Interesting

Autistic Man Speaks For First Time In Over 50 Years

     By Kay Quinn for Healthbeat.
http://tinyurl.com/3ye2pl

     (KSDK) - Imagine not speaking for more than 50 years.
     That was the case for Danny Will, a local man with autism. Will will
turn 60 in August and hadn't spoken for nearly 55 years.
     Will functioned normally during his first few years of life. Around
the age of five he was diagnosed with autism. His father died when he was
seven.
     By the time he was 13 and his mother had to institutionalize him at
Fulton State Hospital.
     "He didn't speak the entire time he was in that institution," said
Mary Vanderklok, a training specialist at the Judevine Center for Autism.
     In 1993, at the age of 43, Will came to live at Calverton House, a
home for people with autism run by the Judevine Center. Like many people
with autism, he works and does chores, but also gestures and engages in
repetitive behavior.
     "Receptively, he understands directives," said Vanderklok. "He
understands what you're saying to him, what's expected of him but a deficit
for most people with autism spectrum disorder is that expressive language."
     In all of his time at Calverton House, Will still wouldn't speak --
until last summer. He was taken to a local hospital for a test on his heart
and he spoke his first words in more than 50 years.
     "And that was, 'I don't want that -- get away,' which was amazing,"
said Vanderklok.
     Will still only speaks occasionally and only to those caregivers he
knows well.
     "That's a remarkable man. There's just no other way to put it," says
DeVona Miner, a caregiver at Calverton House.
     In spite of his silence, those who know him said Will is happy. They
also said he is living proof that we should all keep high expectations for
people with autism.
     "We really didn't think Danny would ever speak. He surprised us in
that, so I think our motto is never give up," said Vanderklok.


--
~Nate.