Tuesday Blog: Week Ten

This week I continued reading the book Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig. This book follows the main character Ginny who suffers with an autism spectrum disorder. The book is written as Ginny herself is keeping a journal or a diary and she talks about her everyday life. The book is written with all the details that Ginny remembers from her day. As a child, the police forcibly removed Ginny from her home because of  her abusive birth mother, Gloria. Now that Ginny is fourteen years old, and in her fourth home, Ginny is still attempting to find her mother.

Quote:
"So right now I am in room five.. with all the other special kids. Because I have 'autism and developmental disabilities.'" (Ludwig 45)

Ginny who has always been belittled by her peers and even her own birth mother feels limited by her disability as if it defines who she is as a person. Ginny is constantly reminded of her disability because of the 'special' treatment she receives and the way she is separated into groups with as Ginny says "all the special kids". Being treated this way enforces the barriers between Ginny and other neurotypical children. Being constantly treated as different had greatly effected Ginny into perceiving her self as less than other children. This is evident in the way she uses quotes around ‘autism and developmental disabilities’. Ginny does not see her self as different, and she also does not define herself by her autism but that is the way others define her. So by quoting what others define her by she shows how it can be hard to separate the person from their disability and to not let someone’s limitations define them. 

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34078013-ginny-moon

The way Ginny is defined by the labels placed on her, I have also noticed a similar thing I everyday life. People are constantly being judged or being judgmental. Once someone passes judgement on you it tends to stick as a defining factor as to who you are. Although often inaccurate these things can sometimes alter how the person views them self and be damaging to ones self image and confidence. Ginny is much like any other person who feels like they are defined by the labels placed on them weather they be true or not. So no matter whether someone is nuerotypical or not they can still be defined by the labels put on them. 

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-no-label-movement