To Life!

COVER STORY

Zev Loeffler is busy
learning job skills:

Raising a
son With
autism.

16

December 15 • 2005

Elizabeth Applebaum
Contributing Editor

y the end of the trip, David Loeffler's glasses were broken, his
face bloody. His limbs were bruised from the beating he had
taken from his 8-year-old son, Zev.
Loeffler had known enough to request the plane's bulkhead seat.
This way, the boy wouldn't be able to kick anyone or grab the hair of
a passenger ahead. He also had Zev next to the window, which meant
only he would be beside his son.
What he hadn't counted on was that Zev would be so relentless on
this trip home from California.
But then, you never knew with Zev.
Today, Zev Loeffler is 26. He lives in a house in Southfield; his par-
ents live in Oak Park. He is learning job skills at the Oakland Schools
Autism Program in Royal Oak. He loves taking car rides and buying
gum at a gas station with his father.
Zev Loeffler is autistic. His case is among the most severe, with the
complex brain disorder encompassing everything from the relatively
manageable Asperger's Syndrome to variants so profound it can
cause a virtual inability to communicate.
When Zev was young, little was known about autism. Today, with

JEN

more than 500,000 Americans under age 21 diagnosed (about six of
every 1,000 children), it has increasingly claimed medical and public
attention.
Yet it remains a mystery.
What is known: Boys are more susceptible. Those with autism tend
to engage in repetitive behavior. Communication with autistic per-
sons is often difficult.
What is not known: the cause — though most researchers believe
it is genetic — and the cure.

The Beautiful Baby
When Zev was born, his mother, Sandy, says, "He was perfectly beau-
tiful." Soon after birth, he opened his eyes and looked all around,
ready for the world.
From early on, though, Zev was different. He rarely cried, even if he
was hungry or his diaper was wet. He spoke very few words. He could
be entranced for literally hours by a single object. He rocked back
and forth in his crib. He was in love with Legos, using them to build
towers and towers only. He was obsessed with the color green. He
never waved goodbye or jumped up to say hello. He liked to crawl
around in the same pattern. He didn't enjoy imaginative play. He was