AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS - Reaction to book

As the semester progresses, I am beginning to truly understand the value of incorporating multicultural books in my classroom library. A form of multiculturalism that I have worked hands on many times is students with mental and physical disabilities. For the last three summers, I have worked at a summer camp with predominately 'mainstream' students. Behavioral problems are usually the main problems with we see. Nonetheless, we had a boy (I'll call him Tony) who came for the good part of one summer who had many of the symptoms of Autism. He had not been diagnosed at that time and I don't even know if the Directors presented this to Tony's parents. The camp staff was not trained to work with students with severe disabilities, but this boy was such a great camper and provided so much happiness and joy. When there would be a change in the camp schedule, Tony would always have a breakdown because the change in schedule was abnormal to him.
In many ways, I can see a parallel between Natalie, Moose's sister who portrayed many of the symptoms of Autism, and Tony. They are both bright students who at times seemed so lost because the symptoms were unidentified. I have worked with other students who had been diagnosed with Autism (twin boys actually) and while it was a struggle for the parents to grasp, they were able to work with specialists to figure out a system to better their boys' lives. Autism was not classified until 1935 and it just pains me to think of all of the men and women, boys and girls who were wrongly labeled as 'crazy' or 'not fit to live a normal life.' This book in many ways helps students understand the struggles people with physical and mental disabilities had to endure and how many are working so hard to bestow upon them the respect they deserve.
Tony attended camp for the better part of two summers, but after excessive amounts of name calling and labeling, the parents felt it was necessary to find another camp. After Tony left camp, I felt disappointed in myself. At that time, I knew I wanted to be an educator and yet I didn't know what to do to better the situation. Now that I have become the director, I took it upon myself to create presentation that we show the incoming staff regarding mental and physical disabilities: what some common disabilities that are seen in children (common characteristics and symptoms), what accommodations are needed, and the importance of helping educate the campers. That is the one thing I want to present to the campers and my future students; I want them to understand that discrimination is wrong.
Reading this book helped me understand the importance of educating students on mental and physical disabilities so they are educated, aware, and understanding of the people's differences.