Two-year-old Jacob Frank looked at the light in the waiting room and flicked his fingers. He felt tiny sparks leave his fingers and head towards the light. He let out a squeal of excitement and tried the light again from a different angle. Once again, he flicked his fingers and felt the sparks. Jacob didn't realize that some of the staff at the developmental pediatrician's exchanged knowing looks. He didn't notice that he was the only one who felt the sparks. When he left the developmental pediatrician's office an hour later, he wasn't aware that he was now labeled autistic.
Two years later, Jacob sat with his mother in the headmistress's office. He was scheduled for an interview in a special school. The headmistress asked Mrs. Frank if Jacob knows his colors. When she responded that he does, she asked him to say the color of each shape on a page in a book. Jacob looked at the book and said, "Yed, boo, nee, we-ow, urry, nee, poo-poo, bat, noun, white." The headmistress asked Jacob to say the shapes. Jacob said, "Coocoo, cawe, tian, retan, obu, art." The headmistress then asked him to name the letters on the page. After Jacob finished, the headmistress commented that he's very smart, but his speech is very unclear. She then took out a book with pictures and asked Jacob to point to the foot. Jacob started to point, but felt a spark come from his finger and burn a hole in the page. He immediately stamped it out with his bare hand and ripped the page to hide evidence of the hole he assumed would be there. All of a sudden, the room flipped over. Mrs. Frank and the headmistress did not seem to notice, but Jacob was suddenly aware that he was standing on the ceiling. He quickly flipped himself upside down.
"Does he do that often?" the headmistress asked.
"It helps him regulate," Mrs. Frank explained.
"I see he can't point," the headmistress commented.
"It's difficult for him," Mrs. Frank said. She turned Jacob right side up so he can continue his interview. Jacob still felt the world spinning and bit his mother in frustration. When he did not release his bite, Mrs. Frank held his nose, forcing him to open his mouth.
"I don't think we're equipped for Jacob," the headmistress said. "His speech is so unclear, he has lots of sensory issues, and he is lacking basic skills. What other schools did you apply to?"
Mrs. Frank mentioned several special ed schools including one ABA program.
"I think the ABA program is the best one for him," the headmistress said. "He really needs to learn lots of basic skills before he could start an academic program. He also needs a really good speech therapist. If I didn't see the colors, shapes, and letters, I wouldn't know what he was saying."
Jacob started crying and didn't stop until a while after he got home. After that day, he stopped speaking unless he really needed something. He was no longer happy and carefree and gave his ABA teachers in his new school a hard time. He was still going through a difficult time seven years later when Professor McGonagall came to his house to inform his family that Jacob is a wizard.