The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and other Clinical Tales: Reflection

Out of all the books Oliver Sacks wrote, The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and other Clinical Tales, caught my attention. With a title like that, it’s hard not to be curious about it. Reading the preface shows the amount of passion Sacks had with his patients and fellow neurologists. That left an impression on me that I can admire, he was passionate about his work. An example of this was in the case study: Hands. Hands is about how Oliver Sacks met a patient with Cerebral Palsy, her name was Madeline J. She was also congenitally blind. This study is about how Oliver Sacks learned about how the patient, in her 60 years of living, she never used her hands. Sacks infer that she was “babied” and never learned from infancy, how to use her own hands. He told her nurses to not starve her but to let find her food by herself. Madeline would eventually reach out her arm and find a bagel then put into her mouth. After this incident, she began to explore more which is amazing. This story left an impression on me because an artist, I can’t imagine not using my hands for making art work, let alone taking care of my own needs. I think the last case study will leave an impression on me because the case study’s patient connection with Oliver Sack. Oliver Sacks treated him like a person and a quote from the reading make me feel so sympathetic for Jose, the patient; the quote was “…but his face lit up with a smile when he saw me. The dull, indifferent look, the mask I remembered, was lifted. There was a sudden, shy smile, like a glimpse through a door” (Sacks, The Autist Artist). I know it’s not out of the ordinary for medical professionals to be kind to their patients but seeing how Jose was comfortable with Sacks, it really warms my heart. Jose was a patient who suffered from violent seizures and was just deemed retarded. Sacks, after drawing with Jose and learning more about him, he discovered that Jose isn’t retarded, rather he was autistic instead. This case study shows how society devalues disabled people and Jose was no different to that behavior. His own attendant called him an “idiot”, when reading that line, I was so angry at the attendant. Sacks was probably the first person who treated Jose nicely, outside of family, that is. Reading this book, overall, was a unique experience and I’m happy to learn about the impact Oliver Sacks contributed with his research. So, in conclusion, the three elements that made an impression on me were Sack’s involvement with the patients, the result of it, and how it contributed to his research.