Malnourished, non-speaking boys face long recovery

An expert says four Colorado boys who were found undernourished and unable to speak face a long path to recovery, but there is hope.

The brothers, ages 2 to 6, were removed from a filthy Denver apartment last month and placed in state custody. Their parents, Wayne Sperling and Lorinda Bailey, appeared in court Tuesday on child-abuse charges.

Police say the boys were malnourished and weren’t toilet trained. One officer says they made infant-like noises to each other.

Diane Baird, a pediatrics instructor at the University of Colorado medical school, says the boys will need a healing relationship that teaches them they can trust adult caregivers.

Baird, who isn’t directly involved in the case, says they face longer-term problems in building relationships with other people and in their sense of self-worth.

But she says human beings have an amazing capacity to recover.