In this blog piece, I want to
talk about some mental health resources: a biography, and three non-fiction materials. Individuals and family members bring discussions about their victories and
struggles in life.
The first is a biography entitled “Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy
Daughter,” by Kate Clifford Larson. It outlines the life of Rosemary Kennedy,
the first child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, parents to former President, John
F. Kennedy. It was Joseph’s Kennedy’s dream and plans to have one of his sons
become president. When his oldest son,
Joseph Patrick Kennedy died in World War II, the responsibility came to John.
The book tells us when Rosemary was born, the nurses told Rose to hold her legs
together until the doctor arrived. This probably caused brain damage due to the
lack of oxygen. Hence, Rosemary was considered slow. The book demonstrated that she could hold a
conversation at some level. Though her
writing was simple and not grammatically correct she did get her point
across. Larson also shows that Joe and
Rose Kennedy worked diligently to get their oldest daughter to function at a
level acceptable within society. They
sent her to private schools, gave her tutors.
As I’ve read the book, it seems that Rosemary’s parents were obsessed
with marking sure she gave no shame to the family. As she grew into adulthood,
Rosemary became more rebellious and hard to handle. Doctors suggested to Joseph
Kennedy that an experimental brain lobotomy would cure Rosemary (p. 159).
Though it has long been told that Rose knew nothing about the procedure, Larson
explains that Kathleen, their third child investigated the medical
procedure. She told her mother that this
was not a procedure for them to have done on Rosemary. Her mother agreed after learning what her
daughter told her. Kathleen said, that
John White, a reported found through investigation that the cutting away tissue
from the frontal lobes may relieve violent rages and psychological and physical
pain, however “the results were ‘just not good’; he had seen for himself that
after the surgery patients ‘don’t worry so much, but they’re gone as a person,
just gone’” (p. 161). In 1941 her father authorized the procedure. Larson states that if Rose gave her opinion
about the procedure, Joseph did not listen; he authorized the lobotomy (p.
161). This procedure left Rosemary with
some handicaps and the mental capacity of a 2 year old. The parents hid
Rosemary away, made excuses until after the election of their son to the
Presidency. They then said that she was
mentally retarded, leaving out the truth.
After Rosemary’s father died in 1969 she began to be allowed to visit
the family home. This tragic and unnecessary situation changed the way her
brothers and sisters responded. It is credited with influencing Eunice to form
the Special Olympics. I was quite horrified by the actions of parents. I am
thankful that today we have parents and relatives of children who are working
hard to help our children succeed and function in society at the level they are
able. This is not an easy task. It takes hours, years and a life time of
committed love!
Another
book we are adding is written by a success story for a child with mental health or functioning challenges. Dr. Temple Grandin’s mother worked tirelessly to help Temple function with severe autism. She fought for her and our lives have been changed by her victories! Temple has written a book, “The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism & Asperger’s.” This book outlines early detection, educational issues, sensory, nonverbal and behavior issues, social functioning, medical and bio-medical considerations, cognition and brain research, as well as adult and employment discussion.
It looks to be easy to read, and informative.
The
next book is “My Autistic Awakening: Unlocking the Potential for a Life Well
Lived,” by Rachael Lee Harris. It’s about
Harris’ personal journey inside of autism.
She was “diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a type of high functioning
autism” (p. xiii). She is another success story. It did not come easy for her or her
family. Today, Rachael is a
psychotherapist specializing. . . in the
autism spectrum (front flap).
The last is “In A Different Key: The Story of Autism,” by John Donvan
and Caren Zucker. This book is committed to telling the historical
timeline of the recognition of autism beginning in the 1930’s until today.
If you have a passion for this subject, you will want to consider how
far we have come and then where we are and may be in a few years!
