Plankton Dreams: What I Learned in Special Ed - Softcover

Mukhopadhyay, Tito Rajarshi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1785420070 ISBN 13: 9781785420078

Publisher: Open Humanities Press, 2015

Synopsis

In Plankton Dreams, Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay crafts a proud, satiric style: the special ed student as literary troublemaker. "Mother had always taught me to learn from circumstance," he writes. "Here, the circumstance was humiliation, a particularly instructive teacher." "But I'm not complaining," he continues. "Humiliation, after all, made me a philosopher." For all of its comic effects, Plankton Dreams alerts readers to an alternative understanding of autism, an understanding that autistics themselves have been promoting for years. Frustrated by how most scientists investigate autism, Mukhopadhyay decides to investigate neurotypicality, treating his research subjects the way he himself was treated. Why shouldn't the autist study the neurotypical? This artful parody of scientific endeavor salvages dignity from a dark place. It also reveals a very talented writer. It is most certainly time to study the neurotypical-his or her relentless assumptions. Perhaps by doing so we may devise a more humble and hospitable society.

About this title

About the Author:

Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay was diagnosed in early childhood with severe or low functioning non-verbal autism. He communicates primarily through writing and has learned to develop his reading, writing, and thinking abilities. The national organization Autism Speaks sponsored Tito and his mother, Soma, to come to the United States so he could participate in scientific trials. Tito is now an accomplished writer. He lives in Austin, Texas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Open Humanities Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1785420070
• ISBN 13: 9781785420078
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 88