PORTFOLIO

VOCABULARY LOG

1. savant (noun): A savant can have great abilities but also disabilities.
2. sum (noun): They could not afford such a sum.
3. accountable (adjective): She is the most accountable person I know.
4. dilapidated (adjective): Those are dilapidated buildings.
5. meager (adjective): We were a meager family.
6. sordid (adjective): The overcrowded housing conditions were sordid.
7. yearned for (verb): She yearned for adventure.
8. advocate (noun): He's a strong advocate for children's education.
9. consensus (noun): Our consensus was to make changes.
10. elicit (verb): Her question was meant to elicit a response.
11. linked (verb): The crimes were linked.
12. revolutionized (verb): The downtown was revolutionized.
13. skeptical (adjective): The people was skeptical about the president.
14. handicapped (adjective): A special school for handicapped children.
15. seizures (noun): The seizure of the Assembly building.
16. metaphor (noun): Her poetry depends on suggestion and metaphor.
17. chamber (noun): A council chamber.
18. overhead (adverb): A helicopter buzzed overhead.
19. defeatism (noun): Even when things were hard, she never had defeatism.
20. duffel (noun): I bought a duffel hat.
21. fellow (noun): He was an extremely obliging fellow.
22. counselors (noun): A counselor at the Russian embassy.
23. wills (noun): She was an iron will.
24. disclosing (verb): Disclosing information about the project's progress is important.
25. statin (noun): The doctor prescribed statin.

DRAFT 1 - Summary

Topic → Ellen Boudreaux

Main Idea → Ellen Boudreaux, a savant with a rare combination of abilities.

Topic Sentence → Ellen Boudreaux is a remarkable example of the rare combination of

blindness, mental abilities, and musical genius.

Ellen Boudreaux, born in 1957, is a remarkable individual with a rare mix of blindness,
mental abilities, and musical genius. Despite being blind due to retrolental fibroplasty, she
navigates without bumping into things, emitting chirps like sonar while walking. To ease her
fear of phones, Ellen's mom had her listen to a time recording, giving her an extraordinary
sense of time. Ellen's standout talent is her exceptional musical ability. She plays music
perfectly after hearing it once, even constructing complex chords on the piano. A persistent
reporter tried to stump her with obscure songs, but Ellen knew them all. Her journey began
at an early age, and she has overcome challenges with her unique skills. Ellen's life is a
testament to her musical prowess, defying expectations and enjoying a fulfilling life in the
world of music.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Ellen Boudreaux is a blind autistic savant with exceptional musical abilities. She can play
music perfectly after hearing it just once, and has a such a huge repertoire of songs in her
head that a newspaper reporter once tried to "stump Ellen" by requesting that she played
some obscure songs and failed. Ellen knew them all.

Ellen has two other savant skills that are unusual. First, despite her blindness, she is able to
walk around without ever running into things. As she walks, Ellen makes little chirping
sounds that seems to act like a human sonar. Ellen has an extremely precise digital clock
ticking in her mind. To help overcome her fear of the telephone, Ellen's mom coaxed her to
listen to the automatic time recording (the "time lady") when she was eight. From then on,
Ellen knows the exact hour and minute, any time of the day without ever having seen a clock
nor have the concept of the passing of time explained to her.

“With a song in her heart, music is her bridge to the world” the heading reads in the
Sacramento Bee newspaper on January 18, 2.001 written by Bob Sylva. The writer tries to
“stump Ellen” with request after request and cannot. “By any measure of musical virtuosity
and genius, this is a remarkable performance. For Ellen, it’s a form of child’s play” the writer
concludes.

Ellen is blind, with an astonishing musical ability, superior spatial sense and remarkable
memory. Her sense rhythm is pervasive. She is driven by time as if a digital clock is
incessantly running in her head. But, of course, she has never seen one. At precisely the
moment her favorite news program begins she will bound into the room from wherever she
is, flip on the TV and the announcer will start the program, as if on clue from Ellen.
Ellen plays piano, guitar, and now the keyboard and soloist with a Rock and Roll band in her
hometown that has become well known in the area. Among these multiple instruments and
many musical interests she has developed a vast repertoire.

It is very hard to stump Ellen, as the newspaper writer found out in a flawless recollection by
Ellen of a variety of tunes and styles ranging from the Supremes to “Dueling Banjos” (in
which she plays both parts) to “Ellen’s tour de force orchestration of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, the
Led Zeppelin apassionata in which she replicates, uncannily, every voice, instrument and
studio sound effect.” Ellen is a startling example of the rare yet reoccurring triad of blindness,
mental handicap and musical genius.

Ellen was born prematurely in 1.957 and developed the blindness of prematurity (retrolental
fibroplasias) following birth. Ellen developed slowly. When she was 4 months old doctors
confirmed what the parents suspected she was blind. From the very beginning she was
aware of large objects, wall, fences and buildings from a distance of 6 feet or more and
insisted on going to them and touching them. Her father noted that from those early years on
she has been able to walk in thick, strange forests without running into trees. As Ellen
learned to navigate she made a constant little chirping sound, like her own form of personal
radar. At age 4½ psychological testing provided a score of 40 on the Vineland Social
Maturity Scale which suggested an estimated IQ, at that time, of between 30-50. The family
became very determined to find the best educational and vocational opportunities for their
daughter and enrolled her in the San Juan Unified School District in Fair Oaks, California.
Ellen did extremely well in school and has proceeded through a series of steps in the special
education program, including now Adult Special Education programming. Speech therapy
began in 1.983 and progress in language development was impressive as well, with no
sacrifice of her artistic skill.

Ellen’s musical skill and memory are prodigious. Her interest in music began as early as 6
months of age. At about age 4, Ellen surprised her mother by picking out some tunes on a
small electronic organ. At age 7, a teacher advised her parents to get Ellen a piano. They did
and the music has poured forth ever since. Ellen now constructs complicated chords to
accompany melodies she hears on the radio or the stereo. She has transposed the
orchestra and chorus of Evita to the piano with complex, precise chords. She reproduces the
crowd and mob sounds with intense dissonances using both hands. That rendition is an
impressive, and lengthy, performance.

Ellen taught herself guitar by spending countless hours going up and down each string,
memorizing the tones that each fingering produced and experimenting with chords. She is
driven by and enamored of rhythm of any type, form or origin. She loves to improvise and
after listening to almost any album will begin to play chords with it, improvising very unusual
but striking accompaniments. She will play what she has heard in one form such as jazz,
then in another style, perhaps classical. She will transpose rock and roll to a waltz form in
three-quarter time. She is fascinated with radio and television commercials and will
immediately transpose those to the piano as well.

https://thesavantsyndrome.blogspot.com/2014/01/ellen-boudreaux.html

SYNTHESIZE EXERCISE 1 - Daniel Tammet

1. What was the most challenging thing that you have done?

I think the hardest thing I did was to volunteer in a country I didn't know at all. Being a
teacher somehow forces you to socialize, so I had to deal with one of my disabilities. It was
hard over time, but it helped me a lot.

2. Would you like to participate in math contests?

I don't want to sound arrogant, but I would participate in a math contest with people who
have the same ability as me. I think it would be fairer and more fun.

3. What ensured you to create your own language?

Language has always been fascinating to me, because I have never felt like I had a native
language. When you are born with an autistic disorder, you feel like you are in another
country, a strange country, with a strange language. You don't feel part of your country or
your language so I wanted to create something that was mine.

CREATE EXERCISE 1

1. Because I know Daniel Tammet well, I can predict how he will react in certain
situations. (predictable)

→ Because I know Daniel Tammte well, how he will react in certain situations is very
predictable.

2. Many people who suffer from ASD have problems with flexibility. (flexible)

→ Many people who suffer from ASD are not flexible.

3. According to Glodwell, the transformation of talent into expertise requires at

least 10,000 hours. (transform)

→ According to Glodwell, to transform talent into expertise requires at least 10,000 hours.

4. A lack of structure can cause anxiety for Daniel Tammet. (anxious)

→ A lack of structure can make Daniel Tammet anxious.

5. For many people with ASD, being able to interact socially is difficult.
(interaction)

→ For many people with ASD, social interaction is difficult.

6. Scans of the brains of autistic savants suggest that there might be some
compensation being done by the right hemisphere for damage to the left.
(compensate)

→ Scans of autistic savants' brains suggest that the right hemisphere may be helping to
compensate for damage to the left.

7. The retention of large amounts of information is usually not a problem for

autistic savants. (retain)

→ To retain large amounts of information is usually not a problem for autistic savants.

8. Daniel Tammet memorized pi to 22,514 decimal places to show people that,

although he is technically disabled, it doesn’t stop him from being successful.
(disability)

→ Daniel Tammet memorized pi to 22,514 decimal places to show people that, although he
has a disability, it doesn’t stop him from being successful.
DRAFT 2 - Biographical Paragraph

Topic Sentence → Serena Williams, the tennis player who embarked on a challenging
journey that tested her resilience and commitment.

Supporting Sentences:

1. She faced societal expectations that initially left her confused.

2. She confronted misery.

3. She suffered racism.

4. She was seriously injured.

Concluding Sentence → Serena Williams stands as a symbol of unwavering determination,

overcoming every obstacle and finding her own version of paradise.

Serena Williams faced tough challenges but never gave up. Growing up in Compton,
California, she felt confused about where she belonged due to societal expectations. Despite
this, Serena found joy in tennis, making it her passion. Even in hard times, like her 2004
French Open defeat, she stayed strong and yearned for self-reliance on the court. Battling
racism and a serious injury in 2011, Serena didn't let setbacks hold her back. Winning 23
Grand Slam titles brought pride and turned tough times into success. Serena's story teaches
us that with determination, we can overcome anything. She's a symbol of strength, showing
that every obstacle can lead to a better place.

SYNTHESIZE EXERCISE 2 - Frank McCourt and Marla Runyan

Life is not easy. People have obstacles that seem difficult and sometimes impossible to
overcome, but that's when you must not give up. Two great examples of superation and
self-reliance are Frank MacCourt and Marla Runyan’s lives.

One word that defines Frank’s life is misery. He suffered the loss of his siblings and was
abandoned. Likewise, Marla struggled in the classroom because of her near-blindness. The
specialists told her that she wouldn’t be able to learn like the other students because of her
disability. But despite the hopeless life they were living, they had people who encouraged
them to keep up and to yearn for a better life. That's how Frank was able to overcome his
past and began writing his book (Angela’s Ashes) that became a best seller and received the
Pulitzer Prize. On the other hand, Marla with her mother’s help graduated from school and
became a professional and an olympic winner.

Their stories remind us that life is indeed filled with difficulties and hardships, but it is also
brimming with opportunities for growth, achievement, and resilience.
CREATE EXERCISE 2

November 8, 2023

Dear Marla

Your story has inspired me and my son to not give up and be more self-reliant. I thought my son
couldn’t succeed or even practice his favorite sport because of his disability. But when I read your
story and the things that you have achieved having the same difficulty as my son, I was very
impressed but also guilty. Until then, I had not supported my son the way your mother did, it made me
wonder if I was fulfilling my role as a mother well. The fear that my son could get hurt or humiliated
made me refuse to let him practice skateboarding. But your example has motivated me to overcome
those fears and to stand by my son as he embraces his love for skateboarding.

Thank you for your inspiring life.

Sincerely,
Miriam Palomino

DRAFT 3 - Essay

THREE PARTS OF AN ESSAY

Introduction:
Genetic testing is a game-changer in how
we make medical decisions, affecting
different parts of healthcare. Without it, we
wouldn't know a lot about our genes and
potential health problems.
Notes:
“Genetic testing is useful in many areas of
medicine and can change the medical care
you or your family member receives”.
(Genetic Testing | CDC)

Body Paragraph 1: Support/Evidence:

Before genetic testing, doctors used older
methods to figure out and treat illnesses.
But now, this test gives us another way to
understand our health. If we didn't have this
option, we might miss how our genes
connect to different health issues.
“For example, genetic testing can provide a
diagnosis for a genetic condition such as
Fragile X or information about your risk to
develop cancer. There are many different
kinds of genetic tests.” (Genetic Testing |
CDC)

Body Paragraph 2: Support/Evidence:

Some people might doubt how much
genetic testing really helps, but it's changed
how doctors and patients work together.
The way healthcare works would be
different, with fewer tools to understand how
our genes and health interact.
“But the doctors held out hope. Genetic
testing grows more sophisticated every day,
they said, allowing researchers to explore a
child’s health down to every last typo on a
chromosome.” (The DNA Dilemma: A Test
That Could Change Your Life)
 Conclusion:
To sum up, genetic testing is a big deal in
making medical choices, giving us a better
way to understand and treat health
problems.
It's like a new and improved path for
healthcare. Without it, we'd miss out on
knowing important things about our genes
and health.

Final Result

vocabulary
grammar

Genetic testing has emerged as a revolutionary tool in the realm of medical decision-making,
impacting various aspects of healthcare. Had this technology not been developed, many
individuals might still be in the dark about their genetic predispositions and potential health
risks. The ability to advocate for personalized medicine based on genetic information has
proven to be a game-changer, offering a glimpse into one's genetic makeup and allowing for
tailored medical interventions.

In a past where genetic testing was not widely available, medical practitioners relied on
conventional methods to assess and treat patients. However, the introduction of genetic
testing has elicited a paradigm shift in healthcare, providing an alternative approach to
understanding one's health. If this alternative had not been explored, the medical community
might have missed the opportunity to uncover the intricate links between genetics and
various health conditions. As a result, the consensus among experts is that genetic testing
is a reliable method to assess an individual's risk factors and make informed medical
decisions.

Skeptics may argue that the impact of genetic testing on medical decision-making is
uncertain, but the reality is that this technology has transformed how healthcare
professionals interact with patients. In a hypothetical scenario where genetic testing had not
become a mainstream practice, the potential for a lack of information regarding hereditary
diseases and susceptibility to certain conditions would have persisted. The environment of
healthcare would be vastly different, with fewer tools available for interpreting and
understanding the complexities of genetic interactions.

In conclusion, the integration of genetic testing into medical decision-making processes has
revolutionized healthcare by offering a reliable alternative to conventional methods. If
this technological advance had not been embraced, the potential for overlooking crucial
genetic aspects and risk factors in patient care would have been substantial. The
consensus among medical professionals is that genetic testing is an invaluable tool for
eliciting personalized insights, enabling a more informed and tailored approach to
healthcare.

SYNTHESIZE EXERCISE 3 - Similarities and Differences

Janice Lloyd's article "Genetic Testing and Disease: Would You Want to Know" in USA
TODAY and Norman Cousins's story share similarities and differences in how they talk about
health. Janice's article is probably about modern genetic testing and the choices it brings,
discussing what it means for people. On the other hand, Norman Cousins, in his story
"Anatomy of an Illness," talks about how having a positive mindset can help with healing.
Both stories look at ways people deal with health, but Janice's is more about science and
choices, while Norman's is about staying positive for better health. They're different angles
on the same topic - how our choices and attitudes can affect our well-being.

CREATE EXERCISE 3 - Norman Cousins

1. What made you interested in the connection between a positive attitude and
physical health?

I became interested because I had a serious illness, and regular treatments weren't working
well. So, I tried different ways, like laughter and staying positive, and it helped me feel better.
This made me want to advocate for the potential link between having a positive mindset and
being physically healthy.

2. How did your book "Anatomy of an Illness" help us understand the mind-body
connection?

My book told the story of how laughter and a positive mindset helped me get better when I
was sick. I wanted to show that these things are really important for our health, even though
many people were skeptical before. It aimed to change the way we see the connection
between our thoughts and how our body feels, revolutionizing the interpretation of this
aspect and making more people reach a consensus on this idea.
​
3. Why do you think humor is good for our health?

Laughter is like a medicine for our minds and bodies. It helps us relax and feel happier.
When we laugh, our bodies release chemicals that make us feel good. It's not just for
now—it also helps us stay healthy in the long run, especially when things are tough. So, it's
like a really good and reliable alternative for making our lives better, impacting our overall
well-being.
​
4. How did you work towards peace between countries, and what worked best?

Making peace between countries needs talking and understanding each other. I found that
focusing on the things we all care about, talking openly, and sharing our cultures helped a
lot. Also, remembering that we're all human, no matter where we're from, was an important
factor.