Torey Hayden - Murphy's Boy (SILENT BOY) Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden (born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana) is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counselling children with special needs.Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn’t talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn’t been out of the building in the four years since he’d come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn’t take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16.Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin’s adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked. Then he started to draw and paint and showed himself to have a quick wit and a rolling, seething, murderous hatred for his stepfatherHayden writes very readably. Though Kevin must have been scary, he is rarely scary to her and this is not a frightening book. It is reassurance we all need. In the wreck of this world, love still works. We can heal each other, if we listen. MURPHY’S BOY (SILENT BOY) remained Torey’s favorite book for many years. “I felt I had found my writing voice with MURPHY’S BOY, “ she says. “My youth showed a little too much for comfort in ONE CHILD and I would completely re-write SOMEBODY ELSE’S KIDS, if I had my choice.”
Torey Hayden - Silent Boy (Murphy's Boy) Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden (born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana) is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counselling children with special needs.Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn’t talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn’t been out of the building in the four years since he’d come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn’t take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16.Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin’s adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked. Then he started to draw and paint and showed himself to have a quick wit and a rolling, seething, murderous hatred for his stepfatherHayden writes very readably. Though Kevin must have been scary, he is rarely scary to her and this is not a frightening book. It is reassurance we all need. In the wreck of this world, love still works. We can heal each other, if we listen. MURPHY’S BOY (SILENT BOY) remained Torey’s favorite book for many years. “I felt I had found my writing voice with MURPHY’S BOY, “ she says. “My youth showed a little too much for comfort in ONE CHILD and I would completely re-write SOMEBODY ELSE’S KIDS, if I had my choice.”
What do You think about Murphy's Boy (2002)?
Murphy's Boy is the incredible true story about a psychologist Torey Hayden, who took on 15-year-old Kevin's case. Kevin was known as "zoo-boy" because he baraccaided himself under a table with chairs all around and hadn't spoken a word in eight years! Through Hayden's love, compassion, and constant devotion and persistence, she not only was able to get to Kevin to start talking again, but she uncovered a shocking violent history, along with a secret that had been filed away and forgotten. Although this story is incredibly long, it is a story that can change a human soul! It is very well-written and pulls out every emotion in you as you follow Hayden's story in trying to free a trapped Kevin from his past and his inability to speak!There were surprises around every character and tears that you couldn't stop rolling down your face and hitting certain pages of the book. What makes this book even more of a must read is that it is a TRUE autobiography!
—Alicia Stevens
What an amazing story. What makes it, in part, so amazing is it is true. Really happened. Several things about this true account of Kevin's story and Hayden's part in it made this book hard to put down. It was one of those books I found myself anxious to get back to when I couldn't be reading it. Hayden first meets Kevin sequestered under a table and unwilling to speak to anyone for the past 6+ years. His fears have caged he and his voice and the facility he lives in is desperate to know what to do with him. They call in Torey Hayden who has known experience with kids who can't or won't speak. She's their last resort when it comes to Kevin. This book is the story of Torey and Kevin and their journey together to his healing. As she builds trust with him she discovers how he slipped through the cracks of the system and how the broken system kept him trapped in his abusive past. This book isn't amazing because of Kevin's horrific past but because of Hayden's care and treatment of him and ultimately the way his story ends. Torey Hayden writes a true story that reads like fiction - it is engaging and well-written. It tears at the compassionate heart but it strengthens the belief most of us hold in love and care. The most broken person can be healed if they allow even just one person in. After you read the book, and you should read it, check out this quick update in Kevin's voice:http://www.torey-hayden.com/murphys_b... This is a story that will stick with me for quite some time.
—Beth Peninger
Stupendo. Ho già dichiarato il mio amore per Torey e non posso far altro che ribadirlo. In questo libro emerge soprattutto la tenacia di questa meravigliosa maestra e psicologa. Nonostante tutte le difficoltà incontrate con questo ragazzo, Kevin, nonostante la mancanza di progressi, gli ostacoli burocratici, il silenzio oppressivo, addirittura un episodio di violenza, lei non si ferma. Non si arrende. Ha davvero della magia dentro di sè, Torey, la magia della passione e dell'amore puro e smisurato per un lavoro. Un libro sincero. Toccante. Da leggere sicuramente. Non sono 5 stelle solo perchè ho fatto fatica ad affezionarmi a Kevin. Mi ha scatenato sentimenti contrastanti, ho provato rabbia verso di lui ma anche compassione e affetto e alla fine un senso di meravigliosa rivincita.
—Laura Noi
