Post 7: Wonder

Despite the physical differences, there are not that many that are actually in place.

I read Wonder for book four. The center of this story is about August, a fifth grader who is entering his first public school. Auggie stands out from the other 10 year olds. August has a facial deformity that he’s had since birth; “mandibulofacial dysostosis”( or the Treacher Collins syndrome).

A little about this deformity and how it has effected August is that his ears are little, hardly there, his hearing is deteriorating and his eyes lie halfway down his face with no eyelashes or eyebrows, he has no cheekbones and had to have part of his hip implanted to his face for him to have a chin, which would keep August from drooling and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

August had a very rough start to his first time attending a public school, even though Mr. Tushman had three students come in over summer to tour August around the school and to befriend him, which doesn’t exactly turn how expected. Julian Albans turns to be a huge bully who causes many issues with Auggie’s life. Charlotte doesn’t speak to August in school as she is too caught up in school to focus on anything other. Finally, Jack Will. In the beginning I liked Jack’s character a lot. Jack spoke and sat by August in all the classes they shared, and eventually the two considered each other to be friends. That is, until Halloween when Jack Will tells Julian he would commit suicide if his face looked as Augusts’, and August overhears.

August ventures through the school year with tears and smiles and friends to no friends and A+ with a friend at lunch to receiving an award and no more bullies. August deals with bullies everywhere he goes, but by the end of the school year Julian is switching to a different school and the students who had followed Julian’s footsteps upon being rude have taken noticed to how normal August actually is, and they begin to stand up for Auggie on field trips and don’t mind if they touch his hand; August is no longer seen as the boy with the “Plague,” the boy with a birth defect who seems like he was in a fire. August is a normal school boy when their fifth grade graduation comes.

As I read this book, I would think Wow, I understand August, fore I have a brother who has cerebral palsy and I’ve dealt with the reactions and everything that comes with a syndrome or special needs, but when it all comes down to it, I don’t relate to August. No matter what we do or what event we encounter, we all experience them differently. I can’t put myself in August Pullman’s shoes because I don’t know what it’s like, and I never will. My brother has the opportunity to speak normally and can be capable of typical actions in the future, but no matter how many plastic surgeries August goes through, his face will still be different than another’s.

This book taught me a lot on how to view others, especially in a school as diverse has Mason High School. We will always judge others and be surprised by the differences we face, but we can help how we react and treat the other person. We can be nice to them and give them a friend; they may have never had a true friend before in their life. We could invite them to parties; they may have never attended a social gathering outside of family events. We could stand up for them. Humans, let alone children will always have to deal with bullies, it’s something we can’t control, but we can control whether we react or don’t react to the situation. If you are to keep quiet in the event of something, you are enforcing the opposing side. If we are to speak up and take a stand, we are supporting what we stand for.

   Treacher Collins syndrome is something that affects about 1 in 50,000 people. The syndrome affects the bone development and tissues of the face. This syndrome is developed from a mutations of the genes TCOFI and POLRID and 60% of those diagnosed with Treacher Collins have no history of a disability in their family. Although this is a rare "autosomal dominant congenital" disorder, this disorder is still present and still affecting the lives of children.

"There's always more to a person than what there appears."










Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treacher_Collins_syndrome
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/treacher-collins-syndrome
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/t/treacher_collins_syndrome/stats.htm