![]() ![]() When Melody enters fifth grade, she receives an electric wheelchair, which gives her greater autonomy over her mobility. Though she had at first been excited to enter school, the lack of intellectual stimulation in the segregated special-needs class disappoints her. Melody spends the next five years in the special needs classroom, room H-5. Melody’s mother tells the doctor off for his insensitivities and enrolls Melody at Spaulding Street Elementary. The doctor recommends that Melody’s parents put Melody in a care facility so they can get on with their lives without the burden of raising her. Hugely, administers flawed and biased tests, he determines that Melody is severely brain-damaged and mentally retarded. When she is five years old, Melody and her mother consult a specialist to determine if she should begin kindergarten. Together they build a more complex set of vocabulary words for Melody to point to on her Plexiglas communication board. V motivates Melody to achieve more than society expects of her. V, Melody’s neighbor and after-school caregiver, also recognizes Melody’s brilliance. Though most people in Melody’s life underestimate her abilities, Melody’s parents can see the intelligence in her eyes. In the beginning of the novel, Melody reveals she has never spoken a single word. Melody’s intelligence is mostly unrecognized by society at large, because of ableist prejudice that makes people assume her physical impairment must also affect her mental capacity. Though Melody cannot walk, talk, or feed herself, she has a photographic memory and a witty personality. Either way, I do not recommend this book for children as it reinforces stereotypes and tropes while failing to challenge to status quo.Out of My Mind is a young adult novel written from the perspective of Melody Brooks, an eleven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. I also wondered if the novel was set in a previous era, but if so, this is never made clear within the text. I’m unsure whether the failure of ‘Out Of My Mind’ is due to cultural differences, as the book was published in the United States and language of disability varies from Australian terminology. In Melody’s class, the students with disability were congregated together in ways that are not helpful. There is also no concept of ‘natural proportions’, which is a crucial feature of inclusive education, where the natural proportions of disability in society are replicated within classrooms. The general education teacher refers to the disabled students as ‘guests’ there is no concept of being valued or belonging within the class. These classes are simply poor examples of integration, where large numbers of students from segregated classes are provided with the irregular opportunity to visit a general education class with a teacher assistant. ![]() Melody is allowed to attend ‘inclusion classes’ with ‘normal students’. The concept of ‘inclusive education’ is poorly presented within the text. There is an acceptance of offensive language and overt discrimination, even though Draper claims that her book promotes disability acceptance and inclusion. For example, disability slurs such as ‘retarded’, ‘spazzed out’, and ‘idiot’ are peppered throughout the text yet are never challenged in any way. Part of the failure of Draper’s novel is the outdated language, concepts and ideas about disability that perpetuate the idea of the ‘other’. In contrast, Sharon Draper’s book attempts to convey a similar idea but fails. Samantha Wheeler’s book skilfully draws on the social model of disability to convey that the obstacles to inclusion are within the environment. However, there is one significant difference. As well, both were written by mothers of disabled children. It has striking similarities to ‘Everything I Never Said’ by Samantha Wheeler, as both are first-person narratives from disabled girls who are non-speaking but who are desperately seeking a way to communicate the rich ideas within their minds. This novel describes Melody’s journey in finding her voice through Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). ‘…it is in my opinion that Melody is severely brain damaged and profoundly retarded….You can choose to keep her at home, or you can send her to a special school for the developmentally disabled…You can also decide to put Melody in a residential facility where she can be cared for an kept comfortable.’ (Draper 2010 p. Consequently, a doctor announces to Melody’s mother: The greatest challenge faced by Melody is that because she is unable to speak verbally, her intelligence is underestimated. At the beginning of the novel, Melody shares the impact of her disability on her life: ![]() Melody provides the reader with insights into her life and the way she is discriminated against by others. ‘Out of My Mind’ is a children’s novel written as a first-person narrative by Melody, an eleven-year-old girl who is limited in her movement and speech due to cerebral palsy. ![]()
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