The Short Bus A Journey Beyond Normal

“When his teachers decided Jonathan Mooney needed special ed because he couldn’t follow directions, sit still, or read well out loud, he feared he’d lost his chance to be a regular kid. Suddenly he was “not normal.” Suddenly he was a short bus rider destined to travel a harder road, a distinction that screamed out his “difference” to a hostile world. Along with other kids facing similar challenges, he was denigrated daily. He almost lost hope. Yet ultimately Jon shocked the skeptics, graduating from Brown University (with honors). But he could never shake the voice that insisted he would always be “less than.”” “So he hit the road. To free himself, he dreamed up an epic journey across the United States on a broken-down short bus. The Short Bus, an inspiring record of his odyssey, documents Mooney’s search to learn from others once labeled abnormal who have learned to live in beautifully original ways. He meets Ashley, a deaf and blind girl who curses out her teachers in sign language; Kent, a performance artist with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who loves “yo mama” jokes and may just be the new Andy Kaufman; Jeff, an obsessive eccentric who keeps lists that describe his world in unexpectedly moving ways.These people confirm Jon’s belief that “normal” is a state that no one actually visits. Everyone, he discovers, must embrace even their most radical differences.” –Book Jacket.