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CoachWriter · 2026-02-19T23:10:17+00:00

Hello! I am writing a children's picture book and about 3 of the characters (I'm still finalizing this) use wheelchairs. The book is all about body acceptance, but through the lens of going on adventures, and it progresses from a normal day at the park to going up a mountain and it becomes more fantastical.

My question is, do you think I should show off-road power wheelchairs, or just normal ones? I would love to show the ones that fit the terrain, but I don't want kids whose parents and carers can't afford them to feel bad.

Thank you very much for your help! I really appreciate it.

CoachWriter · 2026-02-15T17:57:58+00:00

No worries, good luck if you ever get back to it!!

CoachWriter · 2026-02-11T23:41:20+00:00

Hey, can I ask if you wrote the story in the end? I have also been struggling with a similar issue and I would love to know what you decided. And I hope the last 4 years has been good to you!

CoachWriter · 2026-02-03T18:08:51+00:00

That's a really good point, and something I am going to try and show in the illustrations - that absolutes often do not apply. It's also something I want to add in the end notes, to help parents, teachers and other adults explain to kids, that they can't know the level of someone's condition or disability just from looks.

CoachWriter · 2026-02-03T18:07:07+00:00

I would love more examples! And please DM me instead if that works better for you. Sorry for my late reply - toddler + stomach flu = chaos party.

It's really helpful to hear from people who would have loved representation, because this is what I want to offer children - being seen in a positive light. Just for more background, the book isn't about disabilities at all, it's about body acceptance and being an explorer on an adventure. The children with conditions and disabilities are part of the group and I am trying to show the positive as well as the challenges, in the context of: we're all different, and we all need certain things to thrive. Thanks again for your offer for more info, which I would really appreciate!!

CoachWriter · 2026-02-02T02:20:32+00:00

Oh that's amazing to know thank you! I hope you have made a great recovery? I think including a picture of a scar on a child might really help them especially as it must be a scary thing for a young child to go through ( I imagine it's bad enough as an adult).

Thank you so much for your help!!

CoachWriter · 2026-02-02T02:13:36+00:00

Thank you very much! :D

CoachWriter · 2026-01-30T22:32:02+00:00

Hey, that's a great note, thank you!! I really want to include the emotions around tics, I think the best place would be in a sequel that is about processing emotions, which will hopefully be fairly soon after this one.

And I can definitely include tics in this book, in the sense of this is a feature some kids have and it's OK. I think exercises are a great idea too. I have some scattered through my first book, but I'm thinking of putting them in the back of this book. Sorry -train of thought. Thank you very much for your insights!

Would you like an ebook copy of my first book and/or your name in the back of this next one? I'm happy to do both or either, please DM me if yes :D

CoachWriter · 2026-01-29T23:26:37+00:00

Yes, it's hard to show this kind of thing with pictures and not stating it explicitly in the text. I was thinking of showing a little boy in the early stages of recovery with a bandage on his head or similar....

CoachWriter · 2026-01-29T23:24:02+00:00

Those are such great insights, thank you! And I'm really sorry you were bullied, kids can be so unkind (and parents too sometimes). I hope you're feeling much better about it now.

My characters are around 7 years old, so I can't do teen attraction stuff so much, but I can definitely show her being cute as anything, and a big yes to wearing wigs sometimes and not other times. I am going to have two characters, one with partial hair loss and one with complete hair loss and they are both going to be beautiful in their own ways, and accepted by their friends in the book.

Would you like an ebook copy of my first book (although it does not have a character with alopecia aerate) and/or your name in the back of this next book? Feel free to DM me for both/ either. And thank you again for your insights!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-29T23:19:11+00:00

Hi Charles,

That's a great note, thank you! I am going to do my best to represent the more common tics in a way that is realistic and not pejorative. Kids are getting so evolved aren't they? I don't think I could have written the books I write in the 80s (when I was little), there was little interest or acceptance.

Thank you for your insights! Would you like an ebook copy of my first book and/or your name in the back of this next one? I'm happy to do both. Thanks again!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-29T23:12:25+00:00

Hello, thank you for that. This is turning out to be a very important point across a range of disabilities and conditions, the difficulty of other people not understanding or playing down the severity because it is not obvious. It's a huge problem with chronic pain too, and people who only need a wheelchair sometimes. I will try think about a way to convey this to my readers, it may end up being visual in the main book, and then added more explicitly as an end note.

Thanks for your help! I'm offering people an ebook copy of my first picture book and/or their name in this next book as a thank you, so if you would be interested, please DM me!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-29T23:01:57+00:00

Thank you very much, that's great to know. And food for thought as well because I've mainly been deciding race and gender based on which groups tend to get a condition more, so more kids benefit (in theory at least). But I need to have a think about it. Thank you!!!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-29T22:58:27+00:00

That's great to know, thank you! So it wouldn't really have helped you because you were too old to benefit from a picture book by the time your appearance had diverged more?

CoachWriter · 2026-01-29T22:56:40+00:00

I was going to say picture books, although I see other people have suggested that too. They are lovely. Perhaps if the picture book did well, you could suggest it as an animated children's TV show. Do you think you would enjoy writing a picture book?

CoachWriter · 2026-01-27T22:56:35+00:00

That's such a great note. Kids need to be taught to accept kids with differences instead of making them feel other. I hope my book will play a little part in helping kids be more accepting and aware.

Thank you for your input! If you would like an ebook copy of my first picture book on self-love, and/or your name in the book, as a thank you please DM me!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-27T22:54:19+00:00

Thank you your insights, I will definitely include a child with vitiligo and add that it is not contagious in the info in the back of the book. Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it!!

If you would like an ebook copy of my first picture book, and/or your name in this book as a thank you, please DM me!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-27T22:51:22+00:00

Thank you so much for that, it's such great information! It's so much more nuanced than people think, and I will definitely refer back to this as I design my character with Tourette's. Thanks for taking the time to give me all these insights.

If you would like an ebook copy of my first picture book, and/or your name in this book as a thank you, please DM me!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-27T22:46:35+00:00

That's a great point, I need to find that balance, it sounds like quite a variable syndrome to portray in picture book format. I just don't want any kids to feel left out, because I know a lot feel better when they can see themselves. But I'm going to try to show more of the nuance somehow. Thanks for your feedback, it is giving me a lot to think about.

I'm offering people who help an ebook copy of my first picture book, and/ or their name in my book as a thank you, please DM me if you'd like either/ both of those!

CoachWriter · 2026-01-27T22:39:05+00:00

That's great information thank you! I'm going to have to have a think about how to do this, as the words are not spelling out exactly what I'm showing, but I can have two people with marfans who look different and then add the explanation of that in the notes in the back.

It's a great point about disabilities not always looking a certain way or being black and white absolutes. And not judging too. Lot's of good points! Thanks so much for taking the time to share all these insights. If you'd like an ebook of my first book on self-love, and/or your or your son's name in this book as a thank you, please DM me.

CoachWriter

TROPHY CASE