Themes

Life as We Know It seemed to take a more accessible voice in the second half of our reading. It also brought out the theme of the working parent/writer. Although Berube was not writing this book at the time, he was still teaching, grading etc. His familial obligations caused him to “[learn] to work extremely quickly in short bursts, never knowing when I would next be interrupted…” (145). We saw this theme in other works, but never from the point of view of a father. From this book I gain the appreciation of the father as a forefront parent rather than one in the background as he so often has been portrayed. This is probably in part due to the fact that we have mostly been reading works by women. In reading Berube, I can’t help but compare his style to someone like Bernstein. Bernstein’s work was real on such an emotional level. Through her language she not only evokes empathy, but she also calls for a change in medical funding for the retarded or disabled. Berube, however is not as sentimental in his call for change, rather he relies more on facts. However, Berube still touches on the emotional level, but in a very different manner. Where Bernstein was more empathetic, Berube’s tone was more ‘silly.’ This word is not necessarily the right one; however, in a way this silly tone lends itself to the realness of Jaime. I think Berube’s main point throughout this entire book is that Jaime is human, just like everyone else. In relating Jaime’s developmental stories, (for exp. his first word, ‘oops’) Berube points out that the Jaime understands, but is just slow to communicate. The fact that Jaime’s communication skills and physical disabilities are aided by not only his interaction with his family, but also of ‘normal’ classmates, only adds to the statement that Jaime is no less human than anyone else.
Another theme that we have seen which Berube touches on is sitters/nannies. But where most other authors touched on the difficulty of attaining a nanny, Berube looked at the nanny from a different perspective. First and foremost, the most interesting thing about the Special Sitter Class was that Berube was attending it for himself; i.e. to learn how to take care of his own child. I admire him in this aspect, as he yet again takes on an immediate and caring father role. In the meantime he still manages to become more aware of the type of help he needs and the price (possible abuse) with which it comes as well as what it pays ($5-6/hr).
Communication is another important theme. Most of the other works we have read dealt with the verbal communication between adults and government, mothers and other mothers etc. In Life as We Know It some of these communication interactions occur, but the reader is introduced to a new non-verbal form i.e. sign language. Sign language is not a new concept, but it was interesting to note the different connotations behind it. Some people, for instance saw signing as Native American Indian ‘speech,’ while others saw it as a prevention of the ability to talk. Since communication is that much harder for Down Syndrome children, I personally, and Berube would probably agree, take the ability to sign as a form of intelligence.