Book Review- Stuck in Neutral

Trueman, Terry. “Stuck in Neutral.” New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000.

This book was written by Terry Trueman a father of a son with cerebral palsy. In this unique story Trueman introduces readers to Shawn McDaniel who has cerebral palsy and is unable to control his bodily functions, movement or speech. What makes this story so interesting is that the story is told through the thoughts of Shawn. That’s right, a boy dismissed by doctors as being an unintelligible human vegetable seems to be the smartest one around. Through Shawn we learn that while he is unable to control the many functions of his body; he is more than capable of thinking, in fact he is highly intelligent. Throughout the book, readers are able to view Shawn’s frustration with his family for not knowing his true capabilities. This book also brings up issues of euthanasia, which makes this book more appropriate for more mature audiences. . On Terry Trueman’s website (http://www.terrytrueman.com/) he goes on to further discuss that he wrote this book from the perspective of Shawn because he often wonders about his son’s thought process. He’s been told by some doctors that because his son has such a severe case of cerebral palsy that he’s basically a human vegetable and by others that while he is unable to communicate, he may be able to understand the world around him. (1). Trueman does a great job of balancing Shawn’s traits as a teenage boy and as a boy who has cerebral palsy. Readers here Shawn discuss the girls he finds attractive and entertaining commentary about sports, as well as, realistic times of stress and defeat when he fears that no one will ever understand him.

Initially I was concerned that writing a book from the perspective of a person with disability and especially one that has little documented data from an actual person with the disability, but Trueman’s writing makes readers stand back and take a look at how people with disabilities in our society are treated. It makes you want to be compassionate without being condescending and to think before you shun or gawk at a person with a disability. I will definitely include this piece of literature within my library