reading response – dis/lit 20

Madison’s response to Ralph James Savarese’s “Prologue: River of Words, Raft of Our Conjoined Neurologies”

In Ralph James Savarese’s prologue to See It Feelingly, he details his son DJ’s autism as an important spectacle of human empathy, pushing back on the stereotype that autistic people do not feel the depth of emotion the way an able-minded person might. DJ is an important example of how the autistic mind is not closed to typical human emotions, but rather these emotions can be expressed in a neurodiverse manner. Also, Savarese is an important example of what can happen when the able-minded take the time to step into an atypical perspective.

Savarese’s inclusion of DJ’s voice in his prologue begs the notion that just because a person does not communicate in a “typical” way doesn’t mean they don’t have something valuable to say. In the fifth grade, DJ wrote, “First, free people treat my people, very smart people who type to communicate, as mindless,” (17). A ten-year-old advocate already attuned to how he and “his people” are understood in the world. Along with his understanding of his placement in the world, DJ holds an amplified ability to relate to other people, real and fictional. Savarese goes on to point out the repetition of “breath” and the concept of breathing in his son’s writing, which is something he struggles to control as a result of intense anxiety. DJ’s anxiety is often the result of “channeling the traumatic injuries” (17) of the characters he reads about. He is easily overwhelmed by empathy, and he would communicate his understanding of people’s feelings through anxiety-ridden meltdowns. One meltdown in particular almost got him expelled from his middle school, to which he responded with a thoughtful letter to the principal asking for a second chance, but also demanding “respect for underestimated kids” (17). What was seen as a behavioral issue was really the result of a neurodiverse mind experiencing intense empathy.

It is obvious that Savarese takes the time to relate to DJ, really venturing into his territory. Both Savarese and DJ have to experience alien terrain as they try to grapple the world together, and in doing this, Savarese sets a sound example of the give and take that comes when you raise an autistic child. He highlights DJ’s empathy as a strength, saying, “DJ had taught me much about our deepest emotions and their centrality to literature- to all of the arts” (19). Understanding that DJ has a hard time with his readings, Savarese encouraged him to channel his focus on the reading process rather than the content. He even set a dedicated space for the two of them to read together, because as Savarese notes, “I wanted him to feel at home in literature” (20). Savarese says his son’s decision to become a writer was likely a result of him working with DJ to make reading more comfortable. It is important that this prologue not only breaks stereotypes surrounding autism, but highlights a critical relationship in which the abled is willing to step into a neurodiverse perspective. As Savarese and DJ both prove, “simply conforming to the dominant culture is not always a worthy goal.”

I pledge. Madison Moyer

Word count: 517

Tori Percherke’s Response and Reflection to Rebecca Foust’s “Apologies to my OBGYN”

For those who were curious like me, a OBGYN is two things: OB is short for obstetrician, a physician who delivers babies. GYN is shortened for gynecologist, a physician who specializes in treating diseases of the female reproductive organs.

In this story, readers can infer that the mother in this story is extremely sarcastic and hurt by physicians and how they don’t provide enough care to babies who are either premature or have a disability. Beginning in each stanza, Foust repeatedly says “Sorry” followed by a common human reaction or situation that is either out of hands or would be an expected emotion from a mother (line 1). Especially a mother who has given birth prematurely.

Beginning with the first stanza, the author states that it is the “duty” of her unborn son to be delivered on time. We know as humans, that that sentence is not true or humanly possible for a baby to decide that. As Fourst continues, she talks about her son’s weight, and how that fact made it hard for the doctors to take care of the other babies in the nursery. Seemed to Foust, that the doctors chose to take care of the majority rather than caring individually for the babies. As her rant continues, Foust states that she is again, “Sorry” for calling to check in on her son (line 7). And, for her son doing what he wasn’t supposed to do as a baby. Again giving a responsibility to a baby to act on a physical disability isn’t likely, obviously (line 13). This stanza gives us an insight on what happened to her son during testing. Which is understandably frustrating as a mother. I would be sassy and unapologetic too!

The baby was experiencing some serious changes in weight, and by Foust’s explanation of “doing everything backwards”, provides a possibility as to what the doctor might have told the mother at that time (line 9). Maybe, even to excuse why the baby wasn’t getting the treatment it deserves. The term, “doing everything backwards”, seems original and unique in that sense, and could be used as backfire words in Foust’s “apology letter.”

I feel like this poem especially has been very different from our other readings. This one is extremely dramatic in tone, and heart-felt because of the amount of lack her family received because her baby was disabled. Which is not the son’s fault, and shouldn’t be acted on differently than a baby without a disability. It hit home in a lot of ways personally, because this happens everyday even outside the hospitals. For example, teachers will get frustrated with those who have learning disabilities because they believe it takes up time with questions and failed tests. Personally, I have been told to not enroll into certain (high school) classes, mainly AP classes, due to the course being “fast-paced” and at a “college-level”. When my advisor told me this, I was confused why those two phrases were emphasized in our meetings. I would respond with, “okay, and?” Educators sometimes feel as if students should all demonstrate the same style and not allow for grades to be nothing other than a test. No projects, presentations, or visual representations. Learning is easier, for the teacher, by teaching everyone the same way.

Relating my personal story to Foust’s Poem, I felt connected to the mother on how the doctor didn’t make sure her son got more care that he needed than the rest. Just like I wanted more help from a teacher, the doctor wanted to focus on the majority of the babies (or in my case, classmates), in particular the ‘healthier babies’ rather than taking the time to help the disabled baby. It’s unfortunate how this world can look down on others with disability, because they might seem hopeless or “too much to handle.” Readers can take away from this poem by relating to an experience where they had with a professional and didn’t receive what was expected. But, got something where it wasn’t quite enough.

I pledge.

Word Count: 667

Tara’s Short Reading Response to Michael Davidson’s “Universal Design”

Michael Davidson’s “Universal Design: The Work of Disability in an Age of Globalization” is a particularly relevant piece regarding current events. Davidson examines the intersectionality between disability and globalization, and in doing so considers how disabled bodies become both part of public spaces, as well as being treated as public spaces. The idea of disability being spatial is fascinating, not least because it removes the, as Davidson points out, often moral associations of being disabled. Disability therefore becomes no longer a fault, but rather an inevitability based on social and geographical positioning.

Globalization is, at its essence, a game of wealth hoarding. The point of businesses developing international influence is effectively never for the sake of altruism, but rather to increase revenue. Davidson describes the “actuarial value” that is placed on disabled people—exemplified by the World Bank, but visible in daily life in a capitalist society—and establishes that in the free market “internationalization of healthcare creates—rather than eliminates—disability” (121-122). Regarding the pandemic-sized elephant in the metaphorical room, Davidson’s writing drives at the fundamental issue with both globalization and the treatment of the disabled community: those who are most at risk will, almost inescapably, will be left to fend for themselves. While a disease does not have to be disabling, people with no support network are the ones who will become disabled, whether that be physically or financially. To tie back in with the previous idea of disabled bodies being treated as public spaces available for use by society, the current pandemic panic reveals the lack of empathy for the disabled by treating the deaths of people with preexisting health conditions (such as respiratory issues, autoimmune disorders, and the simple decline of advanced age) as being inevitable and relatively unconcerning. That is to say that if only the sick and the old die, somehow, they are the sacrifice that society is willing to make. Obviously not everyone in the general public feels this way, but the general apathy that tends to be thrown about in regards to those most at risk is revealing, to say the least.

One criticism that can be made of Davidson’s text is that he lacks what I would consider to be first hand accounts of the issues he’s presenting. Most of the examples he provides are media examples, such as the films of Jibril Diop Membety, the film Kandahar, and the tape cassette “Yiriba”. He mentions the scandal with Bayer and tainted blood, as well as the traveling theaters in Africa that try to teach about the AIDS epidemic, but this lack of personal anecdotes leaves his writing to examine the performative views of disability, rather than the lived experiences of people with disabilities. The lack of first hand perspective, to me, removes some of Davidson’s credibility. Davidson’s view of disability is decidedly formed by the social model, which tends to view disability through a larger lens rather than focusing on the individual; disability is the fault of society, not any single person. While I do not believe that any of the points Davidson was making in terms of how disability relates to globalism, I do think the lack of individual experience outside of media is an oversight. While art often reflects reality, it is not the same thing. Describing the plot of Dirty Pretty Things (2003), while harrowing and pertinent to Davidson’s thesis, is not the personal account of someone who has been through the black-market organ trade. In some ways, Davidson’s lack of first-hand accounts is reminiscent of the removal of disabled voices from disability studies by focusing on stories about disabled people rather than stories told by disabled people.

I Pledge.

Word count: 610