A Must-Read Book

Consider these facts:

Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood.

In the United States, between 2 to 3 out of 1,000 children are born cerebral palsy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year about 10,000 babies born in the United States will develop cerebral palsy.

Currently, about 500,000 children under the age of 18 have cerebral palsy.

One out of two children with cerebral palsy have chronic pain.

At this time, there is no cure for the developmental brain damage that causes cerebral palsy.

And many people struggle to know how to behave around children with cerebral palsy — as evidenced in the book Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper.

The heroine in the book is eleven-year-old Melody. She has a photographic memory — but nobody knows it. She’s the smartest kid in her school — but nobody knows it.

Even though she’s in the 5th grade, she has to listen to the same preschool-level lessons again and again and again. She’s so frustrated that she would scream — if she could. She wants to tell her teachers to stop teaching such juvenile material and give her something challenging.

But she can’t. She’s trapped in an uncontrollable body. She can’t talk. Or walk. Or write. So she is treated like a little baby that doesn’t understand anything.

And it’s driving her out of her mind.

She desperately wants a friend. Someone she could confide in, giggle with, share secrets with. Someone who accepts her and likes her for who she is.

But no one will be her friend.

Then, she gets a computer that can speak for her. She manipulates it with her thumbs — the only part of her body that she can control. Watch out, world! Melody now has a voice and she is anxious to use it to communicate her thoughts and feelings with others.

Maybe now she can even make friends.

But, her classmates and her teachers are not quite sure how to behave around Melody. They think that since her body is disabled, so is her mind. They don’t expect her to be able to think like they do or have the same desires that they have — acceptance, friendship, understanding, and being included in activities.

I won’t tell you what happens at the end. I won’t spoil it for you.

But I will say this. By the end of the book, if you are like me you are spittin’ mad at her classmates and her teacher. You don’t like what they do to Melody.

But more important, you have changed as a person. You’re mindset toward disabled children has changed. You have more empathy, acceptance, compassion.

A disclaimer — I did not receive a free copy of this for review and I did not receive any remuneration for writing about this book.

That being said, I highly recommend that you read this book. The writing is beautiful!

Even though it is fiction, it is an eye-opener. You gain an understanding for children with cerebral palsy and what their lives are like. You see what it is like for their families to take care of them.

You see how cruel people can be to them. And, by golly, I hope that by the end of the book you aren’t one of those cruel people.

This is a book that you ought to give to your grandchildren to read. It will give them insights into the world of children who are disabled.

Then after reading it, please take time to discuss it with your grandchildren. Talking about it helps them understand it and internalize its message. There are great thought questions at the end of the book that can guide your discussion.

They — and you — will be a better person for reading it. I promise!

You can get a paperback copy for $8.