In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by John Donvan, Caren Zucker Page A
Authors: John Donvan, Caren Zucker
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would be kind to their son, and that the outdoor setting would be good for his development.
Their names were Ernest and Josephine Lewis. They were poor farmers, without much education, but townspeople said they were decent, hardworking, and honest. Josephine was in her early forties, and Ernest was in his mid-fifties. They had no children of their own, and they lived off the land they worked themselves. The amount of money Beamon paid the couple to take in Donald was never disclosed, but their treatment of him was a matter of record, thanks to Leo Kanner.
Donald had already started living with the Lewises when Kanner came to visit the Tripletts in May 1945. He was interested in seeing how it was working out, and, of course, most curious to see how his Case 1 was doing. As it was, Donald came home to Forest many weekends and all holidays, and he was there for Kanner’s visit. But at some point, they all piled into Beamon’s car and hit the dusty road to visit Ernest and Josephine.
By this time, the Lewises had become almost like family to the Tripletts. Mary’s father’s appreciation of the couple and their way of life was apparent in a letter he sent his grandson in 1943: “Now I thinkMr. & Mrs. Lewis are the very best people in the County. They are trying to train you to be a useful man. They are out for you and you must reciprocate by minding them. Bring in the stove wood for Mrs. Lewis, get the hatchet and fix the kindling wood for the kitchen fire.” Granddaddy McCravey had grown up on such a farm himself before setting out at the age of twenty-two and striking it rich in finance. He respected the discipline of chores. “It is by far the best training a boy can get,” he told Donald. “To live in a place like Forest is not comparable to it in any sense. You are near nature, and nature’s God.”
Granddaddy signed off by reminding his grandson, “I have loved lots of folks, but I love you as much as anyone I have ever known.”
Leo Kanner didn’t idealize country living quite as much as Granddaddy McCravey, but after getting to the farm and spending a few hours there, he formed just as high an opinion of the Lewises. Ernest and Josephine walked the psychiatrist all around the place, showed him Donald’s room, and talked him through the chores Donald did regularly. As Kanner took it in, he realized that the couple had stumbledupon a kind of therapeutic solution to Donald’s deficits. On the one hand, there was a rigid structure to days on the farm—the same pattern every morning, every night, every season. Donald had no choice but to abide by the schedule.
At the same time, they showed creativity and flexibility in how they accommodated his obsessions and strengths and fit them into farm life. As Kanner watched, for example, Donald ran into a cornfield, took up the reins of a heavy plow horse, and successfully put the animal through its paces—plowing one long row, then turning the horse around to begin another. As he looked on, amazed, the Lewises explained that this had all begun when Donald had started walking the cornfields, obsessively counting the rows. Then Ernest had put the reins in his hand and showed him how to control the horse and maneuver the plowshare. In this way, he was able to count the rows while working them. Kanner watched Donald pass back and forth with the horse half a dozen times and cut half a dozen field lengths in the earth; it seemed to give the boy pleasure.
Donald had also become entranced by the process of measurement and had been taking a yardstick to whatever he could find around the farm, keeping track of how long, tall, deep, or wide everything was. Again, Ernest thought about this, and when the farm needed a new well, he recruited Donald to help dig it, presenting it to him as a measuring project: How deep is the well now? How deep should it go?
Josephine and Ernest also made allowances for some of Donald’s less practical preoccupations. For a time, Donald went
Their names were Ernest and Josephine Lewis. They were poor farmers, without much education, but townspeople said they were decent, hardworking, and honest. Josephine was in her early forties, and Ernest was in his mid-fifties. They had no children of their own, and they lived off the land they worked themselves. The amount of money Beamon paid the couple to take in Donald was never disclosed, but their treatment of him was a matter of record, thanks to Leo Kanner.
Donald had already started living with the Lewises when Kanner came to visit the Tripletts in May 1945. He was interested in seeing how it was working out, and, of course, most curious to see how his Case 1 was doing. As it was, Donald came home to Forest many weekends and all holidays, and he was there for Kanner’s visit. But at some point, they all piled into Beamon’s car and hit the dusty road to visit Ernest and Josephine.
By this time, the Lewises had become almost like family to the Tripletts. Mary’s father’s appreciation of the couple and their way of life was apparent in a letter he sent his grandson in 1943: “Now I thinkMr. & Mrs. Lewis are the very best people in the County. They are trying to train you to be a useful man. They are out for you and you must reciprocate by minding them. Bring in the stove wood for Mrs. Lewis, get the hatchet and fix the kindling wood for the kitchen fire.” Granddaddy McCravey had grown up on such a farm himself before setting out at the age of twenty-two and striking it rich in finance. He respected the discipline of chores. “It is by far the best training a boy can get,” he told Donald. “To live in a place like Forest is not comparable to it in any sense. You are near nature, and nature’s God.”
Granddaddy signed off by reminding his grandson, “I have loved lots of folks, but I love you as much as anyone I have ever known.”
Leo Kanner didn’t idealize country living quite as much as Granddaddy McCravey, but after getting to the farm and spending a few hours there, he formed just as high an opinion of the Lewises. Ernest and Josephine walked the psychiatrist all around the place, showed him Donald’s room, and talked him through the chores Donald did regularly. As Kanner took it in, he realized that the couple had stumbledupon a kind of therapeutic solution to Donald’s deficits. On the one hand, there was a rigid structure to days on the farm—the same pattern every morning, every night, every season. Donald had no choice but to abide by the schedule.
At the same time, they showed creativity and flexibility in how they accommodated his obsessions and strengths and fit them into farm life. As Kanner watched, for example, Donald ran into a cornfield, took up the reins of a heavy plow horse, and successfully put the animal through its paces—plowing one long row, then turning the horse around to begin another. As he looked on, amazed, the Lewises explained that this had all begun when Donald had started walking the cornfields, obsessively counting the rows. Then Ernest had put the reins in his hand and showed him how to control the horse and maneuver the plowshare. In this way, he was able to count the rows while working them. Kanner watched Donald pass back and forth with the horse half a dozen times and cut half a dozen field lengths in the earth; it seemed to give the boy pleasure.
Donald had also become entranced by the process of measurement and had been taking a yardstick to whatever he could find around the farm, keeping track of how long, tall, deep, or wide everything was. Again, Ernest thought about this, and when the farm needed a new well, he recruited Donald to help dig it, presenting it to him as a measuring project: How deep is the well now? How deep should it go?
Josephine and Ernest also made allowances for some of Donald’s less practical preoccupations. For a time, Donald went
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