A Child Called Noah Greenfeld Analysis

“A child called Noah” written by Josh Greenfeld, is a story of a family with a child called Noah that is considered to be autistic. This unique story is all written in journal entries, in which the author expressed his daily challenges with his autistic son. Noah Hiro is a child born on July 1, 1966 in Westchester, New York to mother Foumi, father Josh and brother Karl. Noah seems to be okay until he stops talking at the age of two and withdraws himself from what is going on around him. The story unfolds in Westchester, New York but first let’s learn a little more about the main characters. Noah’s dad lived in Green village New York for ten years till he met his wife Foumi in New Hampshire. He was on his way to France after New Hampshire

They went to many doctors, that wanted to treat Noah, but none of them really had a diagnosis for him. They faced discrimination in the 1970s, because of not having access to the right resources. As discussed by Berger in “Introducing Disability Studies” it was not till 1975 “the US Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children, reauthorized and amended in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990, guaranteeing a free public education to children with disabilitites,along with appropriate accommodations and special education services…”(Berger 90). Many parents institutionalized their kids because they had little help from their communities and did not know how to help their kids. Josh had the opportunity to institutionalize Noah for a week to undergo a food deprivation study, but Josh disagreed with the institutionalizing part and did not go forth with it. There were many parts where Josh almost lost it and wanted to leave his family or wished his son was never born, but he just thought and wrote those things out of anger. He wanted what was best for his son and just wanted his son to act like a normal boy. While in California Noah did experience Oppression, his doctor wanted to do a study by putting Noah on food deprivation for thirty six hours. The doctors and his therapists wanted to see if he followed commands faster if he was hungry to then be rewarded with food. Josh agreed to it only if they could give him water and juice, but it did not work. The only thing it did was make Noah sick and he had to be taken to the pediatrician. The doctor soon asked if he could try it again, but Josh said no and the study was not performed again. While Josh faced oppression, he also faced inclusion by his parents. Josh and Foumi did try to include Noah in the activities they did with his brother Karl but not all time. When given the opportunity they would