ABSTRACT
Liz is a secondary Support for Learning teacher in Scotland, who teaches and provides support for young people with additional support needs, both in their subject classes and in small group and one-on-one contexts. Liz described her belief that children must have a foundation of technical skills before they can become critically literate. Liz explained that she aimed to guide her students towards a critical understanding of why texts are constructed as they are and for what purpose. In fact, she used critical literacy as a pedagogical approach to help young people understand that reading has a purpose and that its purpose might be to protect them from being 'hoodwinked'. Liz's account reflects her view that there are distinct differences in the capacity of young people with dyslexia and autism to become critically literate. This chapter considers primarily how the construction and portrayal of disability and difference in texts can be critically analysed by children and young people.
