By Ann Petersen, SBA Columnist | 04/30/26
(SBA) - Have you ever wondered what happens to severely disabled, non-verbal individuals who may appear able-bodied when they age-out of the protections provided by the government through public education? Although you may know of some organizations (Mid-Step Services, for example) who work with disabled adults, there is very little visibility for them on social media, in movies and television shows or in literature. That reality may change a bit due to the recent publication of Woody Brown’s first novel, UPWARD BOUND recently named a “Read with Jenna” pick via The Today Show.
This book came to my attention from a recent article that I read questioning the validity of the method used by Woody Brown to write his novel. Brown is a severely autistic, non-verbal individual who holds both an undergraduate degree from UCLA, as well as an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. Brown verbalizes using facilitated communication (FC), a highly controversial practice where a disabled person uses keyboards or letter boards to produce letters that are then “translated” via a scribe who transfers the letters into prose. The practice has been debunked (and often referred to as “Ouija Board” effect) by professionals who maintain that the scribe (facilitator) is actually using their own words, rather than transcribing the text that the non-verbal individual intends.
Brown suffers from “echolia” or the involuntary recitation of words and phrases that he garners from audio programming that he listens to as a way to keep himself calm. He is unable to verbalize independent thoughts on his own. Brown communicates by pointing at a letter board using a technique called Rapid Prompting Method and his facilitator (his mother, Mary Brown) translates his indicated letter combinations into sentences and paragraphs. The question becomes can an individual who is incapable of original communication due to their disabilities able to reflect their sophisticated inner thoughts via such a technique?
The way that Woody Brown and his mother Mary wrote his book has not been rigorously evaluated and in a recent demonstration of his writing technique, the observers questioned how a group of what looks like a random jumble of unrelated letters could then be translated in sophisticated prose. No one knows if Woody Brown wrote his book or even graduated from college and subsequently earned an advanced degree or not. Is it Woody who is communicating or is his mother the true author of this intriguing book? The reader just must trust the pair. According to Mary Brown, the process of writing this first book (Woody is apparently at work on his second novel) took weeks and months as the pair were only able to produce a single paragraph a day.
The story takes place in a dismal adult daycare center, called ironically “Upward Bound,” for severely disabled individuals in Los Angeles, California. The “clients” live elsewhere (often in group homes) but spend their weekdays in a never-ending cycle of useless activities (think gluing cotton balls onto tongue depressors, for example) that keep them occupied, but completely unstimulated. The highlights of their days include short periods of time in their tiny pool and a weekly trip to Target where the clients walk in a line through the store, never purchasing a single thing or varying from the proscribed route.
The narrator of the story is Walter (apparently based on the author’s persona) who although he has managed to complete a community college degree has nowhere else to go. Walter cannot even communicate with the staff or other clients at the center as no one is trained in FC and there are no letter boards. Other characters in the story include Ann who works a summer job as the camp lifeguard, but who is drawn to the beautiful Tom, a stunningly attractive young man with cerebral palsy, who shares the attraction with Ann, but has no way of communicating with her. The center is rife with unrequited non-connections.
There are no real “bad guys” in the book. Dave, the center’s director, is a frustrated would-be actor who took the job, even though he had no qualifications for the position, and satisfies his desire for theater by directing a yearly Christmas program featuring all of the clients. One questionable hire is Carlos, a young man with a sketchy background who turns out to be an outstanding staffer with true empathy for the individuals with whom he works. Author Woody Brown is able to provide a snapshot into the sad, but not horrific, lives of the clients who spend days and years among people with whom they cannot communicate. Everyone, from the clients with a variety of disabilities to the staff who care for the clients benignly, are simply marching in place. The reader is left with the impression that the situation will remain the same for years to come.
I read this book in one sitting. The story, although sad, is not dismal. The characters are well-developed; the story line is compelling and the chance to see into the silence of individuals who cannot speak for themselves make this book an intriguing one. I would urge you to read it and to look forward to whatever work Woody Brown writes in the future.
