnosis at that later age.

I’m sure its happened to a few neurodiverse individuals a la like I did when I was interviewed by Nick News for their autism segment in 1998.

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All that matters is that I view the practice of banned books as a representation of exclusion when they have something to prove, especially to today’s generation.

When we include books that are banned in today’s schools in the same manner as neurodiverse/disabled individuals, we are exposing important knowledge that students, neurodiverse or neurotypical, will learn and take to heart later in life.

In conclusion, books are the same way as film and television: it’s healthier to show them intact and then discuss about them when we are done.

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Catch you all later!!

#Diversity #Disability #Neurodiversity #Equality #SpecialEducation #Autism #Education #Inclusion