Schuyler's Monster Analysis

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Schuyler’s Monster begins with a couple who learn that they are expecting a child. It is written from Schuylers’ fathers’ experience, Robert and his wife is Julie. The beginning was mostly about himself and built up how he had arrived to the point in his life where he was divorced once, and then remarried Julie years later and lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan where they learned they were expecting. Language Concerns Once Schuyler (pronounced SKY-LAR) was born, they thought everything about her was normal except for her having jaundice and that she needed to be treated. As the couple decides to move to New Haven, CT they visit a pediatrician named Dr. Simon. During a check-up, Dr. Simon asked Julie and Robert if Schuyler had been developing her …show more content…

Honestly, I was not surprised to read about this. This is something that happens often with parents with children with a disability because they tend to look outside of the marriage for comfort instead of looking for it in each other. They both blamed it on depression and even though these married issues arose on top of everything that was already going on, I found it admirable that they chose to separate and then they both realized that they shouldn’t be without Schuyler and without each other. Schuyler’s primary diagnosis was PDD which stands for pervasive developmental disorder. During this time, Schuyler was scheduled for an MRI. After the MRI, they finally had found her true diagnosis- the ‘monster’ that had been living in her head since birth. They finally had a diagnosis – bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria, an extremely rare neurological disorder that they later found out was genetic and was passed down from Roberts genes in Chicago at a Genetics Clinic. Dr. Dobyns further examined Schyulers’ MRI and said “From these scan, I’d estimate that anywhere from sixty to seventy-five percent of Schuyler’s brain is profoundly malfunctioned” (p. 174). They mentioned why this was the reason why she had difficulties with fine motor movements and why her speech was absent. This disorder was the reason why she was not able to communicate. As a future speech-language pathologist, I felt …show more content…

In a sense, I wasn’t surprised that they moved from place to place because they wanted to do everything that they could to help their daughter. I’d like to think that if I was in their shoes, I would have done the same. I felt sympathetic towards the parents because every time they would get more information, they felt like it was more and more their fault and internalized what was happening with their daughter. I also found it moving how honest Robert was about his frustrations when dealing with his everyday challenges with Schuyler. I don’t think it portrayed him in a bad light but in a realistic and truthful way, which I find respectable. Especially when he shared his note that he had written to Schuyler on the day of Christmas, 2004. That note was eye opening for readers and really made me think about what it must have been like to be in his

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