Rules
by Cynthia Lord
Publication information: 2006 by Scholastic Press
Awards: Newbery Honor Award 2007
Dorothy Canfield Fisher's Children's Book Award 2008
Catherine explores her relationship with her younger brother David, who is on the Autism Spectrum, as she makes friends with Jason, a nonverbal, wheelchair bound boy who she meets at the facility where David receives occupational therapy services. This is a story of an older sister being responsible for her younger brother's needs and helping him fit in within in the family and greater society. It's a story of how she tries to find normalcy in relationships outside of her family which are more difficult because of her brother's ASD behaviors. And most importantly, it's a story of how a girl learns more about herself by learning more about someone else.
Gender portrayal: Females are caregivers. Catherine, as older sister, is a primary "babysitter" for David. She helps him by writing down/clarifying the "Rules" of how to behave. Each chapter is titled with one of the rules. Sometimes the rules are serious, thoughtful rules such as "Sometimes people don't answer because they didn't hear you. Other times it's because they don't want to hear you." My favorite rule was "No toys in the fish tank." Mom is responsible for most of the care-giving and household-running, despite that she's also trying to run a business from home. Dad swoops in, always late and often not entirely present, to take David somewhere special. Jason's mother is the only person who ever brings Jason to therapy. The therapists are all female as well. Aside from David, Jason, and Dad, who all seem to have a limited way of communicating or participating in life, the only other male character of note is the neighbor Ryan, who constantly plays tricks on David and is the reason for many of Catherine's social rules. He's not a nice kid.
Different ability portrayal: David needs constant care. This could be because he is a younger brother, but there's definitely a suggestion that his ASD is an inconvenience and a handicap. Catherine, while she is helping him by sharing the Rules, does seem bothered by it most of the time. The rubber duck in the fish tank is a big deal to her. David exhibits the classic signs of ASD: repeating words and phrases, misunderstanding social cues, and single-mindedness. He is a paper cut out character. At the end of the story, David is exactly who he was at the beginning of the story. Jason, on the other hand, is a different person by the end of the story. When Catherine met Jason at the occupational therapy office, he was in a wheel chair that required someone else to move him. He had a limited communication book, in this case a binder with words which Jason could point to when he wanted to say something. The words were generic. As Catherine and Jason became friends, Catherine added many words to his book which were more expressive and colorful. Through these new cards Jason was able to express more feelings. For example, he could tell Catherine that his loud, condescending therapist "stinks a big one". He also could ask Catherine to take him outside so that she could run while pushing him in his wheelchair. This new freedom let to Jason asking for and receiving a wheelchair that he could control himself. Of course, the problem with all of this new freedom to move and communicate is that it came about through Catherine's intervention.
Agency: Jason achieves agency, but only by someone else providing it to him. He can communicate more effectively and move independently. I find it frustrating that Jason never thought about agency before he met Catherine and that no one in his life suggested it for him. Also, it's baffling that Jason's mother never told his therapist to stop talking to him as if he was deaf toddler. As previously stated, David has no agency. He is dependent upon his sister for "Rules", his father for the special trips, his mother for basic care.
ASD viewpoint: My nongender binary offspring on the spectrum said the following things after reading this book:
*It hurt my soul when she described her brother.
*This is the same character everybody writes.
*This is the only representation of ASD usually seen in books.
*sister wanted to reach into his brain to fix broken things
You'll observe that the link below to a review in KidLit has similar complaints, and more. As someone who is not on the spectrum, I don't get to speak with authority on this topic. My general thought is that this is a story with some representation of ASD. I thought a lot of the issues Catherine had with David had as much to do with him being a younger sibling and her having a lot more responsibility for him that she ought to have. David does exhibit some of the usual characteristics of ASD: repeating phrases, social difficulties, literal behavior, hyper focus on certain topics, and need for regimented schedule. The book doesn't reflect any new ground in the spectrum of behaviors. While I didn't see that David had a "broken brain", I can see that someone on the spectrum might see that and be bothered by it. I did appreciate that Catherine's friendship with Jason helped her to understand more about her brother even though Jason's and David's needs are very different. She grew, even if David didn't.
Discussion guidelines from author Cynthia Lord
The author has included some interesting questions for study. The questions reflect that Catherine is the main character.
Cynthia Lord's website for Rules
Review from disability in kidlit
