Becoming Karl: A brain-injured baby's journey to recovery

Karl was born seriously damaged by toxoplasmosis. Barely alive at birth, he survived, but doctors said he would be ineducable. Today, forty-five-year-old Karl is articulate, talented, and living independently. In direct and flowing narrative, Norma Delgarno tells the story of her son: his traumatic birth and difficult neonatal months, his early learning struggles, and the cognitive therapy which enabled him to cope with mainstream education and enter the workforce, and finally, his development as an artist. Poignant and fascinating, this success story with its theme of one child's development against the odds has universal implications: the plasticity of the human brain and its ability to reorganise and repair itself under the right stimuli; the vital role that music and language play in the development of cognitive and motor skills; and the resilience and strength of the human spirit under stress.