Life as Jamie Knows It: An Exceptional Child Grows Up

An inspiring family scrapbook offering hopeful reinforcement for parents in similar situations.”—Kirkus Reviews“Bérubé succeeds warmly at humanizing his son.”—Booklist“In brilliantly illuminating prose, Michael Bérubé’s joyful and heartfelt book about his son, Jamie, describes with grace and passion the humanity that we all share, no matter how many chromosomes we possess.”—Marianne Leone, author of Jesse: A Mother’s Story“Twenty years after Life as We Know It—his groundbreaking memoir of raising a son with Down syndrome&mdash

Far more than the story of an exceptional child growing up to be “big,” Life as Jamie Knows It challenges us to rethink how we approach disability and is a passionate call for moving toward a more just, more inclusive society.From the Hardcover edition.. The story of Jamie Bérubé’s journey to adulthood and a meditation on disability in American lifePublished in 1996, Life as We Know It introduced Jamie Bérubé to the world as a sweet, bright, gregarious little boy who loves the Beatles, pizza, and making lists. As Jamie matures, his parents acknowledge his entitlement to a personal sense of independence, whether that means riding the bus home from work on his own, taking himself to a Yankees game, or deciding which parts of his story are solely his to share.With a combination of stirring memoir and sharp intellectual inquiry, Bérubé tangles with bioethicists, politicians, philosophers, and anyone else who sees disability as an impediment to a life worth living. When he is asked in his preschool class what he would like to be when he grows up, he responds with one word: big. Writing as both a disability studies scholar and a father, he follows Jamie t

A thoroughly delightful and deep reflection on life with a A thoroughly delightful and deep reflection on life with a marvelous young man, Jaime. Also a pleasure to read, always full of surprises that shatter stereotypes about people with cognitive disabilities. Berube has done it again--written the definitive parent-of-a-disabled-(this time adult)-child book.. Sometimes Life's Lessons Aren't Learned in the Classroom! Professor Michael Berube and his wife, Janet, are both well-known scholars and college professors. Apart from their professional accomplishments, their younger son, Jamie, has Down Syndrome. Michael Berube has become a parent and activist for exceptional children and adults. Jamie Berube is a remarkable young man who happens to have Down Syndrome and the Berubes don't dwell on his situation.In this short book, there are chapters such as "Reintroducing Jamie Berube;" "His Brother's Keeper;" "To His Health;" "Brainstorming;" "On The Fields of Play;" "School/Work;. Growing up with Down Syndrome In this book Professor Michael Berube discusses his son, Jamie's, coming of age. Jamie has Down Syndrome, and Berube discusses how Jamie, now in his twenties, has met the challenges of growing up. Berube focuses on a variety of topics: health, relationships, sports, school, to talk about the ways a young man with Down Syndrome can thrive. There's a great deal in this book about the topics you would expect in a memoir about parenting adolescents (parental anguish when Jamie and his cousin wanted to take the New York City subway on their own for the first time),

The author of ten books, including The Secret Life of Stories: From Don Quixote to Harry Potter, How Understanding Intellectual Disability Transforms the Way We Read, he lives with his family in State College, Pennsylvania.From the Hardcover edition.. Michael Bérubé is the Edwin Erle Sparks Prof