taylor butler

Samantha Rogers & Taylor Butlers final paper on Autism illustrated through literature

DJ Savarese’s poem Alaska and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein are comparable in that both main characters in the texts struggle with communication. The creature, made by Victor Frankenstein, is depicted as a monster that is not quite human. Once the creature becomes aware of his hideous appearance, he feels lonely and isolated. Much like the creature, DJ Savarese feels isolated. Although DJ’s outward appearance does not exhibit scary features, his lack of communication skills affect his interaction with others. Due to being autistic, DJ struggles to communicate and sometimes relies on a facilitator to guide him along. Even though DJ has assistance and support from facilitators, he is aware that he lacks support from others. In regards to the creature, Victor Frankenstein can be seen as the creature’s facilitator, as Victor is the only one who truly understands him. However, differently from the facilitator’s mentioned within DJ Savarese’s poem, the creature’s facilitator does not support him. Within both texts, it is evident that communication barriers have an impact on the both creature and DJ Savarese, as they seek to remove themselves from feelings of isolation.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is a novel that displays the struggles that the main character, Victor, must face. His creation is much different than the other characters within the book. The creation becomes aware of his repulsive appearance and his lack of communication skills, produces rage. Wanting to learn to communicate like a human, the creation observes a family from the outside. After constantly being reminded of his scary and ugly outward appearance, the creature craves the company of someone like himself. Wanting a female companion to be created for him, the creature seeks Victor with hopes that he will do so. Victor’s refusal to create a female companion leads to escalating aggression within the creature. Isolated and unlike anyone/anything else, the creature uses violence to make his voice heard. The creature’s struggle in being different and unable to communicate with others is comparable to DJ Savarese’s poem Alaska.

Alaska by DJ Savarese is a poem that illustrates a struggle with communication through the use of metaphor; like Mary Shelley in Frankenstein. The poem begins with the following quote, “hours of light like heat hibernating, great icebergs hear the cries of the hurt just like they’re trying really, really to be free” (Savarese, 279). The light could metaphorically mean the light that is inside of an individual with autism, being trapped by society. This displays how society dehumanizes people with autism and places them into a box. The iceberg metaphor may symbolize facilitators, in which they are able to hear the desire to be free; free to be whom they are. The facilitators are assistive and are able to sympathize with the individuals for who they really are and what they desire most; which in this poem is freedom. The entirety of the first line may be compared to Frankenstein’s creation and what he endures throughout the novel. The iceberg in Frankenstein could represent the old Mr. De Lacey. There are other lines throughout the poem that are representations of the creature in Frankenstein.

While reading the poem, the line, “they try to yearn from freedom but they fear it” linked back to what the creature struggles with in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, (Savarese, 279). The above quote also explains how others can view individuals with Autism and then not understanding their responses. The word “fear” in the poem means it is the fear of someone not understanding a person with Autism if they are not facilitated in some way. The word “hurt” also appears quite frequently, which could be interpreted as the hurt/frustration that DJ feels when people judge him or are not patient with him simply because he has Autism. The wording and analysis of the poem coincides with that of Frankenstein’s creation. The creature feels akin to DJ because of the way he is treated by Dr. Frankenstein, the De Lacey’s, the townspeople, and many more.

DJ Savarese, an autistic individual, discusses communication in Cultural Commentary: Communicate with Me. He describes the issues he suffers without his facilitator as well as the proper steps in order to de-escalate from certain situations. Savarese describes how the people around him do not understand how to communicate with him. Savarese addresses questions that he is asked frequently such as, “If you don’t know me very well, can you just start talking to me? Yes, but I might act like you’re not there at first. It takes dear, real self-time to tell my breaking-the-barrier heart to quit pounding so loudly, so I can respond” (Savarese 2010). Savarese’s main point in his commentary is that nobody around him understands his plight. The type of communication that is being discussed can also be seen in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Frankenstein’s creation, who can be perceived as an autistic individual, who is initially rational, but when communicating his thoughts, he tends to struggle. The creature feels unhappy and depressed because no one around him understands his wants or needs. Dr. Frankenstein’s first reaction was awful, solely because he did not know how to address the creature, nor how to communicate with him. The narrator confirmed that the facilitator does not do everything for them, but that they play a major role in making sure that he is calm. When he is not calm, the facilitator provides comfort and is able to communicate in ways that do not require speaking, like sign language. In a way, the De Lacey family is the creation’s facilitator.

Even though the family is horrified by the creature’s appearance and the fact that the creature was touching old Mr. De Lacey, Felix brutally attacks the creature, while Agatha screams; neither of which are positive methods of communication. Old Mr. De Lacey is the only character that shows no prejudice due to his blindness, he was not able to see the creature’s appearance. The family poses as the creature’s facilitator even without the awareness of his existence, regardless of the distance, they still helped him in many ways. The main characters, as well as the townspeople, whom he encounters lack communication because they do not understand his needs.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and DJ Savarese’s poem Alaska, communication barriers are evident. Within Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature that is vastly different from the human race and is not what he expected. Its ugly and scary appearance frightens others, leaving the creature feeling angry and isolated. Similar to the creature, DJ Savarese struggles with the ability to communicate in a “normal” manner, due to being autistic. In both texts, individuals are seeking support and to be removed from isolation. Although DJ Savarese has difficulties communicating, he does have support and guidance from facilitators, which is not the case for the creature. The creature, on the other hand, is seen as frightening and is not supported by his creator, which leads to aggressive behaviors towards Victor and his family members. Within both texts, it is evident that communication barriers have an impact on the creature and DJ Savarese, as they seek to find support from others.

Works Cited

Savarese, DJ. “Communicate with Me.” Disability Studies Quarterly, 2010, dsq-sds.org/article/view/1051/1237.

Savarese, Ralph James. “Alaska.” Reasonable People: a Memoir of Autism and Adoption. New York: Other Press, 2007. Pp. 279.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, web.archive.org/web/20110207085418/etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=SheFran.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=19&division=div1.

Honor Pledge: Taylor Butler and Samantha Rogers

Word count: 1278

Zoom with Petra Kupper

The zoom meeting was interesting to say the least. Unfortunately it didn’t last very long so this will be a short response. She began the meeting by introducing herself and a little background on her. She talked a little about why she writes this newly found science fiction and why it is important. She believes in the surrealist lens. She started reading “Mercury Worms” and about 20 minutes into the reading there were a bunch of boys who interrupted the streaming with vulgar language and pictures. This went on for about 15 minutes until Kupper finally just canceled her meeting. I would check 5-6 times after to make sure she wasn’t back on, but by 9 p.m. I stopped and read a little more of Kupper’s “Mercury Worms” to get an idea.

Taylor & Samantha’s Project and Write Up

Creative-Project Download

Due to being in the Special Education program at the University of Mary Washington, our project consists of a lesson plan that has been designed for 11th grade students and is centered around John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. Wanting to present a lesson that is engaging and strategic, we decided to incorporate the jury trial system into the lesson. Each student will be given a copy of Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men and as they read the book, students will be taught how the legal system/jury trial system works. Students will then take what they have learned and will be asked to apply it to the novel. In order for students to apply it to the novel, they will be broken into groups and will be assigned roles. Instead of solely focusing on characters and their disabilities, students will think about the events that occur within the book and the classroom will be turned into a courtroom. Throughout Steinbeck’s novel, there are many “alleged” crimes committed and students will use information within the book to design court cases. In order to best assess the events within the book, students will be asked to focus on one event and to assign roles, such as defense attorney, prosecuting attorney, plaintiff, defendant, and witnesses to members within their groups. After assessing the crimes that have occurred, students will then be able to form a court case and prepare for a jury trial. Assessing students is an important aspect of being a teacher and in order to do so, we will turn the classroom into a courtroom and have the students present their cases. After the trials, teachers can grade students based on preparation, execution, persuasiveness of arguments, evidence, and level of seriousness.

The lesson plan created encourages students to think outside of the box and further analyze. There are aspects, such as disabilities, for students to consider when designing their court case and holding a trial. While the majority of the characters within the novel could be tried for specific actions, students need to consider how the character’s emotions and disabilities affected their actions. As an example, Lennie could be placed on trial for “murdering” Curley’s wife, but students need to determine if Lennie’s actions were due to his disability or if he meant to kill her. However, it will be interesting to see how students react to the events within the novel and whether decisions will be altered to accommodate disabilities that are present within.

Another aspect, as teachers, to consider is the fact that there are students with high functioning disabilities present within the classroom. In order to make sure that they understand and feel comfortable with the assignment, they will be placed in groups with students that have strong English abilities. Having students with disabilities present and involved in the trials will give other students in the classroom insight, which will hopefully better assist them with making decisions. Having diversified groups will impact the final decisions and will allow students to best analyze the situations they are dealing with.

Word Count: 512

I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work. – Taylor Butler & Samantha Rogers

S.E.E.D Event on Neurodiversity

On Monday February 24 I attended the Dialogues on neurodiversity: a roundable discussion fashioned by UMW’s S.E.E.D. Lu and I believe Jessica did a wonderful job with the event. The guest speaker was the one and only Dr. Foss, which he did a wonderful job delivering the information. There was pizza and water provided by the club, which was very generous.

Dr. Foss discussed mental health and how there is more than meets the eye, as the flyer states “learn about what doesn’t get discussed.” Dr. Foss also discusses Intersectionality, which displayed that disability isn’t just one label it is a wide spectrum and how we should broaden our views. The topics addressed were topics that we have been discussing in class this semester. Dr. Foss even referenced some of the essay’s we have been reading, which was nice to relate to.

Each table had a S.E.E.D member, my table had Lu to lead us in discussion based on what we heard. The first few questions were about disability and how we have seen it portrayed in life as well as life at UMW. My table had a pretty good discussion about how disability is portrayed in movies and tv. We brought up a show “everything is going to be ok,” which the disabled character is a young woman. We discussed that it is nice to see a different type of character portrayed as disabled because it is usually white men. The second set of questions pertained to how disability is such a broad spectrum and how society has perceived it. We discussed how a person can’t be more than one thing, a person can’t be black and disabled or black, gay, and disabled. You’re either black or disabled not both.

The event was a success and time well spent. The event discussed similar topics to class discussions, it felt like an introduction lecture to Tuesday’s class. I think that S.E.E.D is a great club and has a wonderful message. What a tremendous event!

Taylor’s Response to Oscar Wilde’s “The Star Child”

In Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale “The Star Child,” we are introduced to a story about a young boy who is seen as beautiful, which causes him to be proud, cruel, and selfish. Due to all of these negative qualities he refuses to believe that an unseemly beggar woman is his mother. He later loses his beauty and devotes his time exploring the beggar woman’s whereabouts in hopes that she will somehow restore his beauty. Disability, like all common themes, is displayed across Wilde’s literature. For example, “The Birthday of the Infanta,” “The Selfish Giant,” and “Frankenstein,” which will be discussed in relation to the below characters. Disability awareness is portrayed through the two main characters, The Star Child and the old beggar lady.

The boy knew he was desirable, which made him narcissistic. Due to his believed superiority, as the son of a star, he believed that he is of higher- caliber than that of everyone else. The star child could be seen as having an internal disability, which is demonstrated when he becomes hideous and everyone turns their backs on him. He may still be beautiful, but his inward disability revealed and others saw what he really is, disabled. The boy reminds me a little of Victor Frankenstein, only because we see them both showing a lack of empathy, but also feeling love and kindness towards those without “disabilities. In-class discussion, my group brought up the possibility of Frankenstein having split personality disorder, I think this could also be said for that of The Star Boy. The boy responds to his “mother” wanting a kiss by displaying disgust and correlating a toad to be a better option than she, which demonstrates how people react towards those with disabilities. Another minor role that could be seen as disabled is the leper that the boy discovers along his journey. Lepers were seen as hideous scaly creatures, not humans, they were different which deemed them less than human. The old beggar lady was seen in the same manner.

The old beggar lady can be seen as disabled in the same way we see Frankenstein’s creation as disabled or the same way we see the dwarf in “The Birthday of Infanta” as disabled. All of the above characters represent disability in some way or another. Frankenstein’s creation is seen as hideous and is therefore isolated and treated like that of someone with a disability. The dwarf in “The Birthday of Infanta” is looked upon similarly. Although he is hideous and viewed as less than and is dehumanized, the princess keeps him around for her amusement. The old beggar lady’s situation is no different. The boy among others looks down upon this “disabled” woman and dehumanizes her by throwing stones at her and taunting her.

In Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale “The Star Child,” he displays disability through the lens of the old beggar lady as well as the star child. The common mistake with a disability is that it can be seen, the characters that are spoken about could have hidden disabilities that cannot be seen by another’s eyes, which is demonstrated by The Star Child. Disability is prominent in the old beggar lady more so than the boy. The old beggar lady’s “disability” is based upon her looks whereas the boy’s “disability” is hidden underneath his facade. There are so many different ways of looking at how authors and Wilde himself incorporated disability within their characters.

I pledge: Taylor Butler

Word Count: 573