Her work has had a lot of influence, as it is frequently read in medical training programs and "cultural competence" is now recognized as an important trait. At three months of age, Lia was diagnosed with what American doctors called epilepsy, and what her family called quag dab peg or, 'the spirit catches you and you fall down.' While they were concerned for Lia's safety, they also believed her seizures made her special, as many epileptics were chosen to be ‘tvix neebs’, or ‘shamans’. This article addresses the relationship between theory, narrative form, and teaching through a close critical reading of that book that is informed by theories of tragedy and … Because they were Hmong, the residents were treated as traitors and abused by the occupying forces. The Vietnamese would kill them for minor offences such as stealing food, and they took away the majority of what they harvested. This book is unique as it integrates a large number of social and cultural issues while examining the story of a girl with epilepsy. On December 18, 1980, Foua and Nao Kao Lee arrive in the United States with their six surviving children. Lia has her first seizure when she's three months old. She did not die, however, for another twenty-six years. We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Summary and Analysis of Chapter 13 of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. The presentation was about " soupe de poisson: Fish Soup" (2.1). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the story of a Hmong Family, the Lees, their journey to America, and their struggles following their immigration. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down study guide contains a biography of Anne Fadiman, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. When Lia was around three months old, her older sister Yer slammed a door and Lia had her first seizure. The spirit catches you and you fall down summary: The story is about a three months old girl, Lia Lee, facing the issue of epilepsy, as her first attack. Consequently, the spirit would not release it. The story catches you and you fall down. There are two different stories happening in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Summary. Because of the breakdown in communication, it becomes hard to manage the child’s condition. Lia appears healthy at first. Fadiman suggests that acknowledging other belief systems could go a long way in improving the outcomes of patients from different cultures. Her parents blame this on her older sister, Yer: Yer had slammed the door just before the seizure happened, which in … It got to a point she could not talk or even involve herself in social interactions. Lia suffered more and more severe seizures and began to show signs of mental retardation. As they stay in the camp, Foua gives birth to their 13th child. Because people have lost property and find it hard to survive, they have to move to another place. In the culture of the people from Hmong, this is a disease believed to be controlled by the spirits. 64,965 Ratings. The story focuses on Lia Lee, whose family immigrated to Merced, Calif., from Laos in 1980. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the poignant story of a young Hmong girl suffering from epilepsy who is caught in the cultural chasm between her family and her rationalist American doctors. Summary 1997 Winner, National Book Critics Circle Award - Nonfiction Her family continued to love and care for her, and each year a tvix neeb held a ceremony to ease her suffering. Many of their American neighbors, unaware of their involvement in the war, resented their high reliance on welfare. papers are samples meant to be used only for research purposes. Concerned for Lia's safety, Neil notified Child Protective Services (CPS) and had the child placed into foster care. them cope with academic assignments such as essays, articles, term and research papers, Lia's medical regimen was complicated and her parents were either unable to follow the doctors' instructions, unwilling to do so, or both. Foua responded that it was nowhere near as sad as after Lia went to Fresno and got sick. meant to be used only for research purposes. At this point in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, the idea of right and wrong begins to blur. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down study guide contains a biography of Anne Fadiman, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures is a 1997 book by Anne Fadiman that chronicles the struggles of a Hmong refugee family from Houaysouy, Sainyabuli Province, Laos, the Lees, and their interactions with the health care system in Merced, California. To make it to their destination, they pass through many hardships, including dodging bullets. The author, after hearing the Lees’ story about their escape from Laos and their march to Thailand, commented that it must have been terrible. We are glad to help you 24/7 Summarystory.com provides students with professional writing and editing assistance. Catching the Story but Not Falling Down. The student went into exhaustive detail, starting … She cites examples of successful cross-cultural programs, such as one in which shamans are encouraged to work alongside western health care providers. It turned out she had septic shock, a condition that left her brain-dead. 2017-10-01 22:27 “The Hmong never had any interest in ruling over the Chinese or anyone else; they wanted merely to be left alone, which, as their later history was also to illustrate, may be the most difficult request any minority can make of … We help them In the book, the author goes on to assess the situation in a bid to find out who should get the blame for Lia’s situation. During the Vietnam War, the CIA recruited the Hmong in Laos to fight against communist forces. Anne Fadiman delves into the issues that affect the Lee family from that hails from Hmong. They thought surgery might lead to disfigurement not only in this lifetime but also in subsequent ones, and that autopsies could prevent souls from being reborn. Summary of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down In ‘The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down’, Lia, a Hmong baby girl, is born to a Hmong family living in California as refugees away from their war torn land in Laos. Anne Fadiman in “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” tells this clash as the story of Lia Lee and her American doctors. Things became worse with each passing day. For instance, they believed that the body has only a finite amount of blood and that frequently taking one's blood can be harmful or fatal. A good portion of the book is spent recounting Hmong history. All delivered The doctors recommend that Lia should be taken for foster care because her parents could not read and follow the directives on the use of seizure medicines. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Not affiliated with Harvard College. In Laos the Lee’s where farmers and lived in the country according to their Hmong traditions and beliefs. And stories do catch us, including those of us whose relationship to reading They asked her countless questions about America and American medicine. At first they stay with relatives in Portland, Oregon. They first tried to flee in 1976, but were captured by Vietnamese soldiers and marched back to their village at gunpoint. Anne Fadiman’s 1997 book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, is a familiar text in many medical schools, often offered as a cautionary tale of the perils of culturally ineffective care [3]. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Yes, the chapter title is the same as the book title. Her primary physicians, Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, tried to provide the highest standard of medical care possible. Were the parents to blame since they found it hard to follow the directives from the doctor? The book written by Anne Fadiman in 1997, called “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures“ describes the fate of a Hmong family in a municipality Houaysouy, in Laos, in a Sainyabuli Province. dissertations, coursework, case studies, PowerPoint presentations, reviews, etc. For this reason and others, western doctors frequently struggled with their Hmong patients. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose tragic demise reveals the dangers of a lack of cross-cultural communication in the medical profession. Their main aim is that their 12 children should make it to the refugee camp safe. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman ISBN: 978-0-374-53340-3 / 368 pages This guide is intended to enrich your experience of reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. A Hmong woman who had immigrated to America returned to a refugee camp in Thailand and visited her fellow countrymen who remained there. On the other hand, though, their failure to administer Lia’s medications had seemingly measurable negative results, meaning that Neil was equally entitled to wield his institutional power by writing to CPS. All delivered papers are samples Rather than assimilate, many migrated to the highlands of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose tragic demise reveals the dangers of a lack of cross-cultural communication in the medical profession. There is a clash in the belief by the American doctors and Lia’s parents. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the story by author Anne Fadiman, which explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Four months after returning home, however, Lia went into status epilepticus and had to stay at the hospital for fourteen nights. They were unhappy with the side effects of the medication and may not have understood the connection between a seizure and its effect on the brain, nor the necessity of giving anticonvulsants. While her foster parents were kind, the separation was traumatic for both Lia and her parents. The Hmong's tenacity and unwillingness to surrender helped them to survive for thousands of years. Why did so many Hmong flee when offered the choice of resettlement or returning to Laos? The immigration officials move the family to California. Two months later, she had another grand mal seizure, which would not stop. In the Lees view, the approach that the doctors took to manage the condition was inappropriate. Lia continued experiencing the seizure attacks. The Hmong, on the other hand, felt that they deserved this help due to the sacrifices they had made for the U.S. However, it also made them wary of submitting to doctors' orders. A compounding factor in Hmong noncompliance was their taboo against many western medical procedures. We watch as these folks are driven from China for refusing to assimilate its culture, then eventually make their way to the mountains of Laos. cope with academic assignments such as essays, articles, term and research papers, dissertations, Analysis. In Laos the Lee’s where farmers and lived in the country according to their Hmong traditions and beliefs. We help them cope with academic assignments such as essays, articles, term and research papers, dissertations, coursework, case studies, PowerPoint presentations, reviews, etc. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Summary book. Feel free to get in touch with us via email to: Summarystory.com provides students with professional writing and editing assistance. Lia Lee is a Hmong child that was born in the U. S. n July 19, 1982, after her parents, Foua and Nao Kao Lee, moved to America. Anne Fadiman 's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures (Noonday Press, 1997) is widely used in "cultural competence" efforts within U.S. medical school curricula. Later, the doctors diagnosed her with epilepsy. She is born in a hospital with the hope that can make it easy for her to obtain the citizenship documents. Summarystory.com provides students with professional writing and editing assistance. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures (1997) by Anne Fadiman. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the poignant story of a young Hmong girl suffering from epilepsy who is caught in the cultural chasm between her family and her rationalist American doctors. This free study guide is stuffed with the juicy details and important facts you need to know. However, the problem was not even correctly diagnosed until a few months after Lia's first visit, due to a lack of interpreters. Lia's rationalist doctors, on the other hand, treated Lia's epilepsy purely as a neurological disorder. Read 15 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Lia’s parents believed that the spirit of their daughter had been captured by a spirit called dab. coursework, case studies, PowerPoint presentations, reviews, etc. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is an amazing true story which highlights the role of cultural competence (or lack thereof) and its importance in the healthcare system.The book "explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Summary. The move was meant to ensure that refugees are distributed uniformly in the country. "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Summary". The Orphan, a frequent character in Hmong folktales, is a model of survival against the odds. So here's the deal. GradeSaver, 27 May 2015 Web. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down essays are academic essays for citation. Lia's doctors assumed she would die and allowed the family to take her home. Copyright © 1999 - 2021 GradeSaver LLC. anthropological theorist, in other words, is precisely what's gripping about it from the point of view of the reader. Suduiko, Aaron ed. Lia's social worker, Jeanine Hilt, taught Foua how to administer Lia's medication so that the family could be reunited. I don't recall that the names of grandparents are given. Could the doctors have done more with their western medicine? They brought her for treatment to the Merced Community Medical Center (MCMC), but they also utilized traditional healing methods and engaged a tvix neeb to call back her soul. The mother in the family is called Foua, while the father is called Nao Kao. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Summaries, Character Analysis on" Letter from Birmingham Jail" (Martin Luther King, Jr.), Critical Essay on Edward Said "Two Visions in Heart of Darkness" Culture and Imperialism, The Scarlet Letter Chapter 8 Summary And Analysis, A Rose for Emily: Exposition Essay on First-Person Plural Use, The Divine Comedy: Selected Cantos and Quotations, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Short Summary. Her parents, Foua and Nao Kao, believed that the noise of the door had caused her soul to flee. When the US withdrew its support, around 150,000 Hmong (including the Lees) were forced to leave their homes to escape persecution. Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis By the 1980s, the Hmong people had already begun to distrust American physicians. The Lee family were political refugees fleeing their home country of Laos in response to the "Silent War" and the subsequent loss of livelihood and starvation its inhabitants faced. They diagnosed her illness as qaug dab peg, "the spirit catches you and you fall down." They diagnose her condition as quag dab peg, “the spirit catches you and you fall down” in Hmong. The Lees' noncompliance had devastating effects. The family believed in "a little medicine and a little neeb," but worried that too much medicine could limit the effectiveness of the spiritual healing. Sherwood, Kristin. Summary of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down In ‘The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down’, Lia, a Hmong baby girl, is born to a Hmong family living in California as refugees away from their war torn land in Laos. Lia is a child of Hmong refugees, and her parents Foua and Nao Kao believe Lia's seizures are caused by her soul fleeing, scared away by the slamming door. Summary: When baby Lia is first brought to Merced Community Medical Center in Merced, CA, with seizures, the on-call doctor diagnosed her with bronchial congestion. We help They're disoriented and confused by new appliances like refrigerators, toilets, and electrical devices. They run away from Laos because there is a war that is waging. Fadiman rounds out the Lees ’ family story by detailing their escape from Laos. The majority eventually relocated to the United States, where they endured slander, violence, and high rates of unemployment. In the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman tells us the story of a little girl named Lia Lee, caught between the differences of two cultures. Yer, as the older sister of Lee, once slammed a door so hard that caused so much noise leading towards fleeing of Lia Lee’s soul, as her parents Foua and Nao Kao identified the reason behind the sickness of Lia Lee. ... Chapter 13 - Code X. The author (Anne Fadiman) tells us how she once heard a story about a Hmong-American student who gave a presentation in front of his French class. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy.Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Historians and anthropologists, however, often admire their unique resilience. Lia Lee was born in 1982 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. Lia, the 14th child, is also born in America. About The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Fadiman presents this information without … The family goes to America and struggle with several immigration issues. On the one hand, the Lees had every right to exercise their beliefs. “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.” iBooks. The ethnic group originated in China, where they fought the Chinese to maintain their culture. ISBN-13: 9780374533403. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures Anne Fadiman, 1997 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 368 pp. Find out what happens in our Chapter 1 summary for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. During this time, one of their eight children became ill and died. In the process of the examination, the book does not give any conclusion. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Summary, Read the Study Guide for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down…, The Shared Qualities of Opposing Sides of a Border: How Cultural Relations can Merge Characteristics between Different Groups, Introduction to The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Bibliography, View the lesson plan for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down…, View Wikipedia Entries for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down…. 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