Draft:Carol Buck
Caroline "Carol" Grace Buck (May 4, 1920 – September 30, 1992) was the daughter of Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck. She was the inspiration for Pearl Buck's memoir, The Child Who Never Grew. The book discusses Carol's mental disability as a result of untreated phenylketonuria. It is one of the first public discussions about raising a child with intellectual disabilities.[1]
Carol was born in China on May 4, 1920. By the age of 4, she was showing signs of delayed development. "The child’s span of attention was very short indeed, far shorter than it should have been at her age," her mother wrote. "Much of her fleet light running had no purpose – it was merely motion. Her eyes, so pure in their blue, were blank when one gazed into their depths. They did not hold or respond."[2]
Carol was later diagnosed with phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare genetic disorder that. An individual with PKU is unable to break down the amino acid phenylalynine into tyrosine, resulting in a buildup of phenylalanine in the blood. When left untreated in early life, PKU can lead to intellectual disability, seizures, behavioral problems, and mental disorders. At the time of her birth, PKU was not well understood, as the disorder was only discovered in 1934. The idea of treating PKU with a diet low in protein began to be accepted in the 1950's.[3] However, Carol's PKU diagnosis was not confirmed until around 1960.[4]
Carol's condition had a profound impact on her mother, inspiring Pearl S. Buck to write The Child Who Never Grew (1950), a memoir that was one of the first public discussions about raising a child with intellectual disabilities. The book helped reduce the stigma surrounding intellectual disabilities and brought awareness to the challenges faced by families of mentally disabled individuals.[5]
In order to properly care for her disabilities, Carol was enrolled in the Vineland Training School in New Jersey when she was 9 years old.[6] She lived at Vineland until her passing in 1992 at the age of 72. She is interred on the grounds of the Vineland School.[7][8]
References
[edit]- ^ Finger, S; Christ, S (2004), "Pearl S. Buck and Phenylketonuria", Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 13 (1): 44–57, doi:10.1080/09647040490885484, PMID 15370336
- ^ Buck, P (1950), The Child Who Never Grew (2nd ed.), Home Base, New York: Woodbine House, p. 36-37
- ^ Christ, S (2003), "Asbjørn Følling and the Discovery of Phenylketonuria", Journey of the History of the Neurosciences: Basic and Clinical Perspectives, 12 (1): 44–54
- ^ Centerwall, S; Centerwall, W (2000), "The Discovery of Phenylketonuria: The Story of a Young Couple, Two Retarded Children, and a Scientist", Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 105 (89): 89–104, doi:10.1542/peds.105.1.89, PMID 10617710
- ^ "Parallels in Time: A History of Developmental Disabilities". The Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities. 2024.
- ^ Finger, S; Christ, S (2004), "Pearl S. Buck and Phenylketonuria", Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 13 (1): 44–57, doi:10.1080/09647040490885484, PMID 15370336
- ^ "Historical Society Dedicates Carol Buck Gravestone", SNJ Today, vol. 15, no. 10, Cumberland County, NJ, p. 3, April 20, 2022
- ^ Carol Buck at Find a Grave