Out of My Mind

By Zahra S. Ingersoll

Has anyone heard of Cerebral Palsy? If so, do you know what it is?

Cerebral Palsy is a congenital disorder of movement, muscle, tone or posture. It is caused by abnormal development in the brain, usually occurring before birth. There are varying degrees of Cerebral Palsy. It effects each person differently. From mild, to extreme or severe. Severe would be the individual can’t walk, talk, feed themselves, bathe themselves, pretty much be dependent on a caregiver for the rest of their lives. However, a person with a severe case of this can still be very smart. They just may not be able to verbally communicate.

Out of My Mind is a movie on Disney+ about a girl named Melody Brooks who is born with Cerebral Palsy. She is in a wheelchair, can’t speak, or walk. But she is extremely bright. She is in the 6th grade but from the time she started school till the 6th grade, Melody has been in the same Special Education class with the same teacher. She is just like any typical 6th grader who wants to have friends, kiss a boy, just live a “normal” young girl life. Like most parents with children who have special needs, hers unwittingly try to coddle/shelter her from the evils of the world. But Melody just wants to be like everyone else. She wants to be in a mainstream classroom.

Melody meets a woman who attempts to make this happen for her. This woman tells Melody that she is starting this program where kids from special ed can be integrated into mainstream classrooms. She is like an advocate for people with special needs. At her IEP meeting (individualized educational program; these are typically for people who are in Special Ed. classes) this woman brings up the idea that she’d like to integrate Melody into the mainstream classroom one day out of the week. At these types of meetings it’s usually the school counselor, the special ed teacher, and a few other faculty members. Along with the individual’s parents. They usually discuss how the student is doing academics wise, and discuss ways to hopefully improve their learning. When she brings this up there is a lot of hesitation on the faculties part. You get the sense that they believe she isn’t “smart enough” or “capable” enough to succeed in a mainstream classroom. Her parent’s kind of have differing views as well. Her mom is a little hesitant (I think it’s more worry for her daughter that she will be made fun of). Her dad is all for giving her a chance to prove herself. He gets upset at the ones who are insinuating she is “too dumb” due to her having Cerebral Palsy that he gets really upset. The woman who is trying to advocate for her is trying to show them that this would be good for her.

After some discussion her parents agree to allow Melody to do it. Due to the fact that she can’t speak, she uses these laminated cards with all kinds of words, expressions on it. She just points to whatever she wants to say. Eventually her parents are able to get insurance to approve a top-of-the-line device that can speak for her.

Kids right away are cruel to her. Making comments, snide remarks. But she doesn’t let it bother her. Even the teacher is not very kind or welcoming to her. At some point, she starts to make friends with a girl in her class named Rose.

The students are informed that there will be the annual “Whiz Kids” competition. Only four kids are chosen from the class. Melody asks Rose if she wants to study with her? Reluctantly she agrees. Then they are given a test to take, and the four highest scorers are chosen to compete. If they win, they get to go to Washington D.C. for another chance to compete for money. Melody takes the test along with the rest of the class. Then the top four winners are announced. Rose is one of them (her “friend”) along with a boy named Conner she thinks is cute. Then two other students. Melody isn’t one of them. She is really upset, confused. After all, she KNOWS she did well. The advocate breaks into the teacher’s desk where she finds Melody’s test, along with the answer sheet. She arranges a meeting with her parents, her special ed teacher, the mainstream teacher, along with two other faculty members. The advocate tells them that according to the answer sheet, Melody scored a 97% which is the highest score they’ve had someone get. They demand an answer from the teacher as to why she wasn’t chosen. Teacher states that it’s not possible she scored that high. He stands there bubbling like an idiot. Eventually he admits that he DIDN’T EVEN SCORE HER TEST!!!!! ON PURPOSE. Insinuating it would have been a “waste of time.” The wrong is finally right, and unfortunately someone who was chosen has to be let go. Sadly, it’s her ”friend” Rose. Of course this makes Rose pissed at her. No longer is she her “friend”. Rose tells Melody that the only reason she was her “friend” is because her mom told her she’d get an iPad.

They end up winning the comp, allowing them to compete in D.C. Melody went head-to-head with the opposing team which won them their trip to D.C. The morning of the trip, the entire team, EXCEPT Melody was invited to a breakfast. That’s when the teacher got the call informing them that their flight had been bumped up. They had to leave immediately to catch their plane. Since Melody wasn’t at the breakfast, she along with her parents were coming from home. Due to some obstacles as one has in a wheelchair at the airport, they end up arriving at the gate too late. They don’t make it to D.C. Melody didn’t get to compete with her team. Of course she is beyond devastated. Angry, hurt, sad. All of the emotions.

At the end of the movie her mom gives her this loving powerful speech telling her she has a voice. LET THEM HEAR IT!!! She ends up going into the classroom expressing exactly how everyone has made her feel. Including the teacher. Then she said “I’m staying” meaning in the mainstream classroom. (The faculty wanted to do away with the program).

Watching this movie made me so angry!!!! I don’t have Cerebral Palsy like Melody does, but I DO know what it’s like having everyone second guess your intelligence/abilities/capabilities. From preschool till about 5thgrade, I was in Special Education classes. When I got into Jr. High/Middle school, I was like Melody where I would be integrated into mainstream classes, while still attending some special ed. ones. I HATED being in special ed. I DESPISED my I.E.P. Meetings. In my experience, it was like a platform for my adopted parents to tell them how I was behaving at home. This is not what these meetings are for. They are for academic reasons. Not a counseling session. However, that was how they treated it. When I was in high school, I remember there was a woman. For the life of me I can’t remember her name. Maybe that’s on purpose because when I tell you I couldn’t stomach this woman, I’m not exaggerating. She spoke down to me as if I was like how everyone in the movie thought Melody was; STUPID!!! Slow, enunciating her words as if I’m deaf. Or not all there. She treated me like I was so beneath her. My best friend at the time and I had a journal we’d pass between one another during passing periods. It was like we’d write each other notes for the other to read during their next period. I remember writing to her so many times how much I hated this woman. Gaahhh ok..I digress. When I was in these mainstream classes, I at times did feel like maybe I didn’t belong. Like I started to question my own intelligence. Luckily for me though, I didn’t have too many issues with people not being kind to me, unlike Melody’s experience in the movie. I did graduate high school with my certificate of completion (not due to me not being smart. There were other factors for this reason.)

But the movie just angered me. The fact of how ignorant schools can be towards students who are different. There was an amazing line in the movie that the advocate lady said to one of the faculty members. It was “Its not people who hold kids back, it’s the school.”

Go watch this movie with your family/kids. Let it be a teaching opportunity to educate them on how to be kind to people who may not look/act like them.