Man with Severe Autism Was Told He Would Never Understand Language. Now, He’s a Published Author and College Grad
Man with Severe Autism Was Told He Would Never Understand Language. Now, He’s a Published Author and College Grad
Toria SheffieldSun, April 5, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC
0
Woody Brown: Brown’s ‘Upward Bound' book coverCredit: Matt Garrett; Hogarth -
Woody Brown, who has severe autism and whose family was told he would never understand language, published a book
Brown is the author of Upward Bound, which centers on people with disabilities who attend an adult daycare center
Brown, who is nonverbal, began using a spelling board to communicate when he was 5 years old
A California man with severe autism, whose family was told he would never understand language, has just published his first book.
Woody Brown was diagnosed with autism when he was a toddler. Doctors told his parents that it was pointless to speak to him as he would never process language, according to a March 30 profile of the 28-year-old Monrovia resident in The New York Times.
However, his mother, Mary, said she began to realize Woody understood more than initially believed when he was around 5 years old. She told the outlet that while Woody typically tantrumed if they didn’t follow the same routine each day, he would calm down if she explained why.
Mary said that Woody eventually began spelling out simple words on a laminated letter card. Then, when he was around 8 years old, she discovered he was spelling out entire narratives for an alter ego he had created named Cop Woody.
Woody BrownCredit: Matt Garrett
Mary then realized that Cop Woody’s adventures were often ripped straight from actual new headlines.
“That’s how Mom figured out that I was listening to everything,” Woody told The New York Times via a letter board, which he tapped while Mary spoke his words out loud.
Up Next: https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf
Woody called spelling “a miraculous discovery.”
“I thought I would be caged my whole life, and then the door was open — left ajar, not flung wide, because the majority of people still doubted me,” he said.
Advertisement
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Woody went on to graduate from UCLA and receive a master’s from Columbia University in creative writing.
He recently published his first novel, Upward Bound. The book follows people with disabilities who attend an adult day care center in Southern California as well as some of the neurotypical attendants who care for them.
'Upward Bound' by Woody BrownCredit: Hogarth
“I wanted to reach neurotypical readers, the well-intentioned people who don’t realize that we are the same inside,” Woody said.
“I have all the thoughts, dreams, longings and intelligence as any neurotypical person. I just present a little differently,” he added.
In a previous interview with PEOPLE in advance of the book’s release, Woody said that he wrote the novel as a way to reflect on what life might have been like had he been born into slightly different circumstances.
“I wrote Upward Bound because I wanted to explore the ‘what-ifs’ of my life: What if I was never exposed to a method of communication like my letter board? What if I ended up in an adult day care center after aging out of the school system? What if I hadn’t had parents who refused to allow that to happen?” he said.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
“I wanted to show readers what it’s like to be constantly underestimated and misunderstood, what it feels like to not be seen because of disability and how it feels when people refuse to look at us,” Woody added while speaking to PEOPLE.
Upward Bound is available wherever books are sold.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
