David William Eastham (1963–1988) [1] was a Canadian autistic author and poet. Despite being nonverbal for his entire life, [2] [3] he began learning to type in 1979 using a communication aid and facilitation, reportedly making him the first person with autism to do so. [4] His mother, Margaret Eastham, also played a major role in teaching him to communicate, including through the use of Montessori methods and other techniques, some of which were similar to facilitated communication. [4] [5] [2] His 1985 book, Understand: Fifty Memowriter Poems, has been identified as the first autobiography written by someone who identified as autistic. [6] [7] He died in 1988 of drowning, at the age of 24. [4] In 1990, his mother published Silent Words, in which she described the techniques she used to teach her son to type, speak, and use sign language. [2]
David William Eastham (1963–1988) [1] was a Canadian autistic author and poet. Despite being nonverbal for his entire life, [2] [3] he began learning to type in 1979 using a communication aid and facilitation, reportedly making him the first person with autism to do so. [4] His mother, Margaret Eastham, also played a major role in teaching him to communicate, including through the use of Montessori methods and other techniques, some of which were similar to facilitated communication. [4] [5] [2] His 1985 book, Understand: Fifty Memowriter Poems, has been identified as the first autobiography written by someone who identified as autistic. [6] [7] He died in 1988 of drowning, at the age of 24. [4] In 1990, his mother published Silent Words, in which she described the techniques she used to teach her son to type, speak, and use sign language. [2]