Story of How A Dog Helped a Child to Speak

Marcy was diagnosed with autism when she was five.  She had next to nothing in verbal skills and always held her head down low.  She was addicted to the movie Lady and the Tramp by Walt Disney Productions.  She watched the film over and over again and wore out a tape.  One day her parents and her were walking by a pet store and Marcy pointed to a puppy in the window and called out "Lady! Lady!" and insisted on taking the dog home.  Her parents, despite having four dogs already, bought the dog and Marcy absolutely adored her new dog named Lady.  The next day on the school bus, Marcy sat down and spoke to the child sitting next to her.  She said, "Marcy got new dog. Lady."  That was the most Marcy had ever spoken in her entire life. From that point on, Marcy's verbal language skills continued to increase and today she speaks to numerous children who have autism about not giving up on your dreams. Marcy is also now an accomplished artist. This story comes from the Autism Society website.