Book Studies
Disability Acceptance Through Literature
The Arc of PA’s Include Me program is excited to present “Disability Acceptance through Literature,” a virtual book study for students. Books selected by our facilitators provide opportunities to learn about the many aspects of disability through the perspective of school age protagonists.
Discussions center on understanding, acceptance, presuming competence, and friendship. Values like compassion, honesty, authenticity and diversity steer the ship, and we love when conversations are led by students’ interests. These book studies are an innovative way to provide students interested in reading with a structured opportunity to connect with other students across Pennsylvania. We strive to make the book studies accessible, with:
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- audio recordings of each chapter,
- vocabulary resources,
- engaging visual content for discussions, and,
- by providing copies of the book to families as the book studies gear up.
These four or eight week book studies make room for silliness and curiosity, and we’re proud of the stigma-blasting power of the program (and that of the students themselves!).
Include Me connects each book study and accompanying lessons to the Pennsylvania Academic Standards.
For more information, contact: cmorrison@includemepa.org
SEE OUR SPRING 2025 BOOK STUDIES!
(click on an area below to view)
Children Ages 5-8 ; Wednesdays at 5:00 pm, beginning October 2
Theme: Let’s Go Play
Group: Kids 5-8 years old
Day/Time: Thursdays, 5:00 pm – 5:45 pm
Dates: October 2 – 16 (3 weeks)
Join us Thursdays at 5:00PM starting October 2 for this Fall’s “Story Tour”, our Disability Acceptance through Literature program for 5- to 8-year-olds! The group will meet weekly for 45 minutes via Zoom. We’ll read a different children’s book aloud each week and talk a bit about the story together. All learners are welcome!
Registering will save you a seat. Register with your mailing address and we will send a copy of each book for your household. Before our first meeting, you will receive an email with the zoom link we’ll use to join in every week.
Lineup for our Fall 2025 Story Tour includes:
– This is How We Play, by Jessica Slice & Caroline Cupp, illustrated by Kayla Harren
– We Are the Scrappy Ones, by Rebekah Taussig, illustrated by Kirbi Fagan
– You’re So Amazing, by James & Lucy Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George
Click here to register. (Registration opens August 1 at 12 pm)
Questions? Contact Celia at cmorrison@includemepa.org
Children Ages 8 - 12 ; Wednesdays at 5:30 pm, beginning October 1
Title: Out of my Mind, by Sharon M Draper
Group: Kids 8-12 years old
Day/Time: Wednesdays, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Dates: October 1 – November 19 (8 weeks)
Join us Wednesdays at 5:30PM beginning October 1 for our middle grade pick for Disability Acceptance through Literature this Fall! The group (8- to 12-year-olds and our Include Me facilitators) will meet weekly via Zoom. All learners are welcome!
Registering will save your child a seat. Include your mailing address so we can send you the book! Before our first meeting, you will receive an email detailing the resources we share as access tools and the Zoom link we’ll use to join in every week. (Access tools like audiobook recordings, adapted chapter summaries and PODD pages will be provided to help participants access the reading and the conversations each week.)
Eleven-year-old Melody has Cerebral Palsy. She cannot walk, speak or write, and she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She’s the smartest kid in her whole school, and no one knows it. Most people—her teachers, her doctors, her classmates—dismiss her. But Melody refuses to be defined by what she can’t do. And she’s determined to let everyone know it…somehow.
Click here to register. (Registration opens August 1 at 12 pm)
Questions? Contact Celia at cmorrison@includemepa.org
Teens Ages 12 - 17 ; Mondays at 6:00 pm, beginning September 29
Title: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
Group: ‘Teens’ 12-17 years old
Day/Time: Mondays 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Dates: Sept 29 – Nov 24 (8 weeks, skipping 10/13)
Join us Mondays at 6:00 pm for our Autumn pick for the ‘Teen’ DATL book study crew! Starting September 29, the group and our facilitators meet weekly via Zoom.
Registering will save you a seat! Include your mailing address so we can send you the book. Before our first meeting, you will receive an email with info about the access tools available to participants, like adapted chapter summaries and PODD pages, as well as the Zoom link we’ll use to join in every week. Audio recordings of each chapter will be available to all participants.
Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.
Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined.
Click here to register. (Registration opens August 1 at 12PM)
Questions? Contact Celia at cmorrison@includemepa.org
FAQ
Questions? Contact Celia at cmorrison@includemepa.org
Click here to view/download a pdf copy of the FAQ
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