I think the best  thing I can do on here today would be  to direct everyone to this long overdue Guardian article.   At last someone has raised the issue of children’s books not having enough characters with disabilities: probably to draw attention to his most recent publication, David Baddiel has noted that, apart from a few exceptions  like Tiny Tim, children’s literature is almost  devoid of  characters with disabilities. This is something I’ve been saying for years: the best way to increase kids’ knowledge about people like myself (apart from inclusive education) would be to include positive disabled rolemodels in their literature.  As the article says,  though, the problem is, publishers are so often trapped by safety and convention that  they see doing so as a risk. I’m just relieved that at last a relatively well known writer has spoken up on this  issue; perhaps things will now start to change, and children’s literature will begin to reflect the diversity of modern society.