Call Me Bill!

Born for Trouble
Billy was seven years old when he started to school. Donald was already in school learning to read and write. Billy couldn’t read or write. Seeing his younger brother do things he could not do frustrated him. He became increasingly agitated by his younger brother’s progress and his own inabilities. Mrs. Hammer, his teacher in the first and second grades, was unable to cope with him. Billy seemed to have a good mind but his hands and mind did not appear to work together. He simply couldn’t grasp the purpose of school.
If he had gone to school orally Billy probably would have done well, but he could not concentrate on instruction. He continually looked around the room to see what others were doing. Donald was a good student but Billy picked up the work of other children and scrawled his own name on their papers. He attempted to copy their answers. Classroom discipline in the early forties was meted out in spanking. Mrs. Hammer spanked Billy daily! Reports of his misconduct reached home and were duly rewarded with more spankings with the big leather belt reserved for all the children by his mother. None of this stopped him from throwing things in the classroom or being disruptive in dozens of ways.
The Reids decided to take Billy to Dr. Hindman for another opinion. The doctor’s advice was to ignore Billy’s wrong behavior. This had an adverse effect on Donald. He started to withdraw into a shell. He didn’t bring any school work home. If Billy was in the room he would not talk about his work. He would wait until Billy was out of hearing before talking about his school work. He did not want to say that Billy couldn’t do the same things. Esther continued to dress the two boys identically as twins.
Dr. Hindman, advised the Reids to take Billy to a psychiatrist who specialized in young children. The doctor told them that Billy’s IQ was about 70 which was below average but suggested that an oral exam might indicate a higher score. Orally, Billy could answer questions although with difficulty. The doctor’s opinion was that Donald and Billy should be separated at school.
Without Donald to run interference the teacher simply gave up on Billy. She confessed that she simply didn’t know how to teach him. His brothers and sisters were unable to teach him to read or write. He remained in the first grade for two years and the second grade for two more years. By the time he reached the third grade his habit of taking school work belonging to other children had become so frequent that he disrupted class. He began crying in school.
Whenever anyone corrected him Billy would hold his breath until he turned blue. It scared his family and his teachers. The doctor admitted that Billy was smart in a cunning way. He could get the attention he craved. At home family members left him alone and he would stop the behavior after a while. When he did resort to holding his breath they would pick him up, slap him on the back and force air into his lungs.
Billy resorted to other tactics. He delighted tripping children in the classroom as they came out of the room. The children cried. The teacher cried. She really tried to reach Billy but simply could not make him understand. Her last resort was written to the parents. “I cannot put up with Billy any longer. He has hurt too many children and disrupted classes too often.”
Dr. Hindman set up an appointment with a psychiatrist from Kent State University. Billy was examined for an hour. He sent Billy to an outside office while he talked with his mother. The doctor had a two-way mirror and could see Billy listening at the door to his explanations. He stepped into an inner room and told Billy’s parents to take him out of school and think about Donald. They gave Billy a label. He was “spastic”. He had a good IQ but he was cunning. He didn’t belong in an institution for the retarded. He was too smart for that.
The doctor advised the Reids to think about Donald. Billy didn’t care what happened to Donald. He had to be removed from school. At home Billy’s eyes and face were unable to hide the anger and rage he felt toward his younger brother, Donald, or his other siblings. Donald was unable to cope with school, especially with Billy’s disabilities. The doctor’s advice was to place Billy with a foster home that specialized in children like him. He contacted the Charden Health Department who found a family in Cincinnati who agreed to help. There were no other children in the home. It was not an adoption but a state sponsored arrangement. When it came time for Billy to go there, the woman in the home had a heart attack and foster adoption was ruled out.
When his younger brother, Donald, was moved to grade three, Billy was promoted with him. Although he could not read or write the opinion was that with Donald he might begin to learn. Mrs. Clasp, his third grade teacher could do nothing with him. Bill remembered her in later years as a sweet and kind person but she could not deal with the angry child in her room. Billy was convinced everyone was picking on him. Any attempt to teach or instruct him caused him to react with anger. He picked up whatever was convenient and used it as a weapon. He never considered the consequences. The decision was made by the school to permanently expel him from school. After Billy left school his third grade teacher, Mrs. Clasp, died of a heart attack. Some in the community blamed Billy’s tantrums for causing the fatal attack. It may be hard to believe that a ten year-old child could cause such problems, but it happened.
The fights continued at home. Since he was the older boy, Billy felt he had to win every argument and every fight. His memory of those fights with his brother and neighboring children was that he meant to hurt whomever he fought. Earl Reid’s response was simply to yell for him to stop. Billy was angry at his father but didn’t know why.
There were sixty acres with their house. During the years Billy was confined to home between the ages of ten and thirteen he spent much of his free time roaming over those acres and in the surrounding area. He broke into homes while the owners were at work or school. He stole anything of interest to a small boy, including money. He stole from his father and mother’s wallets when he had the opportunity. He discovered the effect of alcohol. His father kept a ready supply for his own use and made beer for his own consumption. Many of the neighbors made beer and kept alcohol in their homes. Billy drank whatever he found.
During the summer months Billy and Donald often spent nights in tents in the back yard. The boys would roam the neighborhood after their parents went to bed. They shared their beer, cigarettes and whiskey with other kids in the neighborhood. They amused themselves by placing debris in the road past their house at night. When drivers stopped they ran into the nearby corn field to hide.