Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Essay Example

After reading the book, think psychologically in regard to Auggie’s identity; particularly in relation to disability – discuss in detail how you perceive how his identity was shaped. August Pullman, or Augie as his family and friends call him, is a ten year old boy who has been home-schooled his entire life because of a physical deformity that required over twenty surgeries. Wonder traces Auggie’s experiences when his parents decide to enroll him into the local middle school called Beecher Prep amidst his transition into adolescence, a life stage in which young boys often struggle with their identity. Auggie does not have any friends and is ostracized because of his extremely disfigured face, which the author describes him as looking like an Elephant Man who eats food like a tortoise. Indeed, this book delves into the theme of identity of a young boy whose physical deformity hinders him from attending public school until he reaches the fifth grade. As such, his physicality shaped the contours of his personal identity and dictated his mobility, lack of socialization, and view of the world. Children at Auggie’s age are not self-aware, which is why they yearn to belong to a group in the mainstream rather than stand out alone. This pack mentality has enabled humans to evolve, yet one’s character is tested when they individuate a part from the pack. Auggie emerges as a trope for those who are rendered outsiders as a result of a certain disability ranging from autism to physical deformities. Indeed, the physical attributions of Auggie constitute his identity and truly mark him as a different and distinct individual. This fact is bolstered by the fact that Auggie only feels “normal” on Halloween because everyone disguises themselves with costumes and masks. Masks thus play a prominent role in both revealing and concealing Auggie’s identity. He is cognizant of how people respond when they see his face as he is met on a quotidian basis with hostility, covert glances, snickering, and teasing. Auggie struggles to convince his classmates that despite his debilitating physical condition, he is just like them and thus should be accepted. Auggie forms an identity vis-a-vis discursive framing from a cultural perspective. Auggie asserts that he is like a Wookie from the Star Wars films, noting that he is aware that he looks weird and understands why people would look at him funny. Identity always figures prominently in stories like Wonder that trace a character’s coming-of-age story. Auggie needs to ascertain how to close the chasm between what kind of person society views him as—anything but ordinary—and how he views himself as a person: normal and ordinary. Convincing outsiders to look beyond his physical deformity is at the fulcrum of this work.

Discuss your thoughts surrounding disability especially in relation to school psychology. 

Students suffering from physical and/or emotional disabilities experience both positive and negative perceptions and behaviors of school staff and students. School psychologists and counselors need to spearhead efforts to assess the school environment and climate for disabled students and to initiate particular interventions and advocacy for change on an idiosyncratic basis. School psychologists must consider various factors when fomenting an environment within schools that facilitates interventions that make an impact. Indeed, students who are physically disabled like Auggie are overtly stigmatized in public discourses as well as within empirical school settings, as they encounter physical and attitudinal obstacles on a quotidian basis. Despite the fact that there is legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that protect the intrinsic rights of people suffering from disabilities, such policies cannot safeguard disabled students from prejudice and discrimination that is so common on school campuses. School psychologists are charged with the responsibility of assessing the perceptions, behaviors, and attitudes and school staff members in addition to systemic factors that pertain to the school environment. Counselors must collaborate with pedagogues and other school personnel in order to determine what interventions are needed and respond in a prompt and effective manner. The stigma associated with disability must be dismantled at the behest of school psychologists in order to effectively integrate psychically disabled students into school life. School counselors retain the power to draw on their conduct needs and training in order to pinpoint potential programmatic, attitudinal, and systematic arenas for change. Doing so would foment positive school environments for disabled students, which is why the collaboration between school psychology and school personnel in order to implement school policies that promote respect, interest in, and high expectations for yielding positive outcomes for students regardless of their disability status. They are also responsible for calling attention to administrators for the professional development of faculty members to effectively work with disabled students. As such, school counselors can assist students develop an appreciation for disabled students vis-a-vis collaboration with pedagogues or direct services available. Ultimately, I believe that school psychologists need to effectively provide support to disabled students and communicate high expectations, which would aid them in truly understanding that physical disability is not a hindrance for them and should never curtail their aspirations.

What are the reasons you believe this book is important for school psychology students to read and what particular chapter or paragraph resonated most.

This book retains currency for school psychology students to read because children’s literature is an effective mechanism to promote reflective, critical, and diffuse discussions of complex tropes and themes such as disability and disfigurement during adolescence. Auggie confronts a litany of obstacles throughout the book, including social anxiety and bullying, yet he ultimately attains friendship and self-acceptance by sheer luck. It is important for school psychology students to understand the issues surrounding physical disability and social acceptance which is so poignantly portrayed in the book. Auggie benefited from fortified developmental assets including progressive, proactive, and supportive school and family community, which rendered him resilient and safeguarded against the vast array of psychosocial hardships pertaining to being physically disfigured. Children who lack such developmental assets, however, do not meet such a positive fate as Auggie’s. This fictive rendering draws interest into how in the United States, the reality is that disabled people are rendered peripheral to mainstream society, which is why visibly different people are treated so differently. Indeed, Visible difference is discriminated against and stigmatized, and the needs of those suffering from such public signifiers inscribed on their bodies are largely ignored. Wonder is the perfect book that promotes the acceptance of visible difference amongst adolescents and conveys how school psychologists can facilitate this process despite the ubiquity of bullying and intimidation on school campuses as a result of difference. Interestingly, the work also promotes questions regarding how young readers react to Wonder and whether or not the work can positively affect young readers regardless if they have physical differences or not.

As a future school psychologist, what would you have done to help Auggie’s transition into school for the first time?

The school psychologists retains an important role in the school environment, especially when aiding students suffering from physical disability who face bullying and harassment on an idiosyncratic basis. They provide a vast array of services to the students, parents, and staff members that include consultation, which involved helping the aforementioned parties thwart abt obstacles for a students’ learning and behavioral development; assessment, in which intervention planning is conducted and information is assessed regarding a student’s behavior and learning; and intervention, which calls for a multi-faceted effort for crisis. As Auggie’s school counselor, I would have further informed him about his civil rights through accurate knowledge throughout his transition. Moreover, I would have prepared the students through educational programs regarding the acceptance of visible difference prior to recruiting three of the students to be so-called “welcome buddies” for Auggie without adequate preparation regarding the stigma and issues surrounding visible difference.