David and Lisa / Jordi / Little Ralphie and the Creature: Three Remarkable Stories of Children Struggling to Find Themsleves and Their Places in This

I had watched this movie many, many years ago. It left me with feelings sorrow and compassion. Placed in an institution is David, he is of high intellect. He is unlike the other mental patients because he realizes reality. He's quiet and observant. His perception of reality is intact, though he suffers from violent dreams of a clock whose hands can sever the heads of of others. He awakes upset and extremely disturbed. He doesn't understand the violence of his dreams because he is a harmless fellow who would not cause injury to anyone.He is gentle. He falls in love with Lisa who is pretty, child-like and schizophrenic. He takes pity upon her, so much in fact that his wanting to help her inspires him to the ambition of being a psychiatrist so that he can help or possibly cure her. His sympathy and affection for her makes him forget his own mental problems. He's in love with a twenty something girl year old whose never left her childhood. This is a beautiful story of a disturbed young man's desperation to help a very mentally ill young girl. He is devoted in his mission and nothing, not even the disapproval of his parents can stop him from his endless efforts to help this girl. It's not for everyone, though the bottom line is love can heal the pains and sufferings of the world.

This morning I gave a talk for my son's high school career week. I'm a psychologist in private practice as a psychotherapist. I've had a wonderful career and have achieved some (albeit minor) recognition. Other professionals come to hear me teach about my work, I've presented around the country and in several other countries, and I've co-edited a professional journal. So this morning one of the students asked when I decided to do this work and why. When she asked I realized that it was this book, particularly the story Jordi. When I read about the work that the teacher/therapist was doing with this child a light went on for me that hasn't been extinguished. The therapeutic work described in the book is impressive even by my standards after 35 years in the field. Through her acceptance of this very disturbed little boy and the relationship she created with him, along with some inspired therapeutic interventions, she gave the boy his life back. It is the author's gift that all this comes through in his writing. Clearly the work he describes can meaningfully be the focus of one's life.

I was 11 when I first read David & Lisa/Jordi. These stories cannot be recommended highly enough. Dr. Rubin clearly cares about his patients and the characters he has based on them. His compassion shines through like a beacon. These books are not to be missed.David, a gifted neurotic, compulsive boy meets the psychotic Lisa in a residential treatment center. He masks his obvious attraction to the girl by claiming to be clinically interested in her. She speaks in rhyme to suppress her "alter ego," identified as Muriel. David unlocks the riddle of why Lisa speaks in nonsense rhymes and from that point on, he makes incredible progress. His psychiatrist, Dr. White and Lisa's teacher, John are compassionate characters one can't help but love.Jordi really touched my heart. I first read "Jordi" when I was 11 and it remains a favorite book to this day. Jordi was a very bright boy who lived in Brooklyn. He knew all the train and bus routes in the tri-state area and at 8, had not learned any academic skills. Jordi is clearly schizophrenic and his mental illness makes him confused about what is real and what is fantasy. He fears garbage pails because he thinks the opening is an ear that can hear him. He fears rain forests because he thinks trees will land from the sky onto him.Jordi did not fit into any mainstream program and he was lucky his parents had the foresight not to commit him to an institution. That was just too inhuman. Luckily for Jordi, a day school opened in his area and he was admitted. I loved the way he and his teacher, Sally, worked with each other. Lisa makes a guest appearance in this book with her teacher, John. They, too, help Jordi in that he learns that he is not the one being hurt when he sees Lisa kicking John in anger one day. Sally helped Jordi shed many of his misperceptions and I loved the way she and Jordi demolished a garbage can. She encouraged Jordi to identify anger and to vent it onto that can. By doing this, she allowed Jordi to explain his fear and she, in turn could tell him that garbage cans are inanimate and can't hear. She helped Jordi over many hurdles including academic work. It warmed my heart to read about Jordi's rapid progress in reading and in acquiring advanced mathematic skills. I loved the way Sally helped orient Jordi by showing him that he would always be Jordi regardless of which seat he occupied or what coat he wore or what changes occurred in his routines. She clearly accepted this boy and it is through their good work together that Jordi was able to break from the bond of psychotic confusion into health and social/world participation. Please read this book. It's great. You will love it.

This is one of the most beautiful collection of stories I have ever read. I first read "Lisa & David" when I was 11 and I thoroughly enjoyed the poetic description of the residential treatment center these young people were in and the way they reached each other. David, a gifted boy was instrumental in reaching Lisa. He was the one who figured out why she spoke in rhymes -- she did that to suppress her alter ego, Muriel. (She was a schizophrenic girl who believed she had a second personality). David and her teacher John were the ones who were able to recognize glimpses of intelligence in the girl and David's pyschiatrist, Dr. White was an unusually kind man. He and David were good for each other."Jordi" was a book that completely bowled me over. I first read it at 11 and was captivated. The only real complaint I could make is that it is too short. I LOVED THIS BOOK! It gave a lyrical voice to the inner torment of Jordi's psychosis. Jordi was a very appealing boy. He was certainly very bright in that he knew all the train and bus routes in the tri-state area and he learned to read and to calculate complex mathematical equations quickly. I was so glad Jordi's parents were too smart to leave him in an institution. That would have been just too inhuman. Jordi was lucky in that he was accepted at a day program wherein he found an unusually gifted teacher, Sally. I like the way they worked together and I really loved the way Sally and Jordi demolished a garbage can together to prove to Jordi that garbage cans "did not really have ears" and that they were simply inanimate objects. I love the way they related to each other. Sally helped Jordi define his own boundaries when she explained to him that when another teacher was being kicked by an angry pupil, he, Jordi was not the one who was being hurt. She further helped Jordi recognize himself when she proved that he was still Jordi, no matter what seat he sat in or whose coat he wore. I really love this book. All I can say, is, please read it. It's great.