A nonverbal child with autism was diagnosed as severely intellectually disabled. Babysitter decides to give him some buttons for communication when he was about 10. It took some time, but the parents kept working at it.

Just before he turned 13, he learned to spell. And very quickly, they discover he is not intellectually disabled at all. In fact, quite the opposite.

Between the ages of 13 and 18 he didn’t just catch up, he sprinted ahead. He has now been accepted to MIT — the first person with nonverbal autism to be accepted there.

How many other people’s gifts have we missed because no one could or would work this hard to get them to communicate?
#autism
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/18/metro/nonverbal-autistic-student-mit/

MIT admission: Nonverbal autistic student overcomes challenges

The teen spent most of his schooling in classrooms where he was perceived to be intellectually disabled — a misdiagnosis that delayed his ability to access the support he needed.

^{The Boston Globe}