The Short Bus: A Journey beyond Normal

Citation

Brown, S. (2010), "The Short Bus: A Journey beyond Normal", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 48 No. 3, pp. 423-425. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231011041116

Labeled as a student with learning disabilities and dyslexia, Jonathan Mooney grew up within an education system that thrived on categorizing students in order to “place” them in the “most appropriate” educational setting. As an adult, and yet unable to reconcile his past feelings of inadequacy he attributed to his years in special education, Jonathan sets out on a cross‐country journey to “reclaim” his self‐image. In defiance of the social rejection that came with riding a “short bus” to school, he purposefully purchases one for the trip. This book is a chronicle of his travels, visiting people in far‐flung regions of the country who shared his educational background, having also been labeled “abnormal” or “dis/abled”.

To all outside observers, it would appear that Jonathan had “overcome” his dis/ability. He had graduated from an Ivy League University in the USA, Brown University, and was a successful co‐author of Learning Outside the Lines (Mooney and Cole, 2000). He was on a book tour to promote his book, but he continued to experience feelings of discomfort and falseness instead of fulfillment and satisfaction. Then he began to listen during his tour to the stories that others told him about their experiences in special education, and their struggles to overcome the labels placed on them. Jonathan found his experiences and feelings mirrored in their life histories, experiences of hiding in school bathrooms or contemplating suicide, and feelings of isolation and self‐hatred. He also heard (p. 5) “stories of transcendence”, times when people had been able to move beyond the labels placed on them to embrace their creativity and think beyond limits set for them by society.

Through their stories, Jonathan realized that dis/ability does not define a person. He discovers that the concept of dis/ability is socially constructed based on society's assumptions of dis/ability and preconceived notions of what a person with a certain label is or is not able to do, and that these assumptions have nothing to do with the person carrying the label. He sought to hear the stories of people who had moved beyond their dis/ability category to embrace life without the artificial boundaries set by labels. His hope was that he, too, could move beyond the labels that had been attached to him by others as he experienced an educational journey fraught with pain and feelings of inadequacy.

Mooney's writing style would not be characterized by linear thought, as one might expect for a travel journal. Instead he begins each chapter with the next destination in mind, and then takes off on relevant tangents until he arrives. Weaving the historical perspective of specific dis/ability categories into his introduction of the person he is scheduled to visit, Mooney informs the reader with engaging and sometimes bittersweet personal memories. Along the way, the reader comes to know the people with dis/abilities Jonathan has scheduled to visit. Many have risen above society's expectations to live full and satisfying lives. We meet Butch, an artist who runs the “Museum of Wonder” (which no one else in his small community seems to know exists), and who (p. 102) “refuses to define his life using anyone else's terms”. Mooney himself is challenged to confront his own understanding of the meaning and value of human life when he meets Ashley, a young student at an inclusive school who is deaf and blind, who curses her language teacher (who uses American Sign Language with her) in sign language in an act of defiance and self‐advocacy that he observes during his visit. The swearing occurs after a long conversation between Jonathan and her mother about the challenges of teaching sign (Ashley's preferred mode of communication) in a society that favors spoken language and cochlear implants to facilitate language learning for this population. Again, this represents a way in which society and culture have constructed this dis/ability to conform to its expectations. These and the other colorful, rich individuals that Mooney meets during his tour challenge the reader to rethink the socially constructed concepts of normality, dis/ability, intelligence, happiness, and success.

On various tangents, Jonathan philosophizes about how his and others' educational journeys might have been different, had their learning disabilities not been viewed through the lens of an individual disorder. In his words (p. 47), “blaming defective neurology, not educational systems, keeps parents focused on the […] individual […] child, not systematic reform for all kids”. Jonathan struggles to believe that he isn't broken, as do so many students who carry the learning disability label. In essence, he asks (p. 63) “Are our deficits and disorders actually strengths?”. If students labeled LD (learning disabled) or ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) had been educated in settings where their different learning styles were honored, what would that look like? How would that change the self‐concept of persons who have ended up carrying their dis/ability labels and the stigmas associated with them into adulthood, where Jonathan documents their continuing struggles against a status quo that does not accept their individuality?

Through his vivid descriptions of the individuals he meets, as well as his self‐reflections, Mooney challenges the prevailing model of schooling where students are passive recipients of the knowledge imparted by adults in their lives, where learning can only take place at desks, through textbooks and homework, in classrooms and lecture halls. Along with this, he questions the concept of locating a dis/ability within the individual students he encounters. In talking with Kent, a college classmate from Brown University living in the American South, Jonathan outlines his observations about the two ways that society has developed to control those who do not fit in the “normal” category. They are either exiled from the community, which he labels the (p. 81) “leper model”, or they suffer from “plague”, resulting in constant surveillance. Jonathan ponders whether in his efforts to fit in and appear successful and normal, he has lost part of himself.

The Short Bus is a must‐read for both general and special education teachers, parents, school administrators, and teacher and administrator educators. It shines a poignant light on the results of current educational practices that focus on categorizing students by their dis/abilities, and design interventions to help them “overcome” their deficits and fix them. Told in rich and descriptive detail, the stories of pain, loss of self‐esteem, struggle, and occasional triumph are a fitting testament to those who refuse to let their lives be defined by an unfeeling and dispassionate educational bureaucracy. Their journeys call into question current educational practices and attitudes, and point to the powerful influence adults can have on the lives of the students they teach, both positive and negative. For readers who have grown up under the umbrella of a variety of special education labels, The Short Bus is an affirming and validating narrative that has the potential to transform lingering negative self‐images. Many will see themselves in his heart‐warming and often amusing depictions of creative ways individuals have broken away from society's expectations to live happy and productive lives on their own terms.