Hey there! If you don’t know me, my name is Megan Fry, and I have a disability called cerebral palsy. I am nonverbal and use a computer to communicate. I am also a recent college graduate. When I was in middle school, I stumbled upon a book called Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. The main character, Melody, is just like me. She has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal. In November, the book was made into a movie on Disney+! Melody is played by Phoebe-Rae Taylor, who also has cerebral palsy, and the narration is voiced by none other than Jennifer Aniston. While some people say it is unrealistic, I want to explain how it is incredibly similar to my own life. Spoiler alerts are ahead, so fair warning!
In the beginning of the book, the main character, Melody was in a special education classroom. Similarly, when I first attended public school, I was part of the PPCD program at my school, which was a special education class. Like Melody, I had picture cards on my tray so I could point to communicate. But it quickly became clear that I did not belong in that setting. Fortunately, I was moved into a mainstream Pre-K class once they found me a computer to communicate with the previous year, whereas Melody remained in a special education classroom until middle school. Today, more children with disabilities are integrated into mainstream classrooms than when the book was originally written, but the experiences she had are still realistic.
Like me, Melody had crushes, and I loved seeing that in the story. I also really appreciated how she would listen to audiobooks. One of the books she listened to was Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. This detail felt significant to me because, as a sex advocate for people with cerebral palsy, I believe it is essential to see characters with disabilities living full and relatable teenage lives.
When Melody transitioned to regular classes, she was met with stares. I experienced the same thing. My peers were mostly kind, but like Melody, I was often excluded. For example, in the story, Melody joins an academic Whiz Team, but the team goes to breakfast without her. Later, they didn’t call her to inform her of a change in their flight schedule because they thought they could win without her. However, they were wrong. For me, I was co-president of the Gay-Straight Alliance in high school. My peers were supportive most of the time, but prom was a turning point. Our group made plans to go to prom together, but they disinvited me from the after-party because they assumed I could not “party.” That hurt, but, in reality, my sister threw my own after-party at me, which actually was better in my opinion.
For me, the most powerful part of the novel, Out of My Mind, is that it does not sugarcoat the challenges, but it also shows that people with disabilities can and should have the same chances to live, learn, and thrive as anyone else. Watching Melody fight for her place reminded me of every step I have taken to do the same, and it felt so validating to see that represented on screen.
If you have not read the book or seen the movie yet, I encourage you to check it out. If you like Melody, I think you will enjoy following me too. I am basically her grown-up version! Like her, I have cerebral palsy and am nonverbal, but instead of using my hands to control my computer, I use my eyes with an eye gaze from TobiiDynavox! I face the same kinds of challenges and fight every day to break down barriers, but I also love showing the world what people like me can really do. So, if you want a real-life version of Melody living her best life as an adult, you should follow me. Also, please share! Let’s create awareness about people like Melody and me!
Megan Fry 
I’m annoyed that the whole series isn’t available on kindle unlimited