Calling All Short Bus Riders
“Right or wrong, to be different is to be distinguished”
—Henry Darger
One 25 year old author of Learning Outside the Lines (Simon & Schuster) (dyslexic, hyperactive, inattentive, as well as numerous yet to be discovered deficits and disorders, the kid who grew up hiding in the bathroom terrified of reading out loud, now an ivy league graduate, writer, lecturer, and disabled activist) seeking crips tards spazzes freaks and any other liminal beings for a cross country journey in a converted short special ed bus…
I am writing to ask for your help in soliciting stories for a new writing project entitled The Short Bus Story: A Journey Beyond Normal to be published by Henry Holt and Co. in the fall of 2004. The Short Bus Story is a work of creative non-fiction, part travel literature, part memoir, part oral history, a hybrid of Oliver Sacks and a disabled William Heat Moon. For this project I have converted a special ed bus (the short bus) into a living space. In the spring of 2003, I am going to criss-cross the country in this converted short bus to explore disabled culture and our social and institutional ideas of normalcy and deviance through personal stories of people with disabilities. While I have the short bus and my route is slowly coming into focus, the most important element of the project is the disabled individuals’ personal narratives. I am writing to solicit from you any short bus stories you are willing to share from either your personal or professional life.
I am seeking a wide range of stories. There are no restrictions on types of disabilities, ages, or gender. I am looking for stories that explore a range of social themes—stories that touch upon our country’s secret history of eugenics and forced sterilization laws, stories that focus on the poverty that many disabled individuals live in, and stories of disabled artists, entrepreneurs, and innovators. In short, I am looking for any and all short bus stories that bring to life the uniqueness, humanity, and beauty of disabled culture.
While the exploration of the social construct of disability and normalcy is the heart of this book, the project’s goal is take the reader on a journey that I hope will teach us all something more about being human. I am looking for stories that bear witness to the human struggle to embrace cognitive and physical diversity. Stories that will empower all readers, whether they are disabled or not, to celebrate the freak we all have inside but often cover up out of shame, fear and punishment. My goal is for The Short Bus Story to be a glimpse into and a celebration of the painful duality of human existence that links life to death, health to sickness, redemption to suffering, and deviance to the human condition.
If you are interested, or know someone who is, there is no need to submit written stories. All that is needed to be considered is a short written description of the narrative—(Or if writing is not the preferred mode of communication, you are welcome to submit a cassette recording of a story). The written description should include any details and anecdotes that the individual sees fit. If a story is selected to be a part of the project, the individual will be interviewed by me during my travels in the short bus, and their story will be re-told and dramatically re-created. In effect, each story will read like short fiction, not interviews. At that point the individual will sign a release that waves their rights for financial compensation for their story as well as any editorial discretion over the final use of their story. If requested, the participant’s identity and confidentiality would be protected in the final publication.
Short bus stories can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to this address:
Jonathan Mooney
Ansonia Finance Station
P.O. Box 230598
New York, NY 10023
I want to thank you up-front for taking time out of your busy life to support this project. The Short Bus Story is about giving voice to silenced minorities and celebrating these beautiful stories. In the Spring of 2003, my short yellow bus, long a trope representing physical and cognitive deficits, will roll across the landscape of 21st century America, transformed. This is a vehicle of change. Be part of a journey into the paradoxes and borders of the human mind and body. Be part of a journey beyond normal. Send your stories and come for a ride on the short bus.
Re: author seeking stories
Jonathan,
I would have to ask my Intro to Special Ed teacher but, my school (Harford Community College) is only a few minutes off I-95 about 25 miles north of Baltimore MD. What are the odds that you might could stop by on your amazing journey? I will tell her about you….if she and her family wanted to talk about it, they have great stories to tell. She has been in Special Ed and went into the field because she had a brother with Hurler’s Syndrome and her identical twin has CP. She is the most uplifting, effervescent, positive person, and though she is not a special educator currently because she is home with her kids, she teaches this one class I am taking….because she is advocating and recruiting people to become special educators who will care and make a difference.
I myself don’t know if I have any stories for you, though I can tell you when I was reading Hallowell’s book Driven to Distraction, in the effort to find out what I could about ADHD to help my son, I had the revelation that….I have ADHD, that all these years that I berated myself for being late, disorganized, and forgetful, that it WASN’T just that I was weird, stupid, or strange, or that there was something “wrong” with me. I cried, tears for all the unnecessary pain and self-derision I had subjected myself to and allowed from others, tears of relief that somewhere SOMEBODY understood what it’s like in my head, tears for the waste of time that years of self-medication had cost me.
Have a great trip! Linda G
Re: author seeking stories
“Calling all short bus riders”?
That’s insensitive. I’m sure that your book will sell no copies with comments like that. Try another subject.
Hello Jonathan,
I just found this website, Idoline, I’m always looking and researching anything to do with mental and emotional disorders, especially since I’ve became a victor instead of a victim. The way I see it is: If I din’t get sober 14 years ago, I wouldn’t have discovered my learing disability. From that I wouldn’t have discovered Bi-Polar or ADHD, or panic disorder as a result of these other illnesses.My case ,or point, if you wish being made, my story would be based on my first 30 minutes of wakefulness.Simular to the band name 10,000 Maniacs.Until my medication kicks in, inside my mind, it’s a mad race to trace or follow a thought, or 1,000 thoughts all at once.
I try Sigmund Fraud’s old trick, A pad and pen within my reach. but by the time i even get that far, I’m farther away than that. Thus my mission in life is to help others. Either to understand me, or be aware of illness as something more far reaching than physical, or mental,or emotional. There’s a whole world out there, and way beyond the obvious. It’s aland where humans live without Thorazine, because science found an answer.
I feel whether physical or emotional, everyone has a story, a hope, a dream, and if you’re blessed , A vision of a real world.
And so my new found friend, just one quote by David Burnes of The Talking Heads, Sto Making Sense, Why be Normal
Best wishes on your journey, on your Short Bus, through the center of our minds, and lives
Sincerely, Steven l. Liebenhaut