Chapter 9

This chapter was split into 2 main parts, and they were definitely issues that were interesting and even hard to read about at times.

The first issue was a little more lighthearted: Santa Claus. Lori continued to talk about how she believed in Santa but her twin sister didn't, and asked if she was wrong for believing in him. The author discusses how she still has a hard time dealing with the topic of Santa Claus because there really is no 'good' answer to provide. I realized that if I were asked about Santa, I would feel the same way. If you say "no", you've destroyed dreams and a sentiment that makes others from all sorts of backgrounds really happy, especially around the holidays. If you say "yes", you're being dishonest. I really liked how it was handled in the book. Tomaso somewhat 'saved' Torey from having to answer, telling Lori that he still believed in Santa, and that there are things that many people, even adults, believe in that we never see. He then started talking about how he believed in Jesus and Mary, and prayed to them every night, but had never actually seen them. This was interesting to read about because it showed that through everything he had gone through, Tomaso still looked to people/things for faith. It was very touching.

The next part of the book was infuriating. Boo got hurt on the playground and had to be brought into the hospital. Torey and some other staff took met Boo's mother in the emergency room. When the doctor came to look at Boo, Torey had been the only person there. The doctor started getting frustrated when Boo would not respond to him. He even asked Torey if the child was 'psychotic'. When Torey said they were guessing he was autistic, the doctor started talking about 'what a waste' it was because Boo was a good-looking child. When Boo's mother came back into the room, the doctor and nurse put restraints on Boo, and started taking out a needle and thread. No anesthetics or anything. Boo's mother didn't say ANYTHING and just whimpered timidly. When Torey asked the doctor why he wasn't using anything he told her, "You know he doesn't really feel it. These people, they have no true feelings. Only what they imagine. No point in wasting good medicine on them." Well, Torey ended up getting kicked out of the room for getting so mad at the doctor, and reading this part made me really angry as well. It is amazing how students with disabilities used to be treated and I cannot imagine having to watch while that was being done to another human being.

I am very thankful that we have improved how we treat ALL of our students, and this chapter opened my eyes to the fact that they used to be treated basically like non-humans.