Writing in the [UK] Guardian, Charlotte Moore interviews Anne Crosby, author of “Matthew,” a memoir about her son with Down syndrome. Crosby sent Matthew to an institution in the 1960’s under the advice of an eminent psychologist who urged her to protect her daughter, the “important” child, from her son, the “throwaway” child.

Moore says Crosby, now 79, has written a memoir “which describes with exceptional clarity and honesty the warring emotions unleashed by her son’s short life.” The book portrays Matthew, who died at 25 of a heart condition, as “funny, original, gentle, kind and with a power of empathy so acute that he was tormented by concern for the feelings of people, animals and even objects.”

Among the challenges Crosby faced at the time:

• Her husband, Theo, remained “implacable and unrelenting in his wish to send him away;”
• Theo’s mother believed Matthew was a punishment from God;
• Friends abandoned her because they thought Matthew was “harmful to their children’s psyches;” and
• Anne’s mother revealed that she had given up a child with Down syndrome herself and “smilingly recommended that Theo and I set about making similar arrangements for [Matthew].”

Charlotte Moore, who has two sons with autism, is the author of “George and Sam: Two boys, one family and autism.”

Earlier posts here and here.

(Family photo from The Guardian)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 10:36 am and is filed under Down syndrome, NOT2BEMISSED, autism, books, cultural attitudes, families, history, institutionalization, law, personal stories, politics, public attitudes, special education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.