Reflection: Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

10. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down revolves around a small child who for much of the book is too young to speak for herself, and at the end is unable to. Do you nonetheless feel you know Lia Lee? Do you believe that even though she cannot walk or talk, she is a person of value? Why?

In her book The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman argues, “The differences are no longer about beliefs, the differences are about power. Doctors have power to call the police and to access state power which Hmong parents do not have. Because the Hmong have historically been so resistant to authority, they are especially confused and enraged when they are stripped of their power in a country to which they have fled because of its reputation for freedom” (1997, 84). As a country, America promises freedom to all of its citizens. However, the struggles that accompany the minority culture or ethnicity reflect anything but freedom. Rather than celebrating and embracing different cultures, society automatically assigns people to majority or minority groups- each carrying vastly different meanings and connoting contrasting levels of power.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the story by author Anne Fadiman, which explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia’s parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of communication between them led to tragedy.1The lack of communication due to cultural misunderstanding, mistrust, lack empathy, and poor health literacy led to care being comprised for Lia, which also affected both her parents and healthcare providers.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a story that portrays the life of a young Hmong girl named Lia Lee and her battle with heritage and the medical profession. The novel displays two interchanging story lines. One story line exhibits the life of a young girl named Lia Lee and her family as they live as immigrants in the U.S, and the other story line displays the Hmong heritage history. Both of these storylines come together and the novel shows how the two are interchangeable.

Directions: Read the captioned book. Then answer the questions contained in this study guide. Post your completed document to the appropriate assignment box on the course website.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, portrays two themes. First, the text refers to Hmong history and the destabilization of the region of Vietnam forcing Hmong refugees to migrate to other parts of the world but mostly the United States. Within the text is another story of a Hmong refugee family and their daughter named Lia Lee who settle in Merced California. Lia is tormented by a misfortunate diagnosis of epilepsy and faced by cultural inequality by her American doctors. Health care providers wrote Lia Lee off as a complex patient with severe communication barriers. Almost all of her admission notes contained the phrase” language barrier” (Fadiman, 2012). As she bounced back and forth between healthcare providers within the Emergency Room and pediatric visits, her doctor, Neil Ernst concurs that her parents are responsible for the communication barrier and non-compliance with prescribed treatment. Dr. Ernst deemed this as neglect and had Lia placed in a foster home but after being separated from the only people she knew, her conditioned rapidly deteriorated. Her seizures progressed in intensity and duration until one

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down or quag dab peg is said to mean “a soul stealing dab; peg means to catch or hit; and quag means to fall over with one’s roots still in the ground, as grain might be beaten down by wind or rain” (Fadiman, 1997). The Lee family belonged to the Hmong tribe, which was the basis of their differing beliefs in comparison with modern medicine. Lia’s parents believed that when she was three months of age, she had been startled when her older sister, Yer, slammed the door of the Lee family’s apartment. This resulted in Lia’s first seizure which her parents believed made Lia particularly fit for divine office. The Hmong believed epileptics became shamans or medicine men and

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1997) is an ethnography written by Anne Faidman. It tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl with severe epilepsy, and her family’s journey with managing the condition and the cultural barriers that posed great challenges in Lia’s care. Lia was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 1. It was her family’s opinion that the condition was a spiritual gift. Lia’s parents, Nao Kao and Foua, were wary of the American medical system, preferring to treat Lia in the Hmong way. Under the more spiritually focused care of her parents, Lia continued to have severe seizures; at the age of 4 ½, she slipped into a coma that would last the rest of her life. This book serves as a testament to the importance of cultural competency

Directions: Read the captioned book. Then answer the questions contained in this study guide. Post your completed document to the appropriate assignment box on the course website.

In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, there are many different intercultural misunderstandings. A Hmong girl’s life was forever changed because of these misunderstandings and some things could have easily been avoided, had each side taken the time to better understand the other.

The book titled The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: Talks about a Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures written by Anne Fadiman. Anne Fadiman is an American essayist and reporter, who interests include literary journalism. She is a champion of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Salon Book Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest. In the book, Anne Fadiman explores the clash between a county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the health care of Lia Lee. Lia Lee is a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy, whose parents and the doctors wanted the best treatment for her, but the lack of communication cause a tragedy. The essay paper will state and explain what went wrong between Lia’s family and the doctors. The central point is a lack of understanding between them leads to Lia’s tragedy.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest of them all? I ponder over this question as I stare vacantly at my reflection. It shows myself at the age of four, wobbling back and forth like a rocking chair, nerves and empty thoughts racing through my mind as I stand at the very front of the line on the first day of kindergarten. It shows myself ten years from now in a stable job as a successful lawyer on a more busy than average day. It shows me my struggles, my doubts, my anxieties, and my failures. It shows me my successes, my euphoria, my dreams, hopes and aspirations. It shows me my teachers, my peers, my culture, religion, my friends, my mother, my father, my brothers. Myself. I see the world,

Great meeting you yesterday and learning more about Thomasville Heights Elementary School! I admire your commitment to being a transformative leader in Atlanta's underserved communities. As I toured the school, I witnessed how refreshing it was to see the social and emotional learning approach and enrichment activities integrated into the school’s curriculum as well as its culture.

Sometimes I wasn’t expecting for the story to go a certain way everything was kind of a plot twist at the end. I wasn’t able to predict what was going to happen next in the story but I was most of the time close to being accurate. Throughout the story, I wanted to know more and more about bloom and her identity because like this book it is a mystery overall. Same with Damon and where he came from and why he seem to be very mysterious. I don’t have any other expectations for the author but I do think they author created the characters in this book very well and the storyline itself. I’ve never been this attracted to the characters that I had before with any fictional

There has been much through the years and especially this past year that we have been given the chance to learn and I am really thankful for it all. There have been many tests, quizzes, exams, and PBL projects that we have had to do. In every subject there has been many assignments and things that we have had to do. There have been highlights in every subject that have stood out to me. This year and for the past years we have worked a lot in every subject and for mostly everyone, our work shows it, and there has been many good things that we have learned, been challenged in, been nurtured by the Spirit, and been encouraged in through obedience to Jesus Christ.