Disabilities
On Autism and Disability: Bill and Chris Davis of FAR FROM THE TREE by Andrew Solomon
Chris Davis was born with autism and has had many other conditions affect him since birth. Chris experienced obstacles in eating, speaking, sleeping, and self injurious behaviors. His father, Bill, says that “it was a 24-hour day job.” But Chris’ parents came up with a way to help Chris flourish: they started a school. They recruited interns from Penn State and Franklin and Marshall College to work with Chris and ended up starting one of the first centers for Applied Behavior Analysis therapy (ABA). Bill Davis says that he felt, when they first started out, “if I could hug him, that would be the greatest gift in life,” and at the end of the video, he gives Chris a kiss.
See this inspiring story of parenthood here.
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