Los Angeles Times

He couldn't speak as a child; now this autistic student is giving a commencement address

LOS ANGELES - When Bruno Youn was 3 years old, his mother noticed something was off about her firstborn son. He could parrot what he heard. He could remember and recite poetry. But he could not string together words to communicate his own thoughts.

She brought him in for testing and learned the truth: He had autism.

"I could not cope with the idea," said Josette Thompson, a Seal Beach physician. "I couldn't have a child with autism. Never talk. Never have a job. Never get married. You lose all those dreams for your child at once. I couldn't go there."

She needn't have worried.

On Saturday, Youn, now 22, will walk across the stage to receive his diploma at Claremont McKenna College. But before he does, he will stand before an

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times4 min readAmerican Government
Supreme Court’s Conservatives Lean In Favor Of Limited Immunity For Trump As An Ex-president
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative justices said Thursday they agree a former president should be shielded from prosecution for his truly official acts while in office, but not for private schemes that would give him personal gain. They al
Los Angeles Times3 min readCrime & Violence
Editorial: Pregnant Women Are Not Incubators. Antiabortion States Should Not Deny Them Emergency Care
It’s absurd that in the 21st century, the Supreme Court is debating how close to death pregnant women need to be before doctors can perform a medically necessary abortion. But that’s where we are nearly two years after this same court in the Dobbs de
Los Angeles Times3 min readCrime & Violence
Commentary: California Law Requires Police To Fix These Bad Policies. So Why Haven’t They?
Dozens of people across California have been wrongly convicted of crimes largely because of law enforcement officers’ flawed handling of eyewitness evidence. Courts have found instances of eyewitnesses feeling pressured to make an identification from

Related