Abusive babysitter

A re-enactment of what happened to Chris and his duck.

The abusive babysitter was a babysitter in Chris's neighborhood by the last name of Roach who watched Chris when he was 1.5 years old. According to Cole, Roach was "unfit" as a babysitter and Barbara and Bob left Chris alone with her every day for years. She allegedly locked him in a room while she babysat him. Chris was so traumatized that he didn't talk for a few years. He blames this event for his autism (though generally speaking, symptoms for autism begin to show around age 1.5 years anyway).

The great irony is that he now locks himself in a room.

What may have happened

Chris could possibly have been given an excuse by his mother for his muteness--it's almost certain he does not remember being 1 1/2 years old. Barbara could have simply been at a loss as to why her son was not speaking, and explained it away when he came of age to go to school as being the fault of their babysitter. Perhaps she just wanted something to blame other than his autism or wanted to gain sympathy about it from his teachers.

Another possibility is that Chris, being 1 1/2, was stupider than he is today. Knowing that Chris was pampered excessively by his parents even before his autism, it isn't hard to suspect that Chris assumed that all adults would drop everything they were in the middle of and do as he said. At one point, Roach may have gotten pissed off and shut Chris in his room for interrupting her while she was on the phone or doing something important. Chris being a spoiled toddler, he would have been unable to understand what he did was rude, could have concluded that there was a slight chance that every time he spoke to an adult there was a slight chance that they'd start screaming and stuff him in his room. Knowing Chris, he may have deduced that in order to avoid being screamed at, he'd have to stop talking altogether. Since Chris was afraid to tell his parents anything for fear of being punished, it went untreated and he entered primary school while partly mute. This may have led to his diagnosis and by extension the rest of his pathetic life.