Nathaniel Schumann was 8 years old and had a mental list of grievances accumulated since infancy. Diagnosed with nonverbal autism at age 3, in Arizona, he spent much of his childhood repeating single words: water, outside. Nothing more. His mother, Dr. Kathleen Schnier, 54, knew something was going on inside, but no one could confirm it.
Everything changed when Nathaniel entered a clinical trial with leucovorin, a cheap generic medication that helps the brain absorb folate. In six months, he went from saying one word to speaking in complete sentences. The first thing he did was tell his mother about every dinner he did not like, every dessert he was denied, every fight with his older sister.
“The TV in my brain, now I can say it with my mouth”, he told Kathleen. She insists that the drug was not magic on its own: years of therapy supported that progress. Today Nathaniel plays guitar, sings in a choir, and dreams of becoming an ice cream maker.
