Many parents, caregivers, teachers, etc… find themselves needing to explain different mental disorders to children. One of the best resources for these people is to read a book about the disorder and then talk about it. For instance, this dad wanted a book to help explain his PTSD to his son: link. (Links to an external site.)
Your assignment for this class is to write a children’s book that explains a disorder or has characters with the disorder, etc… that could be used to help a child (3rd grade or younger) to understand a disorder.
Things to keep in mind:
1) You need to research the disorder. This assignment replaces a more typical research paper for this course, so I expect you to research the disorder beyond what is presented in the textbook or what you know from personal experience. You can choose any disorder from the DSM-5 you like, but make sure you find sources that give your the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria (not just symptoms) for that disorder. Beyond the symptoms and diagnostic criteria, you should also include information about what causes the disorder and how common it is, how it is treated (must include psychotherapy), and what typical results from treatment look like. Don’t tell a kid the character’s disorder is cured, if that’s not realistic. Kids hate liars.
2) Treat any characters with mental illness with respect. It should go without saying that we should treat people with mental illness respectfully, but this is especially important for this assignment. It’s very likely that the reason a child is reading the book is because they have the disorder themselves or someone close to them does. Part of respect is not reducing someone’s whole identify to their disorder, so make sure the characters have lives beyond their symptoms. At the same time, avoid glamorizing the disorder to make it seem like a superpower or “fun”. Most diagnoses require subjective discomfort or difficulty functioning to qualify for diagnosis, so don’t lie to kids about it being awesome. Kids hate liars.
3) Remember you’re writing for young children. Kids think very concretely, struggle with large vocabulary, and like to help. One major concern is that you clearly distinguish the disorder from normal behavior. Kids have imaginary friends, feel sad, and sometimes don’t eat meals. You don’t want them to read your book and think these things mean they have schizophrenia, depression, or an eating disorder! Also remember to target the vocabulary and themes appropriately. When you tell them about a disorder, it’s usually a pretty scary thing they don’t have control over, so give them something *they* can do with this new information (such as a way to help the person, how to learn more, how to help organizations that help those with the disorder, etc…) Do this directly, not just by showing others helping the character.
4) The final version should look and feel like a children’s book (think The Cat in the Hat, not a research paper). Kids like images, fun layouts, color, and plot! You can create your own artwork or use what you find online, etc… (but cite your artwork sources (urls of online images are sufficient). You’re welcome to use any program you like to create the book, but many students will find using a slide/page in Powerpoint/Google Slides will get the job done. Please submit the final version as a pdf. Note that I am not grading based on artistic ability, provided you’ve made a good-faith effort to make it look appealing.
For those with visual impairments, you may create an audio book as an alternative and submit a recording as an mp3. I recommend you contact me if you’re planning to submit this option.
Learning objectives:
Critical thinking: Go beyond the basic facts about the disorder to truly grapple with how your disorder affects individuals, their families, etc… Imagine being a child or adult trying to help a child and explain things clearly.
Social responsibility: Beyond giving the reader of your book information, help them see how they can make a positive impact on their community.
The final project will be scored based on the following criteria:
Story elements (60)
Visually (or auditorily) appealing (20)
The book has the needed elements to create a story (20)
Characters, setting are clearly established
Plot (this generally requires setting the scene, development of some type of conflict or goal pursuit, and a resolution)
NOTE: A book that just describes someone having a disorder will not receive full points. Something else needs to happen.
Reasonably well-targeted to 3rd grade or younger children (20)
Word will give you a grade-level estimate of your text. More info here (Links to an external site.).
Vocabulary is appropriately targeted
Themes are appropriately targeted
Spelling and grammar are appropriate for early language learners (i.e. error-free)
Psychology Content (60)
Accepted diagnostic criteria: (20)
Symptoms are depicted (not just listed, but examples are present in the story)
Symptoms are distinguished from normal behavior
Consistent with DSM-5 Diagnosis (doesn’t have to use all of them)
Etiology & prevalence (10)
What causes this disorder? (This may not be certain, but give some information.)
How common is the disorder?
Treatment(s) & outcomes: (10)
How is the disorder treated? (Must include psychotherapy).
What outcomes do we expect with treatment?
Reference Materials (20)
All sources are cited, always summarized (no direct quotes)
Quality of sources (peer-review > government or non-profit websites/ textbook > magazine/newspapers). Avoid for-profit organizations, personal blogs, etc…
Correctly uses APA style for psychology content references
Cite image sources (state it’s your own artwork, list image urls, cite the image generating software, etc… (see example pages in the Children’s Book Module)
Optional: You may choose to include optional materials such as “notes to the parent” that give the adult reading with the more information, a glossary of bigger words, etc… (Consider this your friend for meeting all of the above without compromising the flow of your story.)
Ethics & Social Responsibility (25)
Characters with mental illness are treated respectfully (10)
Characters with mental illness must have lives beyond their disorder to receive full points.
Readers are given action to take to support individuals with mental health issues (15)
What action can a child take? Reporting symptoms? Offer encouragement or support? Get more information? Get involved with a charity? Petition a public official? Directly state this information; do not rely on seeing the characters doing it.
