The Speed of Dark

ADA

ADA

• Crenshaw: "Under the terms of the contract, we must provide them with working conditions suitable to them" (13)

• Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

• Civil rights law that makes it illegal to discriminate against someone for having a disabilities (e.g. jobs, schools, transportation, public spaces)

• H.R. 620 (passed the house, currently stalled at the senate because of Tammy Duckworth)

Education

• Tom: "Thirty years before, he might well never have made it in the ordinary way; fifty years before, he would have spent his life in an institution. But improvements in early intervention, in teaching methods, and in computer-assisted sensory integration exercises had given him the ability to find good employment, live independently, deal with the real world on near-equal terms" (52).

• 1987 -- first study published that shows intensive behavior therapy can make a huge difference for children with autism (UCLA psychologist Ivar Lovaas)

• Previously, autistic folks were usually institutionalized and never expected to participate meaningfully in society

Police Interaction

Police

• Lou: "It's funny about the police. Some of us have more trouble than others. Jorge, who grew up in San Antonio, told me if you are anything but rich, white, and normal they think you are a criminal . . . They always thought he was drunk or on drugs . . ." (41)

• Common and unreported (estimated roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of police shootings involve a person with a disability)

• Arnaldo Rios (Florida)

• Connor Leibel (Arizona) -- officer cleared of any blame -- too many autistic symptoms

• Rob Zink -- Minnesota -- Cop Autism Response Education Project

Cure

• For the most part, autism is diagnosed through observation and comparisons to established standards -- new finding of "defect" on chromosome 16

• July 2018 "Researchers discover promising treatment for genetic form of autism spectrum disorder"

• Reverse a genetic form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by using drugs initially developed to treat cancer.

• Would only work with those who have a chromosome 16 defect (which is only about 1 in 100 people with Autism)

Cure

Follow-Up Questions

Lou's Genius

• In chapter 11, we learn that Lou is essentially a genius when he teaches himself organic chemistry in a week. Why do you think the author chose to make our narrator extraordinarily gifted? Does this accomplish a specific task? Cater to a need the audience has? Make the plot simpler or more complex? What does the story gain and/or lose, now that we know Lou is a genius?

• "If Lou's autism only gave him "disabilities" or "weaknesses", without any of his added skills, the decision to undergo the curing procedure would be a no-brainer because his autism could only be seen as a disability" (Drew)

• "I think that this part of the story serves to contrast against Crenshaw's and other people's views of Autistic people. It shows the beneficial side of autism that allows people to identify patterns and learn, not just parrot things to other people" (Shirom).

• "And Lou's genius is his chance for redemption. For praise. For acceptance. So what is a cure in comparison to the benefits of a genius gifts?" (Audrey)

Follow-up

• Most of the people on the spectrum are not geniuses and still grapple with this notion of cure. How does Lou's genius intersect with all of these more typical stories/experiences on the spectrum? Are these stories overlooked by Lou's extreme assets? Or does Lou's more extreme story act as a bridge to understanding more autistic perspectives on cure?

Able-Bodied Savior

There are a number of characters who want or attempt to help Lou in his current situation. How do these characters stack up against the notions of able-bodied saviors or interdependence?

"The notion of "sticking up for the little guy", I agree, is mostly absent in the novel and among most characters whom Lou has friendly relations with" (Adrian).

"Crenshaw views himself as helping the less privileged “disabled” people by forcing them to take part in the experiment to cure autism" (Leon).

"The way Tom and Lucia interact with Lou is more of an interdependent relationship" (Drew). (Zoe)

"Tom and Lucia believed that Lou could not come to the conclusion of Don's guilt on his own, and thus believed they needed to intervene and save him before it was too late" (Audrey).

"Even though Aldrin makes for a pretty poor "benefactor"–or even advocate–in any case, he still embodies the able-bodied savior because he sees Lou as his personal responsibility...which is not only demeaning, but self-serving for Aldrin" (Zoe).

Follow-up

In our online conversation, we landed in pretty different places. Now that we've read a bit more, how have our ideas about the notion of an "able-bodied savior" developed? When we look at the major conflicts of the book (Lou's violent stalker, Mr. Crenshaw forcing empoyees to try an experimental cure, etc.), who resolves them? What are the implications of these solutions.

"Cure" for criminals

Most of us were rather appalled at the idea of a world where criminals receive brain surguries (PPD brain chips) to prohibit them from causing more harm. How do our ideas of curing criminals align with or differ from our ideas on curing autism? How do we make a distinction between these two categories of cure? What holds them together? Would our ideas change if we discovered that crimes were symptoms of illness?

Religion

While we know both the social and medical models of cure, perhaps there is a religious model? In other words, how does one's faith, play into a disabled person's view on their view of their disability/cure? (Gabriel)

Fixed

• How does the documentary influence our conclusions about cure presented in the novel? (both for autism and criminal behaviors)

Cure

• What is your verdict on Lou's decision to go for the cure? Was this a mistake? The right choice? Neither nor? Do the benefits outweigh the losses or the other way around?

• As whole, what does this book tell us about the pursuit of cure -- what motivates us to pursue it, what do we lose when we choose it, and what we gain?

• How does this book's ideas on cure align with or deviate from The Autobiography of a Face?

The Title

• By the end of the book, we've read countless passages related to the speed of dark and light. What do these passages point to? What do you think this title means? Does it give us any insight into how we should read the ending, autism, or the notion of cure?

Social/Medical

• On the discussion board, we disagreed on Lou's perception of his own autism -- does he locate the problem in his body or the context around him, and does this change over the course of the novel? In the end, does it really make a difference when making his choice to take the cure?

Fixed

• Should we pursue cure to the end of the road (e.g. for criminals, for a higher IQ, or genetic intervention for physical/mental/emotional traits?)