A Heart With A Superfluous Chromosome
Forty-six. This is the number of chromosomes a person has in their body. Forty-seven. This number represents the number of chromosomes present in the body of a person with Down syndrome. Every year, thousands of children are born with Down syndrome to families anticipating the birth of a healthy baby. An extra chromosome will forever change their lives. Kim Edwards assess the effects on one’s life of having a child with Down syndrome in her book: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. Through internal conflicts, numerous character foils, and a significant setting, the decision of choosing to raise a child with a disability is both tough and rewarding, thus making the appraisal not to partake will lead to deficient emotional sensations of fulfillment in one’s life.
Norah Henry, preparing to give birth, looks at her husband with optimistic eyes as she says, “Our world will never be the same” (Edwards 17). As these words flowed from Norah Henry’s lips, they were with positive intention: the way their worlds would become a new chapter filled with the joy of embracing new life. The seconds leading up to the exact moment Dr. David Henry made the decision to not care for his newborn daughter, with Down syndrome was the moment everything began to change. This decision serves as a catalyst of all conflict in the novel. Throughout the Novel, David Henry experiences internal conflicts in reference to his decisions. The perception a father has of his child’s disability is reflected in the way David reacts to his daughter: “A classic case… A mongoloid”(Edwards 16). In Recognising Fathers: The Needs of Fathers of Children with Disabilities, Carpenter and Towers observe that when a baby is born with a disability,...
... middle of paper ...
...s Phoebe accomplish developmental milestones and believes her daughter has the same rights as any other child. With passion and confidence, she becomes an advocate for Down syndrome, insisting the world see these children as individuals capable of learning and demanding change and rights for their children. Michelle Jarman, PHD, is an Assiastant professor of Disability Studies at the University of Wyoming. In The Jornal of American Cultrue, Jarman evaluates “Entanglements of Diability, ethnicity, and relations: Orienting toward belonging in George Estreich’s The Shape of the Eye.” Estreich’s book gives readers a glimpse of the challenges and difficulties parents of children with Down Syndrome face. Ranging in severity from social discrimination, eating meals on their own, and ensuring that the world is continually striving to be shaped in acceptance of their child.
Lying and keeping secrets can only hurt someone in the end. This is true for David in the book “The Memory Keeper's Daughter,” written by Kim Edwards. He intentionally deceived others, but his dishonesty was meant for good intentions based on his and his family’s best interest. Or so he thought.
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted of being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he got bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
Denise Levertov is the poet who wrote “The Blue Rim Memory” and “A Tree Telling of Orpheus,” in which she portrays a theme of morals and religious beliefs though post modernism, anachronism, and liberalism. Levertov was born in llford, United Kingdom and later moved to Massachusetts where she taught in universities such Brandeis University, MIT and Tufts University. Levertov wrote “The Blue Rim Memory” and “In the Land of Shinar” which brought her the fame and enabled her to begin her pilgrimage journey towards the deep spiritual, personal, and political understanding .
Dan and Betsy go through their emotions on hearing about Samuel condition of cerebral palsy. The roll coaster of emotion they felt. As a parent I could relate to their emotion of having a child with disabilities. I would love my child regards of condition but the emotion I would feel would be fear. Dan and Betsy both went through fear; asking themselves what about his education, and interaction with others. I would have those same question; as
For this paper I read the novel The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards, this novel is told in the span of 25 years, it is told by two characters David and Caroline, who have different lives but are connected through one past decision. The story starts in 1964, when a blizzard happens causing the main character, Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. During the delivery, the son named Paul is fine but the daughter named Phoebe has something wrong with her. The doctor realizes that the daughter has Down syndrome, he is shocked and remembers his own childhood when his sister was always sick, her dying at an early age and how that affected his mother. He didn’t want that to happen to his wife, so David told the nurse to bring Phoebe to an institution, so that his wife wouldn’t suffer.
Progress is seen on the front of Claudia and Carolyn’s relationship. David attempts to reorganizes his relationship with Claudia in an effort to remove the pressure placed on her. However, the battle between Carolyn and Claudia continues to ebb and rise as the family narrows in on the dynamics of David and Carolyn’s relationship. Napier states to Claudia that, “...the family unconsciously agreed to go back to your and Carolyn’s war to rescue your mom and dad from the hot seat” (p. 137). When the family finally breaks free from this structure the exploration of David and Carolyn’s own relationship becomes the most critical aspect in therapy.
Down syndrome is a very common disorder now a day’s, but not many know what it actually is. Down syndrome was a topic that was not as common back in that day. “John Langdon Down, an English physician, published an accurate description of a person with Down syndrome. It was this scholarly
Down Syndrome: Critically analyze the effects of Down syndrome on people and the support that is available
In 1886, physician John Langdon Down was the first scientist to identify Down syndrome. Down was the administrator of a mental institute for children in Surrey, England. From his observations and work at the institute, he was able to identify a set of children who exhibited characteristics such as short nose, broad flat face, short and broad hands, which are features commonly identified with Down syndrome. He later wrote an essay entitled “Observations of the Ethnic Classification of Idiots” in which he asserts the notion that it was possible to classify different types of health conditions through race. His essay included his now famous classification of what is today known as Down syndrome, which he categorized as the Mongol...
The poem, “Remember”, by Joy Harjo illuminates the significance of different aspects in one’s life towards creating one’s own identity. Harjo, explains how everything in the world is connected in some way. She conveys how every person is different and has their own identities. However, she also portrays the similarities among people and how common characteristics of the world impact humans and their identities. Harjo describes the interconnectedness of different aspects of nature and one’s life in order to convey their significance in creating one’s identity.
In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.
Grief Girl is a novel written by Erin Vincent about her and her sibling’s experience of losing both their mother and father. Vincent was only fourteen years old at the time of her parents’ death. The chapter goes into detail about the events of the night of Vincent’s parents’ death. Based on the chapter, I can conclude that Vincent definitely went through at least two of the stages of grief. The fact that the novel is nonfiction helps me connect with the emotions that Vincent felt that day. Her details are extremely vivid and it is recognizable that Vincent recalls the events from that day very well.
In” Disabling Imagery in the media “Barnes asserts,“Disabled people are rarely shown as integral and productive members of the community; as students, as teachers, as part of the work-force or as parents. “(11). Popular culture excludes women with disabilities because they are different. Through Joanne’s character, Nussbaum demonstrates how women with disabilities operate in their daily lives.Nussbaum description of Joanne’s daily routine shows that women with Nussbaum 's character Joanne also demonstrates how women with disabilities are not burdens on
People label things as “normal” because they have become habituated with these things. Beth Harry’s book, Melanie, Bird with a Broken Wing, her ideal view of a mother is challenged when she gives birth to a child with cerebral palsy. Through her story, she provides an insight into what she felt as a mother of a child with a disability and her journey up until Melanie’s death. The memoir left me with mixed emotions because, in the beginning, Harry expressed her thought of wanting her child to die, if the child had caused any trouble. Harry challenges my core beliefs and values, however, through Melanie, I was able to see Harry grow as a mother and a person. The little ackee seed sprouted a new perception for her mother, as well as it did for
Down syndrome (DS), also called Trisomy 21, is a condition in which extra genetic material causes delays in the way a child develops, both mentally and physically. Normally, at the time of conception a baby inherits genetic information from its parents in the form of 46 chromosomes: 23 from the mother and 23 from the father. In most cases of Down syndrome, a child gets an extra chromosome 21 — for a total of 47 chromosomes instead of 46. It is this extra genetic material that causes the physical features and developmental delays associated with DS (kidshealth.org). Trisomy 21 is one of the most common human chromosomal aberrations, occurring in about one out of every eight hundred live births. Major characteristics of DS include: delayed mental