This is an ABC podcast.

In the 1950s, Clara Park was a mother of three children.

She was smart.

She'd studied literature at university.

She'd worked as an editor, and she had ambitions to write.

Those details are all important for understanding what happened to her later,

but for the moment she was a mother and a homemaker.

And in 1958, her fourth child, Jessica, was born.

When did Clara first become concerned about her daughter, Jessica?

Jessica Park was the last of her children.

And when Jessica was born, she immediately realized that Jessica was a little bit different.

In the sense that Jessica was mostly happy being left alone.

And Clara started wondering, was that unusual?

Was that a sign of her personality?

Was that a sign that there could be an issue in her development?

So at the beginning, it was just, you know, like many mothers wonder about the behavior of their children.

By the time Jessica was around two years old, Clara began taking detailed notes about the behavior of their children. By the time Jessica was around two years old,

Clara began taking detailed notes about her behavior,

categorizing them under headings like social or intellectual.

She realized that at some point,

if she had to explain to other psychologists or pediatricians,

Jessica's behavior, it might be good to rely on documents.

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