Jamaican Author Aneika Turnbull Releases Children’s Book on Celebral Palsy, “A Little Girl’s Dream”

by Howard Campbell

SOUTH FLORIDA – Children with disabilities are usually depressed by their inability to live normal lives. In “A Little Girl’s Dream“, first-time author Aneika Asharee Turnbull wants to show there is hope despite those challenges.

The 16-page book was released in April by Canadian company Tellwell Talent. It focuses on Ayana, an African-American girl who has Cerebral Palsy.

Turnbull, a 22 year-old Jamaican, said she wrote the easy-read “to motivate others especially children with a disability. Growing up I didn’t really see many children or adults with disabilities until I migrated to the United States of America and attended school.”

She added that, “The purpose of my book is to highlight to all children that they are valued, and their circumstances do not define them.”

Turnbull is from St. Catherine parish in Jamaica. A recent graduate of Bethune-Cookman University, she wrote the manuscript for A Little Girl’s Dream in 2015, but it was not until last year that she attracted a publisher.

Ayana, the book’s hero, wants to be a professional singer but is wary of the restrictions Cerebral Palsy has on her aspirations.

Those fears are not unique. According to the cerebral-palsy-faq.org website, “Black children, in particular, appear to be more prone to cerebral palsy than their white counterparts. A variety of factors could be to blame, including a greater prevalence of premature babies among minority populations, as well as an increased likelihood of low birth weight.”

Cerebral Palsy is a congenital disorder of movement, muscle tone, or posture caused by abnormal brain development, often before birth. It affects millions of persons in the United States.

Turnbull, who lives In South Florida, hopes  to become a Physician’s Assistant with a specialty in Family Medicine or Pediatrics.