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A review by rachelverna
El Deafo by Cece Bell
3.0
I've always found it baffling that the Deaf community as a whole rejects the word 'Disability' so hard, but if you grow up in a hearing world you are disabled. Being disabled is living in a world that is not set up for you. You don't have to identify with that word I guess but it's really invalidating reading about someone going through constant ableism, external and internal, then reading an author note that plays disability as the worst thing in the world to be. Bell has yet to get over her internal ableism going off that note. Talking about being disabled is a bad thing is ableist and really invalidating to disabled people. I guess from own experience, internal ableism does cause harm to people so that's probably why it makes me so uneasy. Being disabled is hard, but it's not a bad word.
A lot of this book deals with Ableism or how school could be inaccessible to her. I have audio processing issues so they were things I related to and the way it can be isolating having to have additional support in school. This a semi-memoir so I can't rate on the plot because the plot was her life. Cece is very relatable in her frustrations.
I think the actual problem I have is, this isn't really a book about self-acceptable. It's more we're all different/useful in our own way and no one is actually playing attention. I guess are useful lessons, it just not the lesson I would want to give a kid facing ableism today.
A lot of this book deals with Ableism or how school could be inaccessible to her. I have audio processing issues so they were things I related to and the way it can be isolating having to have additional support in school. This a semi-memoir so I can't rate on the plot because the plot was her life. Cece is very relatable in her frustrations.
I think the actual problem I have is, this isn't really a book about self-acceptable. It's more we're all different/useful in our own way and no one is actually playing attention. I guess are useful lessons, it just not the lesson I would want to give a kid facing ableism today.