Discuss prejudice in the story, Rules, by Cynthia Lord.

The most significant kind of prejudice in Cynthia Lord's
book, Rules, is that directed toward the physically or mentally
impaired. The book gets its title from the rules Catherine makes up for her autistic
brother to help him better assimilate into society. For
instance:

A
boy can take off his shirt to swim, but not his
shorts.

Catherine spends a
great deal of time taking care of her brother. Life is not the same for her as it is for
other people. For instance, she goes with her mother and David to his occupational
therapy appointments, mostly so she can spend some private time with her
mother.

The prejudice she experiences comes from the way
people look at David. His actions (though he doesn't understand it)
embarrass Catherine.

readability="8">

Dad says, "No one cares, Catherine. Don't be so
sensitive," but he's wrong. People do
care.

Catherine's mother also
tries to put their life with David into perspective where Catherine's friends are
concerned.

readability="8">

"Real friend understand," Mom had said...But
here's what I understand: Sometimes everyone gets invited except us, and it's because of
David.

Catherine is afraid
her new neighbor Kristi will not want to be friends because of David. And of course,
Ryan, who comes to hang out with Kristi had once called David a "retard." When David
sees Ryan again, the other boy makes fun of him and Catherine tries to defend her
brother. Life is hard when the world is not always fair.

At
one point while going with David to OT, she meets Jason who is wheelchair-bound; though
he cannot speak himself, he clearly understands others. Catherine and Jason strike up a
friendship as Catherine volunteers to make up "word" cards with which Jason can better
express
himself.

Jason
and Catherine go for a walk and Catherine hides so Kristi won't see her with Jason.
Jason invites Catherine to his birthday party. While there, the topic of the dance comes
up and Jason "tells" Catherine she should go, but she is afraid what people will think
and makes an excuse. Ultimately, as the friendship between Catherine and Jason seems
like it might end because of her fears, Catherine decides to do what she wants and not
worry about others. She goes to the dance with
Jason.

Catherine has to make a choice: to let the prejudice
of others rule her life, or to decide that she will do as she chooses, regardless of how
others see her...or think they see her:

readability="6">

Some people think they know who you are, when
they really don't.

Catherine
comes to an important conclusion: she knows that the relationships she shares with her
brother David and even Jason...

readability="5">

...will never fit the world’s definition of
“normal.”

However, these
relationships are important enough to her that she decides that she will find the best
in each person, and concentrate on the love that they share and be satisfied. As one her
rules states:

readability="5">

Sometimes you've gotta work with what you've
got.