[Orange County Register] The doctor who diagnosed Taylor Harkins told his parents not to expect much.The boy was dyspraxic, which means he had a brain disorder that made him extremely clumsy. He had Asperger Syndrome, which is what doctors once called a form of autism that described Taylor’s difficulty reading social cues and anti-social behavior. He was hyperactive. He had a low I.Q. score. Later, he would be diagnosed with epilepsy.
His disabilities would prevent him from attending typical school classes, from driving a car, from connecting with people, from participating in so much of life.
"Do not," Dr. Martin Baren, a behavioral pediatrician, told Taylor’s parents in the early 1980s, "expect him to take care of himself."
Link to the Orange County Register story