Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key Essay

“At school they say I’m wired bad, or wired mad, or wired sad, or wired glad, depending on the mood and what teacher has ended up with me. But there is no doubt about it, I’m wired.” (Gantos 1) Jack Gantos writes, in his book Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, about a school-aged boy named Joey Pigza who, throughout his life, has struggled with being “wired”, being hyperactive. Joey has the inability to sit still for more than a few minutes, has poor decision making skills, and has had an unstable home life. These factors mixed with incorrect meds and the lack of knowledge of the Ms. Maxy, Joey’s teacher, has on integrating students with special needs into a general education setting has led him on a destructive path for himself and those around him. An analysis of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key through concepts from Including Students with Special Needs: A Practical Guide for Classroom Teachers by Marilyn Friend and William D. Bursuck will show just how many parts of Joey Pigza’s life have intersected to create a student with special needs.
A point of

intersection, which is also a theme, that has led Joey to be a student with special needs are the challenges, in regards to his actions, he has faced throughout out life. Throughout the novel there are many instances where Joey’s behaviors and decisions have led to troublesome outcomes. Before the interventions of professionals, Joey had a consistent history of inability to properly manage his behavior. Joey exhibited behaviors difficulties with learning skills that are like students who have high-incidence disabilities. Although there are few examples of Joey’s academic work within the novel, he exhibits struggles with attention. An aspect of students that struggle with attention is that they “may have trouble focusing on the important aspects of tasks.” (Friend & Bursuck 221) An example of Joey having difficulties focusing on tasks is when he is given directions. Joey is often told rules and to not do certain things. Although Joey is physically present, he has troubles trying to focus on what is being said. He explains “Problem was, I wasn’t listening” (Gantos 20) Another aspect of struggling with attention that Joey shows is the ability to retain learned information. This is shown, in chapter three, when Joey is unable to remember rules Ms. Maxy had discussed with him the day before. Challenges with behavior is an aspect of life that most people face, Joey’s disabilities heightened these challenges that it became unusual for his age.
Another form of intersection that lead Joey to being considered a student with special needs is his development through the story. Throughout this novel Joey has the idea that his inabilities were a negative aspect of who he was. Although this is not explicit within the text, the last chapter reveals that Joey has given hope to a mother whose son is severely disabled. He was not only surprised but became emotional. This may have been due to the classroom atmosphere. Ms. Maxy tries her best, but did not create a class room environment that was accepting. It was as though her goal was to teach content, not build a community within the class. Creating a classroom environment without judgement is key and is done by a teacher that can “model and reinforce tolerance of individual differences”. (Friend & Bursuck 212) Towards the end of the story, Joey begins to realize that although he has special needs, those needs do not make him less of a person.
Joey’s personal life and its unstableness has been another intersection that has contributed to being a student with special needs. From Joey’s mother leaving him to chase after his father to being raised by an abusive grandmother. Joey has not been in the best circumstances, having affected him emotional and mentally, but also academically. While being raised by his grandmother, Joey rarely completed homework. In chapter two Joey explains “I had stacks of homework I had forgotten”. (Gantos 10) This is an example of having difficulties with “Academic Survival Skills” (Friend & Bursuck 223) These skills are “needed to succeed in school” (Friend & Bursuck 409) and include “completing tasks in and out of school” (Friend & Bursuck 223). Without completing necessary work outside of school, Joey was missing essential learning opportunities
Jack Gantos portrays Joey with realness to his disabilities, providing the good and the bad.

This realness is yet another point of intersection that makes Joey prominent example of a student with special needs. There was nothing to make is seem as though having a disability is a life sentence, but there was hope which came to fruition at the end. Gantos makes it clear that change happens with help. Help from educators, special education educators, doctors, etc. Though help and change can happen, it is a lengthy process to identify a problem, implement a possible solution, and see results. This is evident when intervention does not happen until Joey harmed another student, was suspended for six weeks, and then had a trial period on his new medicine. Gantos gave a realistic view into what it is like to have a disability and its effects within an educational setting and its implications when left unattended too

long.
Although having difficulties with attention that affected Joey’s life, especially within educational settings, it was beyond his control because of a potential high-incidence disability. The development of Joey, from struggling to get through a day of school to thriving while still having a disability, has shown how suitable accommodations and modifications to a student’s life can be beneficial. Joey’s disabilities were not triggered just by an academic setting or certain situations, but his home life was also a factor. Jack Ganto’s portrayal of a student with special needs is real and unfiltered, as to give a glimpse of how life really is for students with disabilities. With all these factors, Joey has served as an example to how the intersections of having disabilities, navigating academic and personal life, and figuring out the correct medications can create an unbalanced within a student’s life. As Joey Pigza said about the change he made throughout the story, “I never thought someone would ever point to me and say I gave them hope that someday their kid would be like me.” (Gantos 153)