OLATHE, Kan. – A local 10-year-old is the inspiration behind a new children’s book about inclusion.
Kaden Griffith has been a huge football fan all his life and always wanted a football pitch where he could play with his electric wheelchair.
He is the inspiration behind the book Kaden’s Dream, which was released Tuesday with a first reading of the book by KC Current keeper AD Franch.
The book is about a young boy named Kaden who lives in a wheelchair and dreams of playing football.
Franch said she was a longtime friend of Kaden and was honored to promote a book that teaches young children the importance of inclusion.
“Children are like sponges, they absorb so many things, so to be able to read this, they’ve learned so much in this one book that no matter where you are, how you are, you can do so many different things with it and there’s opportunities there,” Franch said.
The book is the first children’s story under Variety Tales, a new program that will help fund equipment for children with various disabilities and break down barriers to help all children be active, social and to be strong.
“After this book, we hope that every school and every home will show the representation of what special needs looks like so that it is no different, that it becomes the new norm, that children with special needs are seen as equal to everyone else,” Deborah Wiebrecht, inclusion manager at Variety Children’s Charity of Kansas City, said.
Franch said she was convinced Kaden would change the world.
Via his Ipad, Kaden shared this message:
“Our world needs to understand that everyone is human, and we need to embrace differences and not make a bad thing out of it.”
Kaden’s Dream is available at local Hyvee stores and on Amazon.
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