Mom Writes Children's Book To Promote Inclusivity
By Alyssa Hernandez | WeINSPIRE Reporter
PEMBROKE, N.C. - Some literary classics feature disabled characters such as “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. While the book does not accept the character that has a learning disability Beth Leipholtz does.
Now meet Beth Leipholtz: a mother inspired by her 2-year-old son Cooper, who is deaf, creating an A-to-Z book featuring everyday children with disabilities. Her mission is to educate children about the different disabilities they may see in their lives.
Leipholtz has delved into writing about similar topics before. Her previous book titled “ Hello, Holland: The Path to Embracing Your Child’s Hearing Loss” was aimed at parents with the purpose of guiding them through the early stages of their child getting diagnosed with a condition similar to Cooper’s. She wrote “Hello, Holland” because she could not find a book to help her when Cooper was diagnosed with Waardenburg Syndrome, which caused Cooper’s deafness.
Beth Leipholtz’s son Cooper. Courtesy of Beth Leipholtz.
“I found other people’s blogs and stuff but there wasn't a book about it so I wanted to be able to kind of guide, other parents, in that same position and give them a little bit of insight into what that process entails, as well as … hope. Showing them that they weren’t alone in their feelings,” Leipholtz said.
With her new book, Leipholtz wants her target audience to be children, specifically those seven and under. This is the same age as the children who will be featured in the book. The reason being she wants to give children insight and understanding of disabilities before they enter school.
“Being the parent of a child who does have additional needs, I want other kids to understand that and be able to be comfortable asking questions,” Leipholtz said, further including other diagnoses both visible and nonvisible such as Down syndrome and autism. “So that … not only do they [the other children] have compassion and empathy towards my child but a lot of the other children out there too.”
Leipholtz wants the book to feature a wide range of disabilities that are common enough, so children reading the book are likely to encounter and be mindful of the diversity of the children mentioned. The illustrations of these children will be based on the pictures the parents send to Leipholtz.
“I would say that the first half was easy just because I had all the letters open and I didn’t have to worry about repeating diagnoses as much…. But getting towards the end and especially now … it is getting a lot more challenging. ” Leipholtz explained.
@beth_and_coop Our process for teaching our deaf toddler new signs! (“Green” made my heart explode today) #asl #deaf #signlanguage ♬ GOOD VIBES - Ellen Once Again
Her son, Cooper, will be featured in the book as the letter C. The rest of the children being featured in the book were suggested by her followers on social media, direct messages on Instagram and emails. Adding children into the book is what Leipholtz calls a “three-step process.”
When Leipholtz finds a child that works for the book, she sends the parents a questionnaire asking for a background on the child and a photo of them. If she does not know much about the child's condition, she asks the parents questions in addition to doing research via Google. Once she has gathered the information she asks them additional follow-up questions to make sure the information she found is accurate.
@beth_and_coop Listening to this video will be worth it because I need YOU. Comment and tag away! #boostofhope #specialneeds ♬ Stories 2 - Danilo Stankovic
Through working on this book, Leipholtz has learned a lot about diagnoses she did not previously know about. She has also been able to follow TikTok creators she did not previously know about.
Leipholtz also feels this book will be different from her first one as she is working with Wiseink Creative Publishing instead of self-publishing. The publishing company will set her up with an illustrator to help her vision come to life.
The publishing company has asked her to brainstorm organizations that Wiseink can feature alongside the book. She has not come up with a list yet. She would like to focus on education systems as well as organizations that put people with disabilities at the forefront, similar to the Special Olympics.
“The main drive in writing it is … to educate kids so that when they do encounter that child in their class that has down syndrome [for example] they know what it is. It’s not something that’s scary to them; it's not something they want to comment on…. They have that understanding of it in a kid-friendly way and they can kind of build off of that throughout their life,” Leipholtz said.
Leipholtz is hoping for a spring 2023 release, although nothing is set in stone yet! To keep up with Leipholtz and Cooper’s journey, follow her on Instagram, TikTok, and check out her website.
