Mental Disabilities In Child's Play By Alice Munro

In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.

Prior to 1940’s, People with disabilities were excluded from society and were considered unable to learn. They are often placed in institutions under custodial care, considered unable to learn or benefit from regular educational programs. However, as early as in 1800s, some educators like Samuel Gridley Howe disagreed, believing that children with disabilities could learn and should have an education, not just custodial care.

“Cripple” seems to me a clean word, straightforward and precise.” This ultimately deems language as an intrinsic factor in claiming an accurate identity. Simply by naming the obstacle when it arises, enables one to regain control over it. Similarly, when placing so many people living disabilities under an umbrella term, it erases the truth and the unique experiences of their ailment, and/or in Mairs’ circumstance, the word may not even appropriately describe them.

In the essays “On Being a Cripple”, written by Nancy Mairs, and “Living Under Circe’s Spell”, written by Matthew Soyster, both authors strive to communicate to the reader what it is like to live with MS. Although both writers have a similar purpose, they both use exceptionally different methods of communicating their experiences with MS. Overall, Mairs’ essay proved to be more effective than Soyster’s, because of her varied use of rhetorical devices that all work together to create an effective argument. On the other hand, Soyster’s essay was less effective because he only relied on pathos to convince the readers of his argument.

The story, “Runaway”, written by Alice Munro, suggests how human beings try to escape from their problems when they cannot manage them. The story tells how a girl in a bad marriage who unable to deal with it runs from the situation but later came back, refuses a chance of escape from her abusive husband. Even the goat Flora who cannot be fully tamed as an animal runs away and Carla is described as a girl who wants the attention from her husband that she does not get and runs away from him. Carla’s nature is like the goat Flora because they both escape from their situations. Munro shows parallels between Flora and Carla, which argues that Flora’s behavior mirrors Carla’s relationship with Clark.

From a social standpoint can we blame society allowing a child to live in an abusive home, not providing proper training for handicap individuals? Should his

For instance, both Flowers for Algernon and Awakenings include themes towards the treatment and respect of those living with mental and physical disabilities. In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie was unknowingly used as a punchline by his supposed friends and colleagues at the bakery, merely because he was mentally challenged and the incompetence that resulted from this made others feel superior to him. Following the surgery and the increase of Charlie’s intelligence, the doctors insinuated that he wasn’t considered a human being prior to the experiment. They implied that those with impaired mental abilities are not individuals capable of independent thought and feeling, which is disproved through Charlie’s progress reports. Similarly, Awakenings sheds light on the treatment of those who have physical challenges, in the manner that the nurses and doctors treated the patients before the medicine was administered. They are visibly reluctant to tend to the patients, and attempt to avoid work with television shows because they lack compassion and understanding towards their conditions. The staff thought efforts to help them were futile due to their catatonic states, therefore neglecting them, treating them like obligations rather than individuals. However, both stories show that in spite of their circumstances, those with disabilities are not lesser people and are deserving of compassion and respect just as others are; though they are often ill-treated and misunderstood.

The article Redefining Normal: A Critical Analysis of (Dis)ability in Young Adult Literature by Jen Scott Curwood discusses the importance of proper disability representation in young adult literature for the benefit of school children. Curwood writes "young adult literature should not only provide accurate portrayals of individuals with disabilities, but must offer themes that are not 'didactic, condescending, or pedantic" (Curwood, 18) because " 'literature about disabilities and differences can be a powerful tool to heighten the achievement of all students by broadening attitudes and perceptions of self and other '" (18). She also argues that if schools don 't include diverse characters and topics, then that "effectively condones prejudice and stereotypes" and continues to further the "othering" aspect. In contrast to Me Before You, the book Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson is a book that provides readers with both a positive representation of life with disability as well as showing a wide range of disabilities. Accidents of Nature is set in the year 1970 and is about a seventeen year old girl named Jean who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. Despite her condition, Jean has always thought of herself as the same as everyone else as she goes to a "normal", abled-bodied school and has "normal" abled-bodied friends. She has never even known another disabled person before going to Camp Courage for a week, a camp solely for disabled youths.

There comes a time in every child’s life when they become aware of who they are and question their place in the world, this is no different for a child with a disability. Most important is that every child has a safe environment to be able to express themselves without receiving judgement from adults.

Every individual struggle with self-acceptance at some point in their life, furthermore, every individual chooses to exemplify their struggle to accept themselves in different methods. In the short story “Boys and Girls” Alice Munro focuses on the narration of a girl, in which girls are underappreciated in the society. The protagonist in the story cannot accept who she is, and it makes it harder for her as other individuals do not accept who she wishes to be. The author demonstrates this through the character’s external motivations. As the story is written in third person limited readers understand the girl’s personal thoughts and how she is internally conflicted about who she is. She feels underappreciated for the work that she provides which influences her to be disobedient to others around her. Alice Munroe’s short story “Boys and Girls” demonstrates to readers that individuals struggle for self-acceptance through the expression of their external and internal motivations. Because of their motivations, individuals feel rebellious against their self-conscience.

A few years ago, my sister introduced me to the film ‘Benny and Joon,’ a story about a woman in her twenties with a disability that is more or less undefined throughout the film. She lives with her brother who works full-time but hires several “housekeepers” that he has watch over her at home. She comes off quite content, mainly painting all day and going about her everyday routines. At first, she may just come off as a “stereotypical temperamental artist”(Tibbets) but her painting at a rapid rate, extreme pickiness of food (eating mainly captain crunch and peanut butter smoothies), unique mannerisms, and outbursts suggest that she may be on the spectrum. There are scenes where she puts on a scuba mask and attempts to direct traffic in the middle of the street with a Ping-Pong paddle; an episode that the article ‘The Patronizing “adorable” side of Schizophrenia in Benny and Joon’ addressed could be an indication of schizophrenia or bipolar disorders. The most recent “housekeeper” quits after one of Joon’s “outbursts.” After reading critiques by people with disabilities themselves and other sources, I have begun seeing this movie a new light, introducing a sadly patronizing and demeaning representation of disability and her family/societies inappropriate response to her condition.

There are several issues related to parental reactions to having a child with a disability. Having a child with a disability can have an effect on family dynamics as well as a change in work habits, some parents have to work fewer hours, change jobs, or become a stay at home parent in order to properly care for their child’s needs. Parents cope with their guilt, feelings, and public reactions

An individual with intellectual disabilities can face many barriers in not only their academic life, but also their social life. Peter, has faced barriers to his successful inclusion in the classroom. One of the barriers the video mentions is teachers displaying unwillingness to including Peter in their classroom simply because teachers do not accept him or his disability. I believe prejudice is a barrier many people with intellectual disabilities are forced to face at a given point in their lives. I think the prejudice stems from fear and misunderstanding of people who are physically or mentally different. In chapter nine of this week’s readings, it highlights on the importance of individual relationships are between the teacher and the student with a disability. Focusing on a student’s strengths rather than there IQ or weaknesses is essential to their success. “Some teachers focus on her IQ, but that’s not a useful fact. Everything depends on the relationship Rachel and I have with educators, on their skills, and on Rachel’s attitude, behavior, and self-determination.” (Turnbull. p. 187). Another barrier Peter faces is the desperate struggle of wanting his independence, yet still needing outside assistance for things. The loneliness and the inability to properly communicate his emotions are one of the biggest mental barriers Peter has faced. Peter overcame and managed these barriers through

    Everybody dreams during his lifetime. It is a part of human nature that we experience almost everyday. Dreams can be lost memories, past events and even fantasies that we relive during our unconscious hours of the day. As we sleep at night, a new world shifts into focus that seems to erase the physical and moral reality of our own. It is an individual's free mind that is privately exposed, allowing a person to roam freely in his own universe. As we dream, it seems that we cannot distinguish right from wrong or normal from abnormal and, therefore, commit acts that we would not have done in a realistic society. Perhaps Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,

Children with intellectual disabilities go to school without knowledge of using the rest room on their own. We teach them for a long time until they know. They are discriminated at home as incapable of anything from childhood. They lock them in without any hope of contributing in the family. If a child with disability is a girl, no hope that she will be married and bring money or dowry at home. If parents had power for death arrangements, children with disabilities would be voted to die first before the rest of the family. Living with children with disabilities requires a strong heart[…]. No one wants to take care of a child with disabilities […]. Even when we teach children them, our fellow teachers ask us, why do you like to work with children with disabilities? Do you receive extra allowance for teaching them? They tell us: “I cannot afford to deal with them. Staying with them, I will be spitting all time, and I would not be able to eat.” I consider these children as the poorest of the poor compared to children coming from rural areas.