Positive images of disability

My wonderful mum

Through the eyes of autism

My wonderful mum

This article by Barbara Kolucki appeared in the online magazine Disability World, issue number 26, December 2004 (www.disabilityworld.org). She describes a UNICEF project, which resulted in the publication of the children’s book My wonderful mum.

In late 2004, UNICEF ran an early childhood development training event in the city of Hue, Vietnam.

Participants included representatives from health, education, water and sanitation, child protection, the media and the Vietnamese Women’s Union. Representatives of disability organisations were included as well as photographers, illustrators, poets and musicians. Participants received some training in the latest research on early child development and viewed media from around the world for and about infants and young children. They discussed if and how these could be adapted to a Vietnamese context.

Included in these media examples were presentations of children and adults with disabilities. Sometimes they were the focus of a story, sometimes they were not. Sometimes they needed help, sometimes they helped others. Sometimes their disability was visible and sometimes it was not.

An important topic of discussion was the importance of raising the self-confidence of care-givers of young children, and the impact this has on their relationship with their child. The most recent research in the field of early child development continues to confirm that the support given to the care-givers who are in greatest need – the poorest, the minority groups, care-givers with disability – can have the greatest impact. This means that programmes and media need to include and empower all care-givers, focus on their strengths, and give confidence as well as nurture competence.

Participants were divided into groups and asked to develop prototype indigenous media – either radio or television spots – or children’s books. They were asked to find real people, those who were the most disadvantaged, not to use make-up, to use colloquial speech and to be as simple and creative as possible.

The book group was asked to use photographs and to depict care and nurturing between parent and young child. They had to identify a care-giver and demonstrate ways that she/he cared for the child throughout the routine of the day in a loving and responsive way – even if they were very poor or disadvantaged in any way. They were asked to try to find a disabled parent willing to participate; not easy in a community where disability is not often, if ever, in the media. The result? My wonderful mum – a book for the rest of Vietnam to see.

Barbara Kolucki

Through the eyes of autism

Expecting Teryk is reviewed by Bonnie Auyeung, Doctoral Scientist, University of Cambridge, UK.

Dawn Prince-Hughes, author of Songs of the gorilla nation: my journey through autism, shares her experiences during the period just before the birth of her child. She considers the ways that being autistic might affect and enlighten her parenting – not only for herself but also for her child.

Expecting Teryk: an exceptional path to parenthood is an honest and intimate reflection of her life and path to parenthood. It is written in the form of a letter from a parent to her unborn son. She relays the hopes and dreams she has for her son, while consciously expressing her hopes to be a loving and attentive parent.

Expecting Teryk is seen through the eyes of autism as Prince-Hughes shares the unique way she sees and experiences the world. She describes her childhood and honestly relates her experiences as she sees them. Her writing is full of unique accounts of life described through all the senses including colour, textures and tastes. She recounts her experience of growing up and facing the difficulties of someone who is seen as different.

As an anthropologist, Prince-Hughes studies gorillas and she describes the many ways in which her relationships with her gorilla friends taught her about emotions and life. She also candidly narrates her experience of becoming a parent as part of a lesbian couple – from meeting her partner to the questions they ask about their readiness to become parents and the practical considerations of choosing a sperm donor.

Unique perspective

This book is filled with poetry and expressions of love that only a family can offer. She offers honest reflections of her worries and dreams and gives us a unique perspective of the world. She challenges everyday perspectives of what is the norm and provides enlightenment with a new and interesting perspective on what it is to be of one sex, autistic and a parent.

Prince-Hughes uses examples from nature to describe different forms of parenting which, in turn, help to relate her hopes and aspirations for her family. These anecdotes from nature enable readers to take a new perspective on what it is to be human and what it is to be a parent. She describes these in such a way that provides reassurance for those who have ever felt that they may not follow societal and cultural standards of the ‘typical path’ to parenthood.

This book is composed of freely and fluently expressed emotions of every kind – particularly love. Expecting Teryk is a rich and sumptuous work that speaks to the deeper realities and represents a unique viewpoint of experiences shared by all individuals who choose the path to parenthood.

Bonnie Auyeung

Expecting Teryk: an exceptional path to parenthood, by Dawn Prince-Hughes, 2005, Ohio: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press. ISBN 0 8040 1080 3. Price: £10