Dear Colleagues:

Please encourage accessibility advocates and publishers of well-written
books for children and young adults with such themes to nominate such books
for the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Awards.

Please see the [unfortunately] less-than-memorable URL:
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=awards&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=98284

----------------

Ellen Perlow
[log in to unmask]



>From: Linda Walling <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: EASI's Library Accessibility Discussion List
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: USC and the Curious Incident
>Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 09:11:31 -0400
>
>     I thought you'd be interested in knowing that the wonderful book, The
>Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is the book all freshmen at
>USC will read and discuss this fall. The following is an article from The
>State newspaper about the book. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend
>that you do so!  Linda
>Posted on Tue, Jul. 19, 2005
>
>USC hopes autism novel inspires freshmen
>
>By CLAUDIA SMITH BRINSON
>
>Columnist
>
>Across South Carolina, and here and there and elsewhere, about 3,600
>18-year-olds should be carrying around a little red book.
>
>The readers are USC's incoming freshmen. The book with the bright red cover
>is Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time."
>
>For the first time, all freshmen are participating in USC's First-Year
>Reading Experience. Before, participation was limited to several hundred
>students in the S.C. Honors College or University 101, the school's college
>introduction course.
>
>During summer orientation, each freshman is being handed a copy of Haddon's
>international best-seller. At 8:30 a.m. Aug. 15, all will gather in the
>Carolina Coliseum to talk about the adventures of Christopher John Francis
>Boone.
>
>But first, they will hear from Mary Meghan Martin, 20, a second-semester
>junior from Bothell, Wash., who is majoring in biology. Mary Martin's
>younger sister and two cousins are autistic, as is the narrator of Haddon's
>novel.
>
>Mary Martin's participation marks another first. Eleven years - and books -
>into the program, this is the first time a student will be the featured
>speaker at the student welcoming. Martin will share the stage with
>associate provost Karl Heider and English professor Ed Madden.
>
>When Dan Berman, USC's director of University 101, heard of Mary Martin's
>deep and personal connection to the subject matter of "The Curious
>Incident," he took the leap. "I know it will be inspiring for other
>students," he says.
>
>Mary Martin is still working on her speech. Right now, she has three
>versions. But in any version, she's a fierce advocate for her sister,
>Kristen Martin, and "The Curious Incident."
>
>She sees an opportunity to dispel stereotypes: "Most books or movies about
>autism show extreme cases, like in 'Rain Man.' ''
>
>She sees an opportunity to better describe autism, a neurological disorder
>affecting 1.5 million American children and adults. Autism is described as
>a spectrum disorder because it affects individuals in a variety of ways, at
>a variety of levels, from severe mental disability to extreme intellectual
>or artistic gifts.
>
>Most people with autism do experience difficulties communicating,
>socializing and dealing with change. Christopher explains, "... when I am
>in a new place, because I see everything, it is like when a computer is
>doing too many things at the same time and the central processor unit is
>blocked up and there isn't any space left to think about other things."
>
>In Mary Martin's family, one cousin is classically autistic. Another, like
>the narrator of "The Curious Incident," has Asperger syndrome, sometimes
>described as high-functioning autism. Kristin Martin's diagnosis is
>PDD-NOS, which stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise
>Specified.
>
>Kristin Martin, 18, also has Turner syndrome, which delays puberty and
>inhibits growth. She is deaf and mentally disabled.
>
>"My first memories are of her in the hospital," Mary Martin says. "We
>didn't expect her to live past her first birthday, so every year is a shock
>and amazing and wonderful.
>
>"Of course there were times I didn't understand what was going on and
>wanted her to be normal. But I've learned a lot from her. She has always
>been a blessing, except for a few years in elementary school, when I
>thought, 'Oh, my gosh, I have a sister who is handicapped.' ''
>
>Kristin Martin has shaped not only her big sister's past but her future.
>Mary Martin names handicapped children her passion and hopes to earn both a
>medical degree and a Ph.D. to combine research and teaching in that area.
>
>Mary Martin already has practice, attending medical appointments, adding
>her point of view at meetings about her sister's public-school education.
>
>"My family, the way we get things to work is we're all involved," she
>explains. Her father is a senior systems administrator with a
>pharmaceutical company who goes to work before dawn so he can be home in
>the afternoon. Her mother works at home for Hewlett-Packard.
>
>Among their most important offerings is "regulating life so there's a
>constant balance," Mary Martin says. "I am absolutely awed by my parents
>and how much they do."
>
>Much is needed, she notes. "Like any little sister, my little sister hugs
>you, laughs and plays - but on her terms. If you introduce her to a new
>situation or a new person, and she wasn't prepared, she will go into a
>temper tantrum."
>
>Mary Martin particularly likes how "The Curious Incident" depicts the
>stress families endure. She offers as a personal example a Christmas Day
>spent in the emergency room. The Martins had visited relatives; Kristen
>Martin, unable to handle the variety, threw daily tantrums, needing medical
>assistance to stop.
>
>This is the sort of thing, Mary Martin notes, that estranges relatives,
>ends marriages, results in violent responses. "The Curious Incident"
>tackles just such problems in a tender and surprising way.
>
>"The best thing about the book is it's fictional," Mary Martin says. "If it
>were nonfiction, you wouldn't get the whole story" because real people
>wouldn't tell how tough it actually gets.
>
>Berman notes "The Curious Incident" is difficult to put down. "It's
>deceptively simple but really loaded with powerful issues."
>
>He says expanding the First-Year Reading Experience should challenge
>students to do "something academic during the summer."
>
>He reflects on the book's quality, as well as the persistently upbeat Mary
>Martin, and adds, "The only thing I'm worried about is: How do we follow
>this up?"
>
>For more information about the First-Year Reading Experience and a reader's
>discussion guide, go to www.sc.edu/univ101.
>
>(c) 2005 The State and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
>
>http://www.thestate.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Linda L. Walling
>Columbia, SC
>803/779-4127
>http://www.libsci.sc.edu/facst/lw.htm
>
>"Our choices are always made in the
>context of the stories we tell." --Alan Jones

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