Beth Brock and her grandson, Ryan Tidwell, worked together on their book.
“My Name is Ryan,” a book penned by Beth Brock and her grandson, Ryan Tidwell, a patient at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has a simple but powerful message from a boy with spina bifida: “My Name is Ryan, I am just like you, but different.”
The book grew from a conversation the pair had several years ago in which Ryan told his grandmother about the way other children looked at him.
“Ryan was talking about how others react to him and how they were scared of his wheelchair and machines,” Brock said. “He said that when he would go places, they would stare.
“I just didn’t want him to experience that anymore. I knew what he was sharing with me was a great message for others, so I started writing and working on how to get his story published.”
Ryan was born with spina bifida, a condition that affects the spine and is usually apparent at birth; Chiari malformation, when the part of the brain that controls coordination and muscle movement pushes down through the hole in the bottom of the skull; and hydrocephalus, a buildup of spinal fluid in the spaces deep within the brain.
He uses a wheelchair, a portable ventilator and a feeding tube for nutrition.
Now 15, Ryan uses the book to help explain how living with special needs doesn’t make him that different from others.
“I know I am different from all the other kids,” Ryan says in the book. “I want people to learn that I am just like them, but I do things a little different.”
Brock received the extra inspiration she needed to get the ball rolling from one of the parents of a child attending school with Ryan who told her that his daughter would learn more from having Ryan in her class than from other interactions in her school.
“What I observed and learned from Ryan is that he is just like every other child but has limits,” said Brock. “We wanted to put all of that information into a format that would be easy for others to read, learn from and share.
“When I learned that others would see Ryan, either in the mall, the grocery store or even at appointments and just stare. It really broke my heart. He’s a person too. He sees that.”
Brock spoke to Ryan about what he likes to do as well as his limitations because of his disabilities.
“I know I am different from all the other kids,” Ryan says in the book. “I want people to learn that I am just like them, but I do things a little different.”
Although he cannot run, jump, swim or climb he loves going to the playground and playing baseball but admits he is better at bowling. He also enjoys playing PlayStation 3 and Wii, as well as going to the movies and watching sports on TV.
Ryan attends Blackman High School and is excited about co-authoring the book with his grandmother.
“We are all the same on the inside,” she said. “But we look different and that’s OK. This message is something I think all children can benefit from.”
The book is available for patients and families in the Family Resource Center at Children’s Hospital, online bookstores, and at the Barnes and Noble stores in Cool Springs and Murfreesboro. Brock also hopes that school and public libraries will make the book available.
