In Space 3 - Reading task

In Space 3 we have been reading novels for our reading task. I am reading a novel called ‘Out of My Mind’ by Sharon M. Draper and it's all about a girl who can’t walk or talk. Her name is Melody. She is eleven years old and has a photographic memory. She is always taking in what is going on around her and what Melody has is cerebral palsy. But Melody is really smart and no one realises this until she gets given a communication device.

In my group, we were kindly offered a communication device from Ferndale Primary School to use in our activities. We were lucky to be able to use this to help us understand what Melody was feeling. A communication device is something that people use when they can't express what they need or feel by talking. They use it to communicate with the people around them. Although the communication device lets you tell people what you need it still only has a limited amount of vocabulary compared to people that can express their feelings through speech, plus it takes a lot of time to get your ideas across. The device has things that people need in their everyday life plus a little extra for emergencies. They are things like, ‘Stop!’ or ‘I don't know’ or ‘I have more to say’. Not much at all. There are six people in my group and we each got a turn using the device and feeling what Melody feels. We each got a day of using it and it was hard!! Lots of us just gave up and ended up talking for the rest of the day. We thought it would be a good idea to put ourselves in Melody’s shoes for a day and we realised how hard it must be for her having to use it 24/7 but how important it must be for her to be able to communicate her wants and needs. It was a great experience!!

By Lily Kendrew

Space 3