Macaw Teaches Boy to Talk.

By gail in Animals & Pets, World Records on Apr 20, 2007 at 4:28 pm

macaw

According to the Sun, this parrot, named Barney, has been teaching a little autistic boy to speak:

Dylan Hargreaves, four, has severe learning difficulties and had never uttered a single word.

But after listening to macaw Barney, he can now say “Night, night”, “Dad”, “Mum”, “Ta”, “Hello” and “Bye”.

And experts think he is close to his first two-syllable word.

Mum Michelle, 33, said: “Barney has changed our lives. Before he
arrived, Dylan would try to speak, but the sound came out as a noise.

“Then we got Barney and, a few months later, Dylan began to talk. It
was only the odd word, but I could clearly understand what he said.

“Every time I gave the bird something to say,
Dylan started trying to say the same thing. I think it’s because the
bird says things slower than me, which helps Dylan understand.

"Now when I put him to bed he says, ‘Night, night, mum’. It means the world to me.”


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  1. epak
    Apr 20th, 2007 at 7:32 pm

    isn’t ‘hello’ a two syllable word

  2. gail
    Apr 20th, 2007 at 7:49 pm

    Hah! You’re right epak. I missed that.

  3. andy
    Apr 20th, 2007 at 8:47 pm

    No source is more credible than the Sun.

  4. gail
    Apr 20th, 2007 at 9:29 pm

    Oh, it’s been reported elsewhere. I just happened to pick it up there. These things are always multisourced.

  5. Mossel
    Apr 22nd, 2007 at 1:26 pm

    This got me upset.
    How come a parrot can have more time and patience than that lazy-ass no-good needs-a-serious-slapping-around excuse for a mother ?!?!

  6. Mossel
    Apr 22nd, 2007 at 1:27 pm

    ( – and or father )

  7. Savannah
    Apr 22nd, 2007 at 8:23 pm

    its like paulie! when paulie teaches maria to talk right!

  8. dm
    Apr 23rd, 2007 at 12:30 am

    Mossel… maybe you should look up “autism”.

  9. brandon
    Apr 23rd, 2007 at 1:57 am

    look at this friggin’ mcawcaw

  10. Lu
    Apr 23rd, 2007 at 2:10 pm

    I read a book written by a autistic boy in which the mother taught him to speak by hand signs and also verbally by pushing him so if forced air up and he could thow out a word. It’s a amazing book; The Mind Tree by Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay.

  11. Mossel
    May 4th, 2007 at 1:44 pm

    I actually do know alot about autism, thats partly why this got me upset.

    So tell me; what did the parrot do that the parents couldnt? (with visual aids, toys, love and patience)


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