Guest Blog: ‘Exile’ from “Redefining Normal”
UCPLA-affiliated author Paul Nankivell is back to celebrate National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month with a special post: an excerpt from his debut novel “Redefining Normal“.
Exile
As Alan was sitting outside his 10th grade English class, on a cold winter’s morning, the young sophomore wondered about the circumstances that had sealed his fate. His classmates were being administered their exam within the cozy confines of an environmentally controlled 78° classroom while he was exiled to take his exam in the elements. His note-taker, Brad, was at his side taking dictation. Since Alan’s Cerebral Palsy affected his fine motor skills, he could not hold a pen. As a result, he had to rely on student volunteer note takers for both notes and exams.
Under normal circumstances on an exam day Alan and Brad would use an unused classroom. However, these were not normal circumstances. Alan was the only full inclusion student at the rural high school. While most of the teachers were open and accepting of him, there were a few who had expressed reservations about whether a disabled student could successfully compete or even belonged in a regular school setting. Alan’s English teacher, Mrs. Anderson, had become increasingly suspicious about the “A’s”’ he was getting on the exams. Moreover, there was nothing to indicate Alan’s predilection to do well on exams other than homework, since he had never answered one question in class. This disparity wasn’t due to Alan’s lack of knowledge or preparation, but simply a fear of having his speech dysfunction laid bare to the world. To illustrate, at the time, if one had offered Alan a date with the prom queen and her court plus a pajama party in exchange for answering one question in class, he would’ve blushed and smiled but politely declined with a shake of the head.
So what was Mrs. Anderson to do? She had strong suspicions that Brad had been the one who was actually taking the tests! On the other hand, she had to wonder if a previously hidden bias had crept into her analysis. After all she didn’t have any hard evidence to support her hypothesis. Although Mrs. Anderson didn’t want to directly accuse anyone of wrongdoing, she still had to find out if there were any improprieties. Finally, she devised a plan that would remove any doubt from her mind about the validity of Alan’s exam scores.
The next day Alan and Brad entered the class, walked up to Mrs. Anderson’s desk, waiting to be handed the exam so that they could proceed to an empty room. However, on this day she had a surprise in store. When she handed the exam to Brad, Alan and Brad began heading outside. However, before the duo could reach the door Mrs. Anderson ordered them to halt. She then informed Alan that today he would be taking the exam in class. After this stunning announcement, she instructed the rest of the class to form their desks in a horseshoe formation leaving the front center of the room open. She then directed Alan and Brad to occupy the newly created open space.
At first Alan’s reaction to this sudden turn of events was fear. He thought to himself ‘How can I possibly talk in class? There are so many people around; my nerves won’t let my jaw relax’. Fear transformed into anxiety as he delved deeper into the phobia that prevented him from being on the school’s forensic team. ‘They’ll make fun of me’ he thought, further analyzing the situation. His thoughts then turned to Mrs. Anderson. Why was she doing this to him? What had he done to perpetuate such unfair persecution? Then just as suddenly, he had an angry thought ‘She doesn’t trust me’ he mused ‘thinks I’m cheating, well if she wants proof, I’m not, she’ll get it!’
Alan’s anger nearly consumed him now. The normally shy and self-conscious young man was bound and determined to put his oppressor in her place! He glanced at the makeup of the exam of: 50 multiple choice, 10 fill in the blanks, 1 essay, he surmised that he knew most of the questions off the top of his head. As she passed out the tests, he listened intently to make sure he understood all instructions for the exam. Then, as the teacher sat down in front of the class and said “begin”, she also motioned for him to commence as well. He gave Brad a blank stare, shrugged his shoulders and sighed dismissively at her. Alan knew what he was about to do entailed a strategy which could embarrass and potentially estrange Mrs. Anderson; however, he felt that any deviation from the plan would in someway compromise his standing at the school.
The first part of the exam was multiple-choice. As Alan answered the first question, he maintained his normal volume, “Number 1: A, Number 2: D”, after he answered the second question the rest of the class caught on. The horseshoe formation around Alan became tighter as the class hung on every syllable he uttered. Seeing his plan beginning to work and sensing Mrs. Anderson would pull the plug on her experiment any time now, Alan fired off the next 15 answers in rapid fire succession: “C, E, E, A, D, D, C, A, A, A, A, C, B, E, B.”. Finally, Mrs. Anderson had seen enough and did not want her exam to be further compromised, she stood suddenly and shouted at the top of her lungs “STOP! STOP! FOR GOD’S SAKE STOP!” With that abrupt and hysterical diatribe, the class collectively froze in their tracks. Pencils hit the floor as students were shocked by the normally serene teacher’s violent outburst.
When Mrs. Anderson finally regained her composure, she smiled at Alan and quietly instructed both Alan and Brad to find an empty room to take the rest of the exam. Alan inserted however that exam rooms had to be reserved a day ahead of time. Consequently, finding an empty classroom at this late hour was an absolute impossibility! Unequivocally in the throes of a dilemma, she wracked her brain for a way for Alan to resume taking the exam. She fully appreciated the gravity of her predicament; any dalliance would further damage her reputation not only in the eyes of the class but also in the eyes of her peers as well. Finally, she turned to Alan with a wry grin and suggested that he take the exam outside against the wall, with a barely audible chuckle Alan said “Sure”.
For the remainder of the semester, Alan’s homework was often used as a sample of what Mrs. Anderson considered to be correct implementation of the lesson plan. As for Alan’s relationship with Mrs. Anderson, let’s put it this way, by the end of the semester he actually felt comfortable enough to answer questions that required only one word. Fortunately, for all parties involved, this incident became a catalyst for improved teacher-student relations rather than an instrument to further distrust and disharmonious attitudes towards full inclusion students at Fairlawn High.
“Redefining Normal” by Paul Nankivell is available on Amazon.
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Paul Nankivell was born in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The difficult circumstances of his birth caused him to have a brain hemorrhage. Doctors deemed his prognosis so dire that they didn’t think he would survive the first few weeks of life. And, if he did, he would be in a permanent vegetative state. But, he overcame those odds. Now, although he has to use a motorized wheelchair, due to cerebral palsy–which in Paul’s case–causes severe balance and coordination issues, he’s well above average intellectually. At age 27, he proved the doctors wrong by earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University Northridge–(C.S.U.N.)–in 1991. His debut novel, Redefining Normal, is based on his experiences as one of the first physically challenged children to mainstream into “regular schools.” Today, Paul lives in Ventura County California where he’s actively participated in accessibility rights for physically challenged people.