My research is focused on the representation (or misrepresentation, depending on the accuracy of the narratives) of young people living with mental illness and/or disability in children’s and young adult (YA) narratives. So far, I have studied texts that thematise Down syndrome, Tourette syndrome, depression, schizophrenia and Crohn’s disease. Particularly, my master's dissertation explores the representation of diverse schizophrenia experiences in YA graphic novels and opens the question of the impact of media representation of highly stigmatised illnesses –like psychotic disorders– in young people. I am also interested in the characterisation of intersectional identities in multimodal texts, especially where the illness narrative is central to the development of the plot but does not reduce the characters to their diagnosis. Finally, I am starting to study how picturebooks and toys can support the development of health literacy in children, so they can be agents in their own health processes and decisions. You can read some of my works on Sliding Magazine and Graphic Medicine, where I am collaborating with some articles and reviews.

 

 

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