My Left Foot, excerpt from
Brown, Christy
Genre: Autobiography
-
Annotated by:
- Squier, Harriet
- Date of entry: Jan-11-1999
- Last revised: Aug-21-2006
Summary
In this short excerpt [from the early section of the book, describing his birth, family, and early childhood], Brown eloquently describes his difficult birth, the hopelessness of his doctors, and the persistent love of his family, especially of his mother. He relates in detail that profound moment when, at age five, he inexplicably grabbed a piece of chalk from his sister’s hand with his left foot and, with great difficulty and incredulity, traced the letter A on a piece of slate. For the first time, his family knew for sure that his intellect was intact. And for the first time, he could start to communicate with them.
Primary Source
Ordinary Lives: Voices of Disability and Disease
Publisher
Applewood
Place Published
Cambridge, Mass.
Edition
1982
Editor
Irving Kenneth Zola
Page Count
8
Commentary