The current issue of Horn Book Magazine has a review of Sy Montgomery's Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World. While the book's title makes me cringe a little (some people with autism don't consider it a disability, which means it doesn't require embracing; and for those with autism or something else they do consider a disability, why must we always "embrace" our disabilities?), I haven't read the book so I have no big opinion about the review. However, something struck me in the land between these two sentences from the review:
"Because of this, Montgomery's book not only tells the powerful story of one amazing woman's life journey, but also has the potential to help readers understand autistic people and animals. An appendix includes Grandin's advice for kids on the autism spectrum, as well as a selected bibliography and list of resources."
Those two sentences are right smack next to each other. The latter one informs us that Grandin's own advice to kids on the autism spectrum is included in the book. Why does the former one silently define "readers" as people without autism?
-
- Rebecca Rabinowitz (
diceytillerman) wrote,