Born on a blue day review – Sydney Carnegie

Born on a blue day is an autobiography of Daniel Tammet who is considered an autistic savant. This book details Daniels entire life story from life to present.  

Daniel has a form of autism known as Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition that affects social and communication skills. Characteristics that Daniel exhibit’s through his book are; his obsession with his interests for example his fascination with ladybirds (ladybugs) and him collecting chestnuts, by his repetitive behaviors, By his difficulty with social interactions. Daniel also has Savant Syndrome. Savants are typically developmentally or mentally handicapped in some areas but display extraordinary abilities in others, for Daniel this is his ability to deal with numbers. They are often amazingly gifted in memory, mathematics, art or music. Another reason Daniel has such a connection with math and numbers (along with history and dates), Daniel experiences synesthesia, a rare neurological condition which results in the ability to see letters and numbers in colors, shapes, motions or textures. Through this he forms an emotional connections to certain numbers. Through the whole book he tells us about his emotional connections and really invites us into his amazing mind. He is truly an extraordinary individual.

In The book’s first seven chapters take the reader from Daniel’s birth into what soon became a very large family. Starting with how his epilepsy left him with his amazing abilities (which he refers to as being struck by lightning). We learn about his struggles with fitting in at school and about learning basic social skills. Throughout his childhood Daniel speaks nothing about love towards his parents. They were so supportive of him and did all they could to help him manage with his disabilities. It is a beautiful love that you really feel while reading the book. As Daniel ages we see him really desire independence. For example when he rides the bus for the first time, starts going to chess clubs to play with other people and composition. Then Daniel takes a major step of independence, a trip to Lithuania where he served as a volunteer as an English teacher. This trip was incredibly important for Daniel. It helped him discover that he was capable of some level of independence. His travels in Lithuania is where we really get to see Daniels love of languages. He learns Lithuanian extremely quickly, to help his student learn English. Daniel has an ability to remember these details as if they were just happening yesterday. His details of his travels are wonderful and you really get to experience his growth.

Following Daniel’s travels in Lithuania. Daniel meets Neil, a man who became his partner. Together they began an internet-based company based on teaching languages. We also get to learn about Daniel’s amazing feats, such as setting the European record for memorizing the value of pi, taking just three months to memorize its first 22,517 digits using his number landscapes, which is part of his synesthesia. He also participated of the Brainman documentary he was challenged to learn the language of Icelandic in just one week and succeeded enough that he was able to converse quite freely in Icelandic on national television. Following the success of the documentary, Daniel is invited to appear on the David Letterman show (where I first learnt about Daniel myself). The story ends with Daniel and Neil returning to their "normal" life in England, where he continues to be apart of research and speak about his syndrome.

We can learn lots about this rare condition in books and websites. Daniel has the unusual ability to describe his condition unlike most people who have the same disability and to provide an insider’s perspective on it. Which really gives the reader a special experience, which is unique and beautiful. Daniel has a mind for details so when reading this book. I loved reading this book and would very much recommend it to a friend. I don’t have much experience with people with Autism or Asperger’s so this book gave me insight into a very unique individual. Personally I really felt like I connected with Daniel because his writing really lets you into his life. You really learn about all the good and bad times he went through with himself and his family. You get an overwhelming feeling of love throughout this book, although Daniel expresses that he has issues demonstrating most social interactions with people when he is young but as he grows older he learn to understand social conventions and use them in his everyday life. I truly loved reading this book and I really appreciated the pictures Daniel includes throughout. They really allow you to get a clearer picture of how he sees things so much differently then us. His writing is extremely detailed as he expresses a love of details throughout. There’s really nothing after finishing the book where you are left wondering about being left out. Sometimes these details do seem a little bit too much and makes the book seem to slow down. However I never felt bored at all while reading this book. Overall I really enjoyed it and felt like I learnt a lot about an extraordinary individual.

My Sister's Keeper book review by Chelsea Smith

Chelsea Smith (3009109)

EDUC-2530-005

April 11, 2014

Mike Link

I chose the novel My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. In this novel, we meet the Fitzgeralds.  A family of five dealing with the misery of cancer.  Brian, a firefighter, and Sarah Fitzgerald, would have been lawyer, have 3 children.  Jesse, the eldest; Kate, the middle child who is the family member battling cancer; and Anna, the youngest who was born with the purpose of keeping Kate alive by being a perfect genetic match to her sister. The story is narrated by everyone in the family except for Kate who we only hear narrate during the prologue and epilogue.  We also hear narration from other characters including Campell, Anna's lawyer, who has a service dog but kept the reason for his service dog a secret for years; as well as Julia, Anna's ad litem as well as Campell's past love who struggles with the way Campell left her.

The book is told within eleven days.  The chapters are separated by the days within this time period.  It begins on a Monday with Anna in lawyers office explaining to him her life and what she has gone through to keep her sister alive, and how that is really the only reason Anna is in this world is to keep Kate alive.  Campell, decides to represent Anna.

After the case become real, the Fitzgerald's home life become rocky.  We see Jesse acting out and setting fire to different places as he watches his father put them out.  A obvious cry for attention as he has not received any from his family due to his sisters illness.  We also see tension between Sarah and Anna, which results in Julia becoming Anna's ad litem, as well as Brian taking Anna to his fire station for a better living arrangement.  During this time Brian talks to Anna and Campell and seems to side with them.

The rest of the novel continues in court.  Sarah represents herself and Brian, and when she asks Brian to take the stand, he shockingly agrees with Sarah.  Although readers were lead to believe that Brian agreed with Anna, when it came down to testifying in court he ultimately agreed with Sarah and states that he doesn't know what is right or wrong in this situation and ends up breaking down. After denying for a long time to take the stand Anna also breaks down and reveals that Kate was the one who wanted Anna to stop donating and that Kate didn't want to live the way she's been living.  At that same moment Campell's dog start behaving erratically but Campell ignores him due to the trial, and Campell ends up collapsing.  It is now revealed that Campell suffers from epilepsy and that his dog was there to warn him if he was about to have a seizure.  Campell finally tells Julia that he left her due to his seizures because he didn't want her to have to deal with that.

The case continues with the judge visiting Kate and after speaking with her and listening to Campell and Sarahs closing arguments, he decides to grant Anna medical emancipation and gives Campell medical power of attorney.

After the case closes Campell drives Anna to the hospital and we realize once Brian is called to a serious car crash, that Anna and Campell were victims on the way to the hospital.  Anna winds up brain dead and because Campell has medical power of attorney over Anna, he gives Anna's kidney to Kate.The novel ends with Kate living and describing how Anna is now always with her.

I chose this book as I had already seen the cinematic version, and was interested in reading the novel as I really enjoy being able to see the differences between the two. The novel is a very deep story for me.  Just this past year, I lost a friend to cancer.  I found that the author, Jodi Picoult did a great job at showing the reader how difficult it can be to face this kind of situation.  Although only one person is battling cancer and fighting for their life, it affects so many people around them.  Picoult is able to demonstrate this by the way she writes the story from different characters' points of view.  Most of the characters narration is in the present, other than Sarah's, who narrates in the past up until the final chapter. It allows readers to connect with each character.  I found that had Sarah's narration been told in the present, I would have found her character to be very selfish toward Anna and only care for her one daughter's well being.  However, because Sarah narrates in the past, we are able to see all the struggles that she has overcome trying to save Kate, and it just proves that although Anna may seem to be the only one to suffer to save Kate (as she physically is the only one who can save Kate), the entire family really suffers.  For example, Jesse suffers by not receiving the attention he deserved his entire life, Anna suffers physically, and Brian and Sarah's relationship suffers.  

I also enjoyed how Picoult always had a way of making the novel interesting.  Just as when the reader thinks we know what is going on she has a twist, or an interesting metaphor spark our attention.  The most obvious examples of this would be when Anna reveals that Kate was the one who asked Anna to file for medical emancipation, or at the end of the novel when Anna passes away in a car crash with Campbell.  The family and readers were always expecting a daughter to die, but with this twist it became the daughter everyone thought would live.  This twist left readers shocked, but also left them with the realization that death and heartbreak can happen at anytime.  As much as readers sympathize with the family for their struggles and heartbreak, I found myself thinking that this only goes to show that we need to love everyone we care about, as we do not know what the future holds.

I believe that this book is a great read for anyone. Picoult did a wonderful job at showing how something can affect everyone around you, and did so by allowing the majority of her characters to narrate, and made it interesting by having Kate only narrate the prologue and epilogue.  This was interesting to me because Kate was the main focus point for readers and characters alike. It was a wonderfully written novel.  I found myself always interested and although a fictional novel, I was genuinely concerned for the Fitzgeralds. As a future teacher, it allows me to realize that although from the outside families may seem perfectly fine, they may be hiding a secret, or are really struggling with something.  Many teachers would benefit from reading this book as it will allow them to empathize with their students and students' families just as readers did with the characters in My Sister's Keeper.

Cadry Williams - Emergence: Labeled Autistic

Emergence: Labeled Autistic by Temple Grandin PhD and Margaret M. Scariano . The book acts as a recode of Grandin fight overcame autism. At the age of three, Grandin was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder; specifically, asperger which is at the higher functioning end of the spectrum. Although she was a bright child, due to her inability to properly communicates herself or control her behavior, Grandin struggled through grade school. Eventually moved from a 'normal' school to an educational program for autistic children, she began to suffer 'nerve attacks. Grandin tells her story of how she went from a fear-gripped, autistic child to a successful professional and a world leader in her field.

Grandin describes some of the teachers in her life. Her first primary school teacher does not understand her, and Grandin tells how difficult it was for her to do linear learning, for example multiple choice questions that only have one answer, however Grandin can clearly see several ways to answer questions. Additionally, in one instance, she understood a concept that was taught, yet she was unable to explain her logical reasons for answering questions ‘incorrectly’. Her inability to explain herself often led to a need to act out physically by kicking or hitting or overturning a chair. Sometimes, Grandin explains, she frightened even herself with her own behavior. Throughout the book Grandin reminisces about several events within her early childhood, that the reader can easily see how Grandin's problems, when looked at more simply, can be problems shared by many people. Grandin notes “that although she possesses truly bizarre behaviors, many of her attitudes, fixations, and kinesthetic and visual propensities are shared by many people in lesser degrees. By inference one can see that the educational system in most schools ignores and even punishes such propensities.” (Grandin & Scariano, 2005)

Through the resources of Grandin ’s family, she was able to attend a small school for children with exceptionalities and as well as be treated by psychiatrists throughout her adolescent years. Grated, many of the psychiatrists could not understand her logic process. Her primary psychiatrist, Dr. Stein, could do nothing more than supply M & M's to Grandin during their sessions but offered little to no incite in to her condition. When Grandin went to a summer camp and was introduced to sexual matters for the first time she fixated on the topics but did not really understand. Dr. Stein in turn fixates of this event and associates it with the Squeeze Machine one of Grandin’s lifelong fixations.

To understand its importance, one must understand the Squeeze Machine and Grandin’s fixation and obsession with it that autistic children and autistic people absolutely cannot tolerate being touched. “Babies stiffen up and turn away from their mothers. Young children become violent when touched. Parents and family understandably are hurt and put off by these rejections.” (Grandin & Scariano, 2005) However, throughout the book Grandin develops the idea that Autisic children really want to be touched and cuddled, but their neurological affliction makes it impossible.

The Squeeze Machine, modeled on a cattle chute that Grandin sees and experiments with as a senior in high school, the neurological disconnections, the vestibular mechanisms in the body, can be calmed and perhaps reset so that autistics can tolerate touch. The same operation renders the autistic more liable to be able to experience emotions, and this is a real difference because autistics may be excited and interested in machinery but not in people. They do not feel, and they do not love.

Dr. Stein, who apparently relies heavily on Freudian theory, insists that the Squeeze Machine is something sexual in its nature. Again not truly understanding Sexual matters Grandin is deeply troubled by the suggestion that her machine may be some kind of sexual device. These doubts trouble Grandin throughout her life, even though her Squeeze Machine and later her devices to help with animal husbandry become so famous that she travels internationally.

Grandin’s attempts to translate her own experiences into practical advice on how to communicate with children who have autism one of the striking passages from this book is a follows, “Sometimes I heard and understood and other times sounds or speech reached my brain like the unbearable noise of an onrushing train.” (Grandin & Scariano, 2005)  Monitor what you say to the autistic child; Keep your sentences short and simple. Look directly at the child because the autistic learns to read the whole body-not just the words. (Grandin & Scariano, 2005)

Grandin encourages parents, teachers, and the therapists to channel obsessive interests into projects.  Grandin states that “Singleness of purpose (persistence) can work wonders, High-functioning autistic adults, who are able to live independently and keep a job, often have work that is in the same field of interest as their childhood fixations. One man with a childhood fixation on numbers today works successfully doing fiscal efficiency reports.” (Grandin & Scariano, 2005)

This book reads like a combination of a text book, how to manual, a personal reflection and autobiography. It is interesting to read how the author blends them together enabling the read to both understand the experience the events from her point of view. I do note that in no way does this book represent all autistic children but it is a very useful reference.

April Borja-Book Review

April Borja

Professor Mike Link

EDUC 2530 (3)-005

20 March 2014

Book Review: The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly

            The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly is a remarkable memoir of life in death by Jean-Dominique Bauby, the former editor-in-chief of Elle magazine. The fact that the book was transcribed from beginning to end makes it that much more intriguing. I greatly enjoyed this book, and it made me appreciate my life so much more. I think that people will take a step back after reading this book and will take a look at their own lives, not be afraid to take chances, and truly live like there is no tomorrow.

            Bauby begins his story at the hospital, describing how something like a giant invisible diving-bell holds his whole body prisoner.  Bauby has had a cerebro-vascular accident, which puts his brain-stem out of action. This was formerly known as a massive stroke, and you simply died. Advancements in the medical field now allow for survival, but the patients are paralyzed from head to toe with what is known as locked-in syndrome. Bauby cannot do everyday functions that most people can do without a hitch. He cannot bathe himself, dress himself, stretch when his limbs are stiff, eat without the help of a gastric tube, and breathe without a respirator. Bauby’s mind is fully intact, yet he is trapped in his own body, and unable to speak or move. Since he has no choice but to lie down and watch television most days, he wanders off in space or time, and lets his mind take flight like a butterfly. His only means of communication is blinking his left eyelid. He was able to complete this book with the help of Claude Mendibil, the publisher’s emissary, who translated Bauby’s blinks into sentences and to whom this book is dedicated. Mendibil had the grueling task of using a system in which she would point at each letter of the alphabet on a screen, and Bauby would blink once for yes, and twice for no. Bauby would spend most nights editing his thoughts and memorizing sentences so that he was prepared for when Mendibil would take notes in order to capture each chapter of the book. Each chapter covers memories of Bauby’s past and present life and the people who helped shaped them, such as his father, children, friends, and past and present girlfriends. He also mentions things such as books and landmarks, which have influenced him over the years. In some chapters, he speaks of his dreams and imaginations, and during those moments, you forget about how the memoir was put together, literally piece by piece.

Every chapter flowed so smoothly and in some ways, poetically. It is so hard to believe that this book was created in the way that it was. Bauby’s account of his life is so lighthearted that you forget about the tragedy he his faced with upon reading this book. There is a point in the book where Bauby wakes up to the hospital ophthalmologist sewing his right eyelid shut, and Bauby is afraid that the doctor will sew his other eyelid too which is his only link to the outside world. Instead of being terrified about the fact that his eye is being sewn, he is more afraid of the doctor getting carried away and sewing both eyes shut. He does have a reason to be afraid about that, but I just found it so odd that he explained this situation nonchalantly. He even started the chapter off as, “I have known gentler awakenings” (61), yet just reading about this made me queasy. I learned shortly after that since his right eyelid was no longer fulfilling its function as a protective cover, he ran the risk of an ulcerated cornea. I did not even think about blinking being so important, but after reading about this, I feel so lucky. You would think that Bauby’s memoir would be filled with bitterness and sadness, but it is mostly filled with hope and imagination. He does speak of his varied emotions when he recalls memories of his past, but he adds humour to outweigh the sadness of his condition. For example, he talks about how he finds it amusing to have his bottom wiped and swaddled like a newborn’s, yet the next day, the same procedure will be unbearably sad because he reminisces about his past life. Although he is only human and clearly gets affected by his condition, he quickly follows these moments with witty remarks. For example, he says, “Like the bath, my old clothes could easily bring back poignant, painful memories. But I see in the clothes a symbol of continuing life. And proof that I still want to be myself. If I must drool, I may as well drool on cashmere” (25). This part of the book was extremely touching, and I was sold right then and there. No matter how tough his situation was, Bauby remained strong, and never lost hope. I was so moved by his story and I was surprised to find the humour in it. Sometimes, I felt as though I was reading a different book and I would get lost in the chapter, and have to re-read it to fully grasp its meaning. I realize now that those chapters that were more imaginative tied together the beauty of Bauby’s story. I believe he included these random thoughts to show us that his mind could still do everything as before. He still had feelings, dreams, and an imagination like the rest of us. Just because he could not move, he was still alive, and still a member of society.

If I was in Bauby’s situation, I do not think I would be as strong. I do not know how I would be able to get through life not being able to do every day functions on my own, such as eating and breathing. After reading this book, I felt like I took these daily functions for granted. This book made me think more deeply about the path I am taking in life and how all of it could be taken away in an instant. I always had it in the back of my mind that life is short, but I never fully had the saying in perspective until I read this book. This book was a quick, but powerful read. At one hundred thirty nine pages, The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly was able to affect me more than the majority of books I have read in my life so far. I highly recommend this book, especially to those who want to learn more about locked-in syndrome. This book will give you a deeper appreciation for life, and may change the way you look at things for the better.

Work Cited

Bauby, Jean-Dominique. The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly. Great Britain: Harper Perennial, 2008. Paperback.