Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - (Page 12) FURTHERREADING • Review by Nancy Henderson This month, we feature a memoir about the fragility of life and the power of love. Melanie: Bird With a Broken Wing By Beth Harry the birth of her daughter in 1975, Beth Harry had experienced few challenges in her previously sheltered life. Before this, the author admits, she was popular, smart, and emotionally strong. Then Melanie emerged, a fragile infant with limited motor skills, poor eye control, an inability to swallow and digest food on her own, and other severe challenges related to her cerebral palsy. As with other memoirs about children with disabilities, this one begins with the author sensing that something is wrong with her baby. The brevity of the first chapter, however, makes it more powerful than most. In fact, the shortness of the chapters greatly enhances the book’s overall impact. So does Harry’s mature, lyrical style, which avoids clichés and well-worn phrases that tend to dominate the prose of an amateur. Her book reads more like a novel than a work of non-fiction, as illustrated in her reaction to the doctor’s announcement that Melanie had brain damage. “I cannot now imagine what words filled those minutes but vividly recall four or five points that, with the searing pain of a firebrand, scorched their way into my consciousness.” Even her more straightforward statements—“I can think of no experience more disappointing than returning home empty-handed after giving birth to a baby,” and, “You are beautiful but if you’re going to hang around and give me trouble, I’d rather you died”—have a way of jolting the reader, page after page. Melanie gets her nickname, “Little Bird,” from her early infant noises, such as the “tiny hooting sound one might expect from a bird,” all made through the tightly-pursed lips of a child with no verbal skills. The details in Harry’s story are painfully wrenching and often quite riveting despite the familiarity of her ordeal, which many families of children with disabilities will understand. Her dreams are particularly descriptive and telling. In one, a small lizard turns into a crocodile, revealing the author’s fears. After she analyzes the nightmare, she lets go of her nervousness about holding three-week-old Melanie and takes the infant in her arms without qualms for the first time. Until Melanie: Bird With a Broken Wing is a book about acceptance. In it, Harry learns to not only accept her daughter, challenges and all, but also herself and her own brokenness. Her expressions of emotional vulnerability are made more intense and believable because of her pragmatic, analytical, and non-sentimental approach to problem-solving. And her poems are touching and raw: Little girl/you blew my world apart/when you appeared/defying/with your intense fragility/my clean-cut classic image/of motherhood. The Jamaican-born author undoubtedly brings a unique perspective to her current job as professor of special education at the University of Miami. She begins every course she teaches with a personal introduction that includes the lessons she learned from Melanie. “The biggest thing I try to impart to students,” Harry told a reporter for The Miami Herald, “is respect for parents and a willingness to understand that they have no idea what the parents are going through.” This is, above all, a story about a mother’s unwavering love for her child and the excitement she feels about every accomplishment, no matter how tiny. And Melanie does take small steps, although not literally, toward better communication and a more genuine connection with her parents and caregivers. There are breakthroughs along the way—a sudden reach for a hairbrush, the semi-successful night feedings, the occasional reprieves from the near-relentless swallowing difficulties Melanie can’t seem to overcome—and plenty of human and medical insights EP readers will welcome. Even with all the setbacks, this little girl was a fighter with much to share. Sadly, Melanie did not live to see her sixth birthday. The final part of the book gives a glimpse of Harry’s grief, though the author chooses not to linger on this aspect of her daughter’s story. This wonderful book lay dormant for 27 years—Harry started it shortly after Melanie’s birth and finished it before the first anniversary of her death—before being published in late 2008, yet it is hardly outdated. Today’s readers will readily identify with Melanie, a story that is well worth the wait. Melanie: Bird With a Broken Wing is self-published and available at www.Xlibris.com. All proceeds go to the Immortelle Centre in Trinidad, a non-profit school for people with special needs. The author founded the center during her 12 years as a resident in that country. • Nancy Henderson, an EP contributing editor, is an award-winning writer whose articles have appeared in Smithsonian, The New York Times, Parade, US Airways magazine and many other publications. She is the author of Able! How One Company’s Extraordinary Workforce Changed the Way We Look at Disability Today (BenBella Books), which was reissued in July 2008 with updates and endorsements from top business executives and disability advocates. Nancy often writes about disability issues and people who are making a difference through their work. 12 August 2009 • EP MAGAZINE/www.eparent.com http://www.Xlibris.com http://www.eparent.com Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Exceptional Parent - August 2009 Exceptional Parent - August 2009 Contents Ancora Imparo What's Happening Further Reading New Products 2009 Disability Awareness Night Schedule 2009 Models of Excellence in the Healthcare Profession Preterm Birth: How It Affected My Family Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children Federal Program Encourages Health Service Innovations on Developmental Disabilities Close Encounters of the Medical Kind Sitting on top of the World: One Physician's Journey to Success Raising a Noonan Syndrome Child When We Found Out Our Daughter Had CMT August is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month! Newborn Screening Saves Babies, One Foot at a Time Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study Evidence Based Humanity Must Be Part of the Equation Incontinence Education Series Part 7 Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions EP Bookstore Special Needs Alliance Specialcare AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry Organizational Spotlight Living with a Disability Exceptional Parent - August 2009 Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Exceptional Parent - August 2009 (Page Cover1) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Exceptional Parent - August 2009 (Page Cover2) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Exceptional Parent - August 2009 (Page 1) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 2) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 4) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 6) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 7) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 8) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 9) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - What's Happening (Page 10) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - What's Happening (Page 11) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Further Reading (Page 12) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Further Reading (Page 13) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - New Products (Page 14) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - New Products (Page 15) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - New Products (Page 16) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - 2009 Disability Awareness Night Schedule (Page 17) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - 2009 Models of Excellence in the Healthcare Profession (Page 18) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - 2009 Models of Excellence in the Healthcare Profession (Page 19) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Preterm Birth: How It Affected My Family (Page 20) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Preterm Birth: How It Affected My Family (Page 21) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 22) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 23) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 24) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 25) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Federal Program Encourages Health Service Innovations on Developmental Disabilities (Page 26) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Federal Program Encourages Health Service Innovations on Developmental Disabilities (Page 27) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 28) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 29) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 30) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 31) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Sitting on top of the World: One Physician's Journey to Success (Page 32) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Sitting on top of the World: One Physician's Journey to Success (Page 33) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Raising a Noonan Syndrome Child (Page 34) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Raising a Noonan Syndrome Child (Page 35) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - When We Found Out Our Daughter Had CMT (Page 36) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - When We Found Out Our Daughter Had CMT (Page 37) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - August is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month! (Page 38) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Newborn Screening Saves Babies, One Foot at a Time (Page 39) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 40) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 41) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 42) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 43) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Evidence Based Humanity Must Be Part of the Equation (Page 44) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Evidence Based Humanity Must Be Part of the Equation (Page 45) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Incontinence Education Series Part 7 (Page 46) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Incontinence Education Series Part 7 (Page 47) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Incontinence Education Series Part 7 (Page 48) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 (Page 49) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 (Page 50) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 (Page 51) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 52) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 53) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 54) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 55) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 56) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 57) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 58) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 59) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - EP Bookstore (Page 60) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - EP Bookstore (Page 61) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Special Needs Alliance (Page 62) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Special Needs Alliance (Page 63) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 64) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 65) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 66) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 67) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (Page 68) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (Page 69) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (Page 70) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Organizational Spotlight (Page 71) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Organizational Spotlight (Page 72) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Organizational Spotlight (Page 73) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Living with a Disability (Page 74) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Living with a Disability (Page Cover3) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Living with a Disability (Page Cover4) http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201009 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201008 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201007 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201006 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201005 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201004 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201003 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201002 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/2010rg http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200912 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200911 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200910 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200909 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200908 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200907 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200906 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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