I'M TOM FUDGE, YOU'RE LISTENING TO MIDDAY EDITION ON KPBS . IT TOOK A LONG TIME FOR ERIK WEBER TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK TAKE EFFECT, HIS MOTHER WONDERED IF HE EVER WOULD BE ABLE TO . ERIC WAS AUTISTIC AND HE STILL IS THE LAST MONTH, HE PASSED THE CALIFORNIA BAR . THE STORY OF PRI ABILITY TO OVERCOME AUTISM IS ONE IN WHICH HIS MOTHER PLAYED A VERY BIG ROLE AND NOW ERIK AND HIS MOM SANDY WEBER JOIN ME IN THE STUDIO . SANDY, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE . THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND ERIK, THANK YOU. ERIK, CONGRATULATIONS . THE CALIFORNIA BAR IS PRETTY DIFFICULT. I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE FAIL A BIG WOULD YOU CONSIDER -- CONCERNED YOU MIGHT ALSO? WELL, I TREATED IT AS JUST ANY OTHER LAW SCHOOL TEST I'VE EVER DONE . THAT'S THE WAY ANYBODY HAS TO REALLY APPROACH IT . I UNDERSTAND A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN PSYCH THEMSELVES OUT BECAUSE IT'S THE ONE BIG TEST THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO TAKE BEFORE BECOMING ANY LICENSED ATTORNEY, BUT IT REALLY -- CONFIDENCE COMES IN TO PLAY HAVING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE AND HAVING GOOD FITNESS IN BETWEEN THE AM AND PM SESSIONS REALLY HELPS OUT TO LOOSEN UP THE MIND AND KEEP THE BODY IN SHAPE BECAUSE IT REALLY IS AN ENDURANCE TEST. YOU KNOW, I SEE YOU ARE WEARING A METAL . YOU WANT TO TELL US ABOUT THE? WELL, YES, THIS IS ONE OF 107 SPECIAL OLYMPICS GOLD MEDALS . WELL, GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE MEDALS THAT I HAVE OVER THE COURSE OF MANY YEARS SINCE 1999 AND SPECIAL OLYMPICS AND THIS PARTICULAR ONE IS FROM SADDLEBACK,, RUNNING LONG ENOUGH, JUMP OVER 7POINT OVER 7.1 M THAT THEY. WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT YOU? SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE WAY YOUR BRAIN WORKS? WELL, WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, I DON'T LACK OF LANGUAGE SKILLS AND I KNEW WHAT I WANTED TO SAY AND I THOUGHT I WAS TALKING BUT THE GRUNTS CAME AT SQUADS AND SCREAMS AND I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE CANNOT UNDERSTAND ME BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WAS TALKING TO THEM . SANDY, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR MEMORIES ABOUT ERIK WHEN HE WAS SMALL . THERE MUST'VE BEEN SOMETHING THAT YOU EXPECTING FROM THEM THAT WERE NOT HAPPENING. WELL, INITIALLY HE WAS FINE, SEEMINGLY FINE . AND DEVELOPING LIKE ANY NORMAL CHILD AND LONG ABOUT 2.5 YEARS OLD, WE HAD THAT SHE HAD AN EXTREMELY HIGH FEVER AS PART OF -- WE ALL GOT SICK AND IT WAS A CHEMICAL IN OUR HOUSE AND AT THAT TIME, AND THE FEVER DID SOME DAMAGE AND HE LOST TONGUE FUNCTION, HE LOST GROSS AND FINE MOTOR SKILLS, THE LANGUAGE THAT HE HAD STARTED DISAPPEARED AND HE ALMOST LOOKED LIKE A CHILD THAT WAS DEPRESSED . HE WILL NOT RESPOND TO HIS NAME AND HE WENT FROM BATTLING LIKE ANY NORMAL CHILD -- BABBLING LIKE ANY NORMAL SHORTAGES MAKING NOISES ARE SCREAMING . A LOT OF SCREAMING . AND SO IT BECAME APPARENT TO ME BECAUSE HE IS THE 4th CHILD THAT THIS WAS DIFFERENT . AND SO WAS THIS HIGH FEVER DIFFERENT HERE AND IT WASN'T THE FEVER THAT CAUSED IT, BUT THAT COMBINED WITH SOME OTHER THINGS LEFT HIM WITH THE DIAGNOSIS THAT I GOT WAS THAT HE WOULD NEVER BE MORE THAN 18 MONTHS OLD, THAT HE WAS MENTALLY RETARDED, AND ARTISTIC . AND I THINK THERE ARE SOME AUTISTIC KIDS THAT ARE VERY MENTALLY RETARDED AND CLEARLY ERIC IS NOT ONE OF THEM . BUT WAS THE CONDITION OF AUTISM WIDELY KNOWN? 20 YEARS AGO? NO, NOT REALLY. THERE WEREN'T MANY RESOURCES OUT THERE WHEN I WAS NONVERBAL IN THE EARLY 90s . AND IT SORT OF SOUNDS LIKE, SANDY, THAT'S WHEN YOU STEP IN OR FELT THAT YOU HAD TO DASH YOU ARE NOT A PSYCHOLOGIST AS FAR AS I KNOW, BUT YOU SORT OF SUCKED IN TO BE YOUR SON THERAPIST. YES, I DID . MY BACKGROUND CARDIAC REHABILITATION SO I HAD SOME MEDICAL BACKGROUND AND I ALSO HAD A MINOR -- MY MINOR IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT FIRMS SAN DIEGO STATE AND THAT SO YOU DID ACTUALLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF TRAINING IN THAT ARENA? WELL, YOU GOT ABOUT 10 UNITS AND I KNEW THAT THIS -- HAVING HAD 3 OTHER CHILDREN, THIS WAS DIFFERENT . AND I JUST -- I AM NOT YOUNG . ERIC IS 26 AND I AM 67 . I STARTED OVER WITH A FAMILY . SO I KEPT THINKING TO MYSELF, WHO IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THIS CHILD AT SOME POINT IN TIME WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME SO I DID STEP IN AND GAVE UP MY PROFESSION, NOT EVERYBODY CAN DO THAT . AND HIS DAD TRAVELED A LOT, SO BASICALLY WE WERE PRETTY HOUSEBOUND AND WE DID A LOT OF KPBS ON TELEVISION. PINK HILL'S WORLD WAS MY OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY CENTER WHICH IS NOW CALLED SESAME STREET -- DEMONSTRATES DAY OF PLAY. HE DID KNOW HOW TO PLAY WITH BOYS AND TONGUE FUNCTION HAD TO BE RETRAINED AND -- TOYS AND TONGUE FUNCTION HAD TO BE RETRAINED BECAUSE IT COULD MOVE FOOD THROUGH THE TAPE SO HE WAS GAGGING ON THINGS AND EATING STRAINED BABY FOOD AT 3.5 YEARS OLD AND HE WAS VERY TACTICALLY DEFENSIVE AND SO I HAVE TO GO LOOKING FOR THINGS MYSELF . AND THE OLD DAYS IF YOU SAID YOUR CHILD HAS AUTISM YOU LOST YOUR MEDICAL INSURANCE . SO WE SPENT ONE YEAR AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE CENTER THERE AND HE HAD NO IMPROVEMENT . AND I PUT HIM IN THE SCOTTISH RITE APHASIA CLINIC . THEY DON'T USUALLY TAKE CHILDREN WITH AUTISM, BUT HE WAS DESIGNATED AS SPEECH DELAYED AND A WONDERFUL WOMAN, CELIA PERDOMO DECIDED SHE WOULD TRY TO DO SOMETHING WITH HIM . SO FOR 2 YEARS, HE WAS THERE AND WALKED IN WITH NO LANGUAGE AND HE CAME OUT WITH THE BEGINNINGS OF LANGUAGE. YOU ARE LISTENING TO MEDITATION ON TOP FIVES AND MY GUESS ARE SANDY AND ERIK WEBER . ERIK WEBER GREW UP WITH AUTISM BUT JUST PASS THE CALIFORNIA BAR . SANDY IS HIS MOTHER . ERIC DASH DOESN'T DO SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENED . YOUR DAD DIED. YES, IN 1997, JULY 11 . THAT WAS VERY TRAUMATIC TIME FOR ME BECAUSE I LOST MY PLAY BUDDY AND I WROTE ON THE MOTORCYCLE WITH THEM -- HIM A LOT GOING ON. YOU HAD A GOOD FRIEND WHEN YOU WERE A BOY . A GIRL. SERVER ARE A McNULTY WEBBING IS A GOOD FRIEND OF YOUR STILL. SHE JUST GRADUATED WHO WILL BE AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST, GOD LOVE HER. FELT THAT SHE WAS AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST FOR YOU WHEN YOU WERE A BOY. I WAS HER FIRST OT PATIENT WHEN WE WERE GROWING UP. WHAT DOES SHE DO? THAT SHE TALKED TO TRY TO GET YOU TO TALK BACK? SHE AND I DEVELOP TRUST WITH EACH OTHER AND THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES IS TRUST IS BECAUSE WITHOUT TRUST THERE IS NO EDUCATION, NO GROWTH . AND SHE GOT ME INTO CIRCLE TIME AND PRESCHOOL AND COMING TO DO THINGS THAT OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE BEEN RELUCTANT TO DO, SO -- OH, AND MY MOM AND MY DAD WOULD TAKE HER PLACES WITH ME LIKE TO CHRIST LUTHERAN PLACE TO KEEP ME CALM DOWN . IT WAS REALLY GOOD. SANDY, WHAT WERE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU DID THAT YOU FEEL MAY HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE WITH ERIK? FIRST OF ALL, I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT THAT A PARENT HAS TO GRIEVE THE LOSS OF THE PERFECT CHILD . YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS NOT THE CHILD YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GETTING AND IN DOING THAT, IN GRIEVING FOR THAT, SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO EMBRACE OUR OWN CHILDHOOD GRIEFS AND WORK THROUGH THAT STUFF . AND THEN YOU ARE ABLE TO EMBRACE THE CHILD THAT YOU HAVE AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAXIMIZE WHATEVER THEIR POTENTIAL MIGHT BE . I HAD NO IDEA, OBVIOUSLY, I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A VERY DIFFICULT PROGNOSIS . BUT I WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT IT WAS . SO WHAT I DID, TOO, WAS I HAD SOME GREAT EARLY TEACHERS, EDESSA McNULTY AND MARY LOU EVANS AND I LEARNED WHAT PATTERN THEY SPOKE TO MY SON . AND THEN I TRY TO DUPLICATE THAT SO THAT THERE WOULD BE CONTINUITY FROM ONE ENVIRONMENT TO EXPLAIN EVEN DRESSES HAIRSTYLE AND MY MOM'S HAIRSTYLE WITH THE SAME. REALLY SIMILAR. AT IN LIFE THAT WAS IMPORTANT. IT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS SO DEFENSIVE AND I HAD TO GAIN HIS TRUST. ONE PERSON THAT I -- YOU HAVE GOTTEN TO KNOW, ERIK, IS I THINK ANOTHER ERIC . ERIC COURCHESNE. YES. WE TALKED TO HIM ABOUT YOU . LET'S HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ABOUT SITUATIONS LIKE YOURS. OH, GREAT. YES, SANDY IS INCREDIBLY DEDICATED MOM AND LIKE MANY MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN WHO HAVE AUTISM, SHE PUT HER HEART AND SOUL INTO HELPING HIM FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND NEVER GAVE UP AND WE KNOW FROM RECENT BUDDIES OF AUTISM THAT THE SOONER A CHILD GETS AFFECTED EARLY TREATMENT, THE MORE LIKELY THEY ARE TO HAVE A BETTER OUTCOME. BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT OTHER FACTORS MUST BE INVOLVED AS WELL . SOME MOMS PUT IN HUGE AMOUNT OF EFFORT AND THEIR SUCCESS -- THE CHILD'S SUCCESS ISN'T QUITE AS HIGH AS IT IS FOR ERIK . AND THAT'S BECAUSE THERE MAY BE OTHER FACTORS THAT ARE COMPLICATED . GENETIC FACTORS, NONGENETIC FACTORS, IT'S STILL UNCLEAR WHAT CAUSES AUTISM . IT STILL UNCLEAR WHETHER BIOLOGY IS THAT LEADS TO A MORE LIKELY BETTER OUTCOME VERSUS A LESS LIKELY, NOT A GOOD OUTCOME . WE DO KNOW THAT THERE ARE BRAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THOSE ARE REALLY GOOD OUTCOME AND THOSE THAT HAVE A POOR OUTCOME THAT CAN BE SEEN EITHER AT THE AGE OF ONE OR 2 . SO EVEN IF THAT EARLY AGE, THEY ARE SORT OF PREDISPOSING ATTRIBUTE OF THE BRAIN THAT SEEM TO SUGGEST A CHILD IS MORE LIKELY TO DO BETTER . WE KNOW THAT NOW, BUT WHEN ERIK WAS A LITTLE CHILD, NO ONE WAS DOING THAT SORT OF IMAGING . BUT I SUSPECT HE MAY HAVE HAD ONE OF THOSE CHARACTERISTICS THAT FORETOLD THE GOOD OUTCOME. AND THAT WAS ERIC COURCHESNE AUTISM RESEARCHER AND PROFESSOR OF NEUROSCIENCE IS IS AT UC SAN DIEGO . WHEN YOU HEAR THAT, SANDY, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT? WHAT YOU THINK HE IS SAYING THERE? I PUT ERIK INTO THE RESEARCH STUDY WHEN HE WAS 17 WITH ERIC COURCHESNE AND DR. KAREN PIERCE . UP UNTIL THAT POINT I WAS FLYING BLIND AND I KNEW SOME THINGS THAT IMPACTED HIM, LIKE VIDEOTAPING . I WAS VIDEOTAPED EVERYTHING AND I WOULD PLAY BACK TO HIM AND THEN I WILL TALK ABOUT OH, YOU WERE REALLY SAT THERE . I'LL TALK ABOUT HIS FEELINGS . GAVE CREDIBILITY TO HIS FEELINGS AND THAT DEVELOPED THE TRUST BETWEEN US AND I CALLED THOSE REMARKABLE BOLDNESS BECAUSE ALL OF A SUDDEN HE REALIZED I WAS TRUSTWORTHY . BUT AT 14 OR 15 WHEN DR. PIERCE CAME OVER TO FINISH UP A STUDY, I SAID YOU HAVE DONE ALL THESE TESTS, WHAT DO SEE? SMACKS SHE SAID HIS BRAIN LIGHTS UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE . AT THAT CHANGED MY WORLD. IT DOES SOUND LIKE ERIC COURCHESNE HAS LITTLE CAUTION FOR PEOPLE HEARING THE STORY SAYING THAT, WELL, YOU CAN HAVE A MOM WORKS REALLY HARD, WORKS WITH HER SON AND TRIES TO MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE, BUT IT MAY NOT WORK. NOT EVERYBODY GETS A ERIK BUT YOU ARE NOT THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO GET INTO YOU MAKE THE EFFORT . AND IN THIS DAY AND AGE, I THINK THAT THE EFFORT IS WORTH IT . BECAUSE YOU WANT TO MAXIMIZE A PERSON'S POTENTIAL BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO OUTLIVE YOU, CHANCES ARE, AND YOU WANT TO HAVE -- YOU WANT TO FEEL ENCOURAGED . YOU WANT TO FEEL HOPEFUL . AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I ENJOY DOING IS I GO TO THE MOMS GROUP AT THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR AUTISM RESEARCH . THEY HAVE A MOMS DINNER ONCE PER MONTH AND I GET TO BE THERE AS THAT WHITE-HAIRED PERSON. I SURVIVED . SPLIT -- AND A SPEAKER FOR THE GROUP EARLIER THIS YEAR IN JANUARY . IT WAS FUN. YOU GET TO ENCOURAGE OTHER PARENTS TO DO EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING THAT THEY CAN. ERIK, WHAT KIND OF LOWER YOU PRACTICE? SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW. SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU WANT TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE LIKE YOU WERE HELPED? EXACTLY . ESPECIALLY WITH THEIR INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS, SOME WITH TRANSITION PLANS FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE, HELPING OTHERS WITH SPINAL THAT SPECIAL LEADS TO EXCEED THEIR OWN EXPECTATIONS. WELL, MY GUEST HAS BEEN ERIK WEBER, SWORN IN TO THE CALIFORNIA STATE BAR ON THURSDAY AND HE ALSO GREW UP WITH AUTISM . ERIK, THANKS. THANK YOU . AND AND SANDY WEBER IS HIS MOTHER . THANK YOU FOR COMING AND. APPRECIATE YOUR TIME .
San Diego's newest attorneys took an oath of professional conduct before a panel of judges on Thursday. Erik Weber was among them. He raised his right hand and repeated the oath aloud, in part to faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney and counselor at law to the best of his knowledge and ability.
It was something his mother, Sandy Weber, said at one time seemed impossible because her son has autism.
"This child who was never supposed to be any more than 18 months old cognitively, and who I was told at 5 should be put in a home, here he is," Weber said.
As a child he wasn't able to speak, stand up or raise his hand, and now he's taken the oath to become a lawyer, she said.
Weber said she was able to work with her son because she let go of the idea of a perfect child.
“In doing that, sometimes we have to embrace our own childhood griefs, then you are able to embrace the child you have,” Weber told KPBS Midday Edition on Monday.
Erik Weber said he doesn't think law school was harder for him than the other students, just a different challenge. He graduated from California Western School of Law in San Diego.
"In the first year, my grades weren’t that good," he said. "But as time went on, I began getting comfortable with what I was doing."
He plans to practice special education law to help other people like him.
Eric Courchesne, a neurosciences professor at UC San Diego, has known the Webers since Erik was 14.
"I’m just so impressed," Courchesne said. "His story is unusual and very rare and quite a success."
Courchesne's research focuses on the neurobiology of autism. He said research shows one way to determine whether children with autism will have good or poor outcomes is by imaging their brains.
"We know that now. But when Erik was a little child, no one was doing that sort of imaging," Courchesne said. “But I suspect he might have had one of those characteristics that foretold a good outcome.”
