Special Needs

Winner of the VBZ Unpublished Novel of the Year, 2020

Special Needs is a novel which affirms that which is authentically human within all of us, following the life of a young boy with physical difficulties who elects to speak only to those who truly see him.Ten-year-old Emil lives with his mother in a rented flat in an unnamed city. Although she works hard, as a single mother she can barely making ends meet. Emil has a condition affecting the growth of his legs and his mother is desperately trying to give him all the love and acceptance he needs. Emil also displays selective mutism: he boy talks to some people normally while with others is fully or partially mute. His uncle Jakov thinks that everything to do with Emil is about intimacy and trust and searches for a way to get close to him. The drama of this special boy is based precisely on the relationship that each character has towards Emil’s special needs – and those relationships are polarizing and motivated by varying social, psychological,religious and personal beliefs.