Florida's First Choice for Autism Supports

F1D: Characters with Autistic Tendencies in Children’s Literature: An Exploration

January 16, 2026 10:15am 11:30am Legacy North 1

AbstractChildren’s books and literature have featured and included children with autistic tendencies as characters long before the diagnosis of “autism” was created and established. Many of these books offer unique portrayals into what life was like for children with autistic tendencies before autism was an established diagnosable condition. Listen to an autistic adult self-advocate and author as he describes examples of characters of autistic tendencies from children’s books that were written prior to the creation of the term “autism,” and how teachers and school professionals can utilize these books to promote reading comprehension skills with their students with autism.
Objectives1. Participants will be able to describe characters that display symptoms of autism that are featured and/or included in books from children’s literature that were either written before the diagnosis of autism was widely known or set in historical time periods prior to the creation of the diagnosis of autism.
2. Participants will be able to identify characters with autistic tendencies in children’s books that were written before “autism” was an established diagnosable condition or widely known.
3. Participants will be able to analyze how teachers and school professionals can utilize children’s literature featuring autistic characters to promote reading comprehension skills with their students with autism.
Communication Early Childhood Education Inclusive Environment

Speakers

Skip to content