Schuyler’s Monster by Robert Rummel-Hudson
Why do I like reading true stories about children with mental or emotional handicaps? I don’t know, but usually I do. Schuyler’s Monster: A Father’s Journey with His Wordless Daughter was somehwat of an exception. Frankly, I didn’t think much of Schuyler’s Father. Although his devotion to his daughter is touching and his writing style is highly readable, he’s kind of a jerk and that really comes across.
Schuyler’s handicap is an unusual brain disorder that leaves her mute though, in her case at least, high functioning in other ways. She seems like a pleasant social girl and I hope we’ll hear something from her own pen somewhere down the road. It’s too early to tell how well she’ll learn to communicate using alternate devices but there’s reason for hope. And it’s great her father advocates for her so strongly. One just wishes he was perhaps not such a jackass about it.