One, Two, Three... The Story of Matt, a Feral Child
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- Synopsis
- From the book: The voice on the phone was pleading, a husky whisper: "Please come. We fight about Matt all the time. Someone's got to help my son." Author Eleanor Craig, a social worker in real life, has written a hauntingly true story of her work with this boy from the moment she answered his father's desperate call. The first psychiatrist to evaluate the six-year-old boy described him as "a feral child, as wild as if he'd been raised by animals." Brain-damaged, retarded, autistic, schizophrenic--eventually Matt was accorded all the labels. And in an effort to prevent his being sent to a mental institution for the rest of his life, the author began to work with the boy, and with his mother, Nellie. The child ran naked at home, urinated on the living-room floor, and had yet to speak a word or even to indicate that he could understand anyone speaking to him. He drank from a baby's bottle, screamed constantly, had violent tantrums, and physically abused his mother. Yet until Matt's father called the clinic for help, only the child's parents knew of his existence. And then one day, walking down the stairs from the author's office, Matt began to count: -One... two... three...." But what could the future hold for a child who had spent the first six years of his life in a darkened home? And what about his mother, who was so fearful of letting him grow up that she was willing to risk his sanity? Readers will gasp at scenes in this incredible story of a family whose dependency on society was perpetuated by the inadequacies of the system itself. Other books by Eleanor Craig are available from Bookshare.
- Copyright:
- 1978
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 294 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780070133426
- Publisher:
- N/A
- Date of Addition:
- 04/11/07
- Copyrighted By:
- Eleanor Craig
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Nonfiction, Disability-Related, Biographies and Memoirs, Parenting and Family, Social Studies
- Submitted By:
- Jamie Yates
- Proofread By:
- Lena
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.
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- by Eleanor Craig
- in Nonfiction
- in Disability-Related
- in Biographies and Memoirs
- in Parenting and Family
- in Social Studies