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Life As We Know It: A Father, a Family, and an Exceptional Child
When Jamie Bérubé was born with Down syndrome in 1991, he was immediately subject to the
medical procedures, insurance guidelines, policies, and representations that surround every child our society
designates as disabled. In this wrenching yet ultimately inspiring book, Jamie's father, literary scholar Michael
Bérubé, describes not only the challenges of raising his son but...more
medical procedures, insurance guidelines, policies, and representations that surround every child our society
designates as disabled. In this wrenching yet ultimately inspiring book, Jamie's father, literary scholar Michael
Bérubé, describes not only the challenges of raising his son but...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
March 31st 1998
by Vintage
(first published 1996)
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Absolutely the best book about parenting a child with Down syndrome. So many books make these kids out to be super-human, like angels, sent from above. I'm fine with whatever your faith leads you to believe, but Michael's approach to people with disabilities as participating citizens is really refreshing. He has a very accessible writing style and infuses humour throughout. My son and Jamie are the same age and now that they're both in high school I think a sequel is long overdue.
Seems that most of my reviews respond to other reviews....
Currently, the only other review for this book refers to it as prone to "ranting, pontificating or just being condescending." Clearly the reviewer has Bérubé mixed up with David Horowitz, or perhaps the stable of writers at the National Review. Bérubé's prone to sarcasm, of course, but reading him and taking him to task for his sarcasm is akin to taking Smokey Robinson to task for plaintive smoothness. Sheesh. Know...more
Currently, the only other review for this book refers to it as prone to "ranting, pontificating or just being condescending." Clearly the reviewer has Bérubé mixed up with David Horowitz, or perhaps the stable of writers at the National Review. Bérubé's prone to sarcasm, of course, but reading him and taking him to task for his sarcasm is akin to taking Smokey Robinson to task for plaintive smoothness. Sheesh. Know...more
Life As We Know It: A Father, A Family, and an Exceptional Child is part memoir, part philosophical reflection part social and political commentary: the curious academic genre known as “autocritography.” For Michael Berube, a young academic at the time his youngest son Jamie was born with Down syndrome, this book grapples with how the theories that shape his academic work also inform his personal life. Evolution and postmodern philosophy lead Berube to reject the notion that human beings are i...more
As I told the author (who is, admittedly, one of my all time favorite professors): I enjoyed this book when I first read it, as a twentysomething with no clear plans to ever have children. But now, as the mother of two children, both exceptional in their own ways, I recognize this not just as an excellent exploration of the philosophical issues surrounding the rights of children with Down Syndrome, but also a powerful narrative that reflects the experiences of children and parents in many disti...more
An English professor at University of Illinois (now he's at University of Pennslyvania) married to the same, have a son with Down Syndrome. This is a review of many of the books and popular press on the subject, his opinions on abortion, and how that relates to a Down diagnosis, which he discusses for quite awhile, and views of critical thought on difference, on Foucalt, on postmodernism, on special education law. It's well- written and immediate, reads fast and according to an interview Berube ...more
Berube, a literature scholar, writes about becoming the father of a son with Down Syndrome. Part narrative, part philosophical, ethical, moral discourse about the issues that arise from perceived choices we make about raising children with disabilities. Worth re-visiting some of the philosophical issues, with reference books on deck to help illuminate his brief discussions of various issues. Useful as part of a literature collection revealing the broad spectrum of perspectives on parenting, sc...more
I was pretty disappointed with this. I felt it was going to be a father's reflections on raising a son with Down Syndrome. While there were moments and stories that really impacted me because I could relate to them in my own experience or anticipate them in my future, I wanted this for the whole book. Instead, Berube uses this as an opportunity to engage in persuasion regarding political philosophy and policy. Interesting and important though it may be, it wasn't what I was looking for. And...more
ok... i hate to do this. i usually don't. but i just can't finish this book. i am actually having a feeling of dread everytime i go to read it.
i really enjoy the parts where he talks about his son and their family but there are many, many parts where he moves into heavy political and social commentary/analysis. don't get me wrong... i think the things he is writing about (abortion, health care, etc.) are extremely important and must be addressed... but to be frank... he often sounds...more
i really enjoy the parts where he talks about his son and their family but there are many, many parts where he moves into heavy political and social commentary/analysis. don't get me wrong... i think the things he is writing about (abortion, health care, etc.) are extremely important and must be addressed... but to be frank... he often sounds...more
True story of life with a Down Syndrome Child. Good but about half of the book was the author philosophizing about the government and education. Good but I was hoping for more details about the family. This was written in 1996 and Jamie would be nearly 20 now. I am wondering how he is doing but can't find any sequel.
For school. This was for a book group we had to do as part of our class. I chose it because I thought it would be more about what it's like for a parent of a child with down syndrome. Unfortunately, that was just a very small part. The rest of the book was very political and I didn't care for it at all.
I don't know what to classify this as...it's part memoir, part history of special education, half philosophical musings. Not what I expected it to be. I had thought it would be something of a memoir, with a parent's look at the special ed system, but it was less memoir and much more musings on systems of all sorts--from health care to language to inclusion to altruism. By the end, I just couldn't take any more philosophy--I need something more tangible just now. But it was still an interesti...more
Recommended by Middlebrow, as many books here have been. A wonderful combination of theory and life.
This book is about a literary critic whose son has Down Syndrome.
Powerful and honest and heartfelt!
Jenny
added it
For Interim this year . . .
This is an easily readable, snappily written (sometimes annoyingly so) memoir by an English professor whose younger son has Down Syndrome. It's smart and well-observed and has a particularly thoughtful discussion about abortion and prenatal testing. There are plenty of touching moments -- including the son's various hard-fought developmental milestones and the father's inability to remember parts of the traumatic immediate aftermath of his son's diagnosis -- but sometimes it feels a bit too chee...more
One of the better things I've read about Down syndrome. It gets a little academic at times (especially when he gets into philosophers), but overall a good read and one I'd recommend.
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