Out of My Mind (The Out of My Mind Series)

I work as a CNA at a facility for long term acute care of people with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. This book was left by the family in the room of a younger patient (teenager) who had to be supervised 1-on-1 at all times due to his injury. I have since heavily suggested it to many of my coworkers in healthcare and child care. It is a very simple read, but very moving and thought provoking even so. "Out of My Mind" is the story of a little girl who just wants to be able to be heard and seen. She has spastic quadriplegia and cerebral palsy, but a photographic memory. She remembers everything that she has ever heard or seen, but is able to say nothing. I would ask you to take a moment and contemplate what it would be like to be in that position. She is treated as a baby, an invalid, someone stupid and incompetent because she looses control of her muscles and can't behave as a "normal" child. Can you imagine having above average intelligence and memory, but everyone treats you as if you have the mental capacity of an 18 month old... and no way to correct them? This is the story of how she was able to develop the skills and be given the tools to make her voice heard. It is also a coming-of-age story. It's the story of her commentary on how people treat her, and her experiences being in "special" education classes, how she is able to see the beauty and wisdom in her classmates that the rest of the school has "thrown away" in the dingiest classrooms in the corner of the school. It's also the story of a 5th grade little girl's desire to be accepted just as she is. As someone who commonly works with TBIs, it's also a reminder of the proverbial "don't judge a book by its cover". I may be working with someone who is completely unresponsive, but it's impossible to know how much is actually being understood and comprehended. I have had coworkers who either treat unresponsive patients like nothing more than dolls or like idiots, and it always offends me. While this is a young adult book, it is definitely a book also important for adults to read. I would read this with an elementary-aged school child, but I would also read it with an adult group. It's a fast read - written as though by a very intelligent 5th grader - but the message is much more complex and powerful.

This book I read as a book club book and I am so glad that I did. I love how melody is such an inspiring person and I hope that anyone that reads this understands Melody's condition and how hard her life is.

Loved the story. Read it with my godson for his class. Would recommend the Disney movie based on it as well.

Reminiscent of 19th-century sentimental novels (minus the romance), Out of My Mind foregrounds a protagonist with cerebral palsy, Melody, a 5th-grader who struggles to express her nimble and perceptive mind because she cannot speak. Melody tells her story, which features many of the experiences of a typical eleven-year-old (dealing with unsympathetic teachers, fitting in at school, adjusting to the birth of a sibling) as well as struggles she endures because of her disability (cruel bullying from classmates, an inability to feed herself, lack of access, and overt ostracism). Narrated with optimism and persistent encouragement from her parents and other supportive adults, with a dollop of frustration and a smidgen of (potential) tragedy, this YA novel will help tweens and teens develop empathy and (we hope) learn how to treat those who are differently abled with kindness and dignity. Published in 2010, some of the technology (an integral element of the story) already seems dated fourteen years later. Nevertheless, this text’s heart is in the right place.

1- It is incredible how Melody has many skills even though she has a disability but she tries to do the best doesnt feel different from another child. 2- This book can be very helpful for teaching many people how to treat people with different kinds of disability and special for teachers that way how to educate their students and dont be discrimination with anyone. 3-This book makes me reexamine myself because most of the time we don't know how to approach and treat the people with disability and most of the time we forget they have feelings like us. 4-It was really sad when she did not reach the competition in Washington DC. It was terrible for her because that's her main goal. 5- This story motivated me to understand the real life and complex situations that have to cope with many persons with disability around the world 6- we can learn many things from this book but the most important is dont do any discrimination you must be respecful and polite all the time with the with disability even they have even they have different kinds of illness they are person with feelings like us. 7- This is the first time I have read this book about disability and read different kinds of books like Mangaria Mathai, which was about the environment and Jackie Robinson was about civil rights.was really totally different like disability. 8- The criticism of my side was that the end of the book was a little fiction history because it mixed some parts of the book with mystery and fiction scenes. 9-My best impression was Melody how smart she is and how hard she works to be understood by her family and friends just to express her emotion. 10- I like to recommend this book to teachers and students,it will be amazing to learn how real life is, for most of the people with disability and the complex situation to cope every day in their life. 11-I will give 5 stars for this book

Veio de acordo com o solicitado.

一気に読みました。面白かった！ 思いを言葉にして表せることの幸せを改めて教えてもらいました。 主人公が両親に I love you. と伝える場面では思わず涙が・・・。

Préparation de la rentrée scolaire

Out of My Mind is the story of a pre-teen girl, Melody. It is a first-person narrative mostly about what's going on inside her mind, hence the name. Melody was born with cerebral palsy. She cannot stand. When she sits, she has to be strapped to her chair to prevent her from tumbling down. She has problems chewing and swallowing food or even drinking water. And she cannot speak. When she tries to talk, “the words explode in her brain, but all that comes out are meaningless sounds and squeaks.” But Melody’s brain has developed normally. In fact, her intelligence is well above average and she is always eager to learn. She is also blessed with a photographic memory. Her most painful problem is that she has no way of communicating her knowledge, thoughts or emotions to anyone. As she writes, “I can say “uh” and “ah” pretty clearly, and, if I concentrate, sometimes I can squeeze out a “buh” or a “huh.” But that’s it.” Very few things can be more frustrating than this inability to express or communicate. But even her frustration she cannot express! When I read some of her passages describing how she needed to communicate but even someone like her mother who was one person who came closest to understanding her, would often fail to understand, I was reminded of a poem- The Eve of St Agnes by John Keats in which he wrote: “No uttered syllable, or, woe betide! But to her heart, her heart was voluble, Paining with eloquence her balmy side; As though a tongueless nightingale should swell Her throat in vain, and die, heart-stifled, in her dell.” When Melody’s helplessness overwhelms her, her arms and legs get all tight and “lash out like tree limbs in a storm.” She begins to screech and scream and jerk. She writes: “These things—I call them my “tornado explosions”—are pieces of me. All the stuff that does not work gets balled up and hyped up. I can’t stop, even though I want to, even though I know I’m freaking people out. I lose myself. It can get kinda ugly.” Melody does go to school. But there is a class for special needs children and she sits there. Feeling miserable because often she is treated as an imbecile because she drools, needs to be taken to the toilet by an attendant and doesn’t speak or even raise her hand. A teacher joins the school who introduces the concept of “inclusive periods” where for some sessions she sits in the same class as normal needs children. That is not an unmixed blessing either. As Melody writes, “But “inclusion” doesn’t mean I’m included in everything. I usually sit in the back of the room, going crazy because I know answers to things and can’t tell anybody. “What’s the definition of the word ‘dignity’?” one of my teachers asked a few days ago. Of course I knew, so I raised my hand, but the teacher didn’t notice the small movement I’m able to make. And even if she were to call on me, what then? I can’t very well yell out the answers. It’s really frustrating.” Because Melody does not speak, others just presume that she has nothing to say. As her classmate Claire once said, “I’m not trying to be mean—honest—but it just never occurred to me that Melody had thoughts in her head.” Many of us would have come across special needs people. While we do feel sympathy for them, I realised after reading this book that what such people need most is not our sympathy or even kindness; they need to be treated as just another person. As Melody’s mother once says, “A person is so much more than the name of a diagnosis on a chart!” No person’s illness should be treated as her identity. It’s a sad story but the book is very readable and also very educative.

Good