A Life Beyond Reason by Chris Gabbard
Chris Gabbard has written on how his experience as a father of child with a disability has affected his life. He introduces his son August with this description:
(August) lives with cerebral palsy, is a spastic quadriplegic, has cortical visual impairment (meaning he is legally blind), is completely nonverbal and cognitively disabled, has a microcephalic head, and must wear a diaper. Moreover, he is immobile—he can’t crawl or scoot around or hold himself up or even sit in a chair without being strapped in it.
Despite all of that, he explains his home situation which is the same as that of many families who have a family member with a disability:
At home, in the eyes of my wife, Ilene; our 7-year-old daughter, Clio; and me, he seems merely a little eccentric, possessor of a few odd quirks, as I said. We don’t think of him as being different; he is August, just another member of an already quirky family. Although he cannot play with his sister, she loves him.
From that introduction Chris goes on to explain their daily routine, how August caused him to revisit a childhood cruelty and the value of human life.
