Miami, Fla., March 17.

An out-of-town writer came up to Paul Richards today and asked the Oriole manager if he thought his ball club would be improved this year.

Now Richards, of course, is known as a deep thinker as baseball managers go.
He can often make the complex ridiculously simple, and vice versa.
This happened to be vice versa, but even so, the answer was a masterpiece.

"It's a whole lot easier", he said, "to increase the population of Nevada, than it is to increase the population of New York city".
And with that he walked off to give instruction to a rookie pitcher.

"That is undoubtedly a hell of a quote", said the writer, scratching his head.
"Now, if I can just figure out what he's talking about, I'll use it".

Two spots open

This was just Richard's way of saying that last year the Birds opened spring training with a lot of jobs wide open.
Some brilliant rookies nailed them down, so that this spring just two spots, left and right field, are really up for grabs.

It should be easier to plug two spots than it was to fill the wholesale lots that were open last year, but so far it hasn't worked that way.

This angle of just where the Orioles can look for improvement this year is an interesting one.
You'd never guess it from the way they've played so far this spring, but there remains a feeling among some around here that the Orioles still have a chance to battle for the pennant in 1961.

Obviously, if this club is going to move from second to first in the American League, it will have to show improvement someplace.
Where can that improvement possibly come from?

You certainly can't expect the infield to do any better than it did last year.

Robby could be better

.

Brooks Robinson is great, and it is conceivable that he'll do even better in 1961 than he did in 1960.
You can't expect it, though.
Robby's performance last year was tremendous.

It's the same with Ron Hansen and Jim Gentile.
If they do as well as they did in 1960 there can be no complaint.
They shouldn't be asked to carry any more of the burden.

Hansen will be getting a late spring training start, which might very well set him back.
He got off to an exceptional start last season, and under the circumstances probably won't duplicate it.

There are some clubs which claim they learned something about pitching to him last year.
They don't expect to stop him, just slow him down some with the bat.
He'll still be a top player, they concede, because he's got a great glove and the long ball going for him.
But they expect to reduce his over-all offensive production.

Breeding might move up

.
Gentile can hardly do better than drive in 98 runs.
Don't ask him more.

I have a hunch Marv Breeding might move up a notch.
But even so, he had a good year in 1960 and won't do too much better.

So, all in all, the infield can't be expected to supply the added improvement to propel the Birds from second to first.

And the pitching will also have trouble doing better.
Richards got a great performance out of his combination of youth and experience last season.

Where, then, can we look for improvement?

"From Triandos, Brandt and Walker", answers Richards.
"They're the ones we can expect to do better".

The man is right, and at this time, indications are that these three are ready for better seasons.

Triandos hasn't proved it yet, but he says he's convinced his thumb is all right.
He jammed it this spring and has had to rest it, but he says the old injury hasn't bothered him.
If he can bounce back with one of those 25 home runs years, the club will have to be better off offensively.

I'm still not convinced, though, I'll have to see more of him before predicting that big year for him.
Hank Foiles, backed up by Frank House who will be within calling distance in the minors, make up better second line catching than the Birds had all last year, but Gus is still that big man you need when you start talking pennant.

To me, Brandt looks as though he could be in for a fine year.
He hasn't played too much, because Richards has been working on him furiously in batting practice.
He's hitting the ball hard, in the batting cage, and his whole attitude is improved over this time last year.

When he came to Baltimore, he was leaving a team which was supposed to win the National League pennant, and he was joining what seemed to be a second division American League club.
He was down, hard to talk to, and far too nonchalant on the field.
As of now, that all seems behind him.
He's been entirely different all spring.

And Walker looks stronger, seems to be throwing better than he did last year.
Let him bounce back, and he could really set up the staff.

So, if the Orioles are to improve, Brandt, Triandos and Walker will have to do it.

So far the platoons on left and right fielders don't seem capable of carrying the load.

Of course, this isn't taking into consideration the population of Nevada and New York city, but it's the way things look from here at this point.

Is the mother of an "autistic" child at fault?
(The "autistic" child is one who seems to lack a well-defined sense of self.
He tends to treat himself and other people as if they were objects -- and sometimes he treats objects as if they were people.
) Did his mother make him this way?

Some people believe she did.

We think differently.
We believe that autism, like so many other conditions of defect and deviation, is to a large extent inborn.
A mother can help a child adapt to his difficulties.

Sometimes she can -- to a large extent -- help him overcome them.
But we don't think she creates them.
We don't think she can make her child defective, emotionally disturbed or autistic.

The mother of a difficult child can do a great deal to help her own child and often, by sharing her experiences, she can help other mothers with the same problem.
Since little is known about autism, and almost nothing has been written for the layman, we'd like to share one experienced mother's comments.
She wrote:

total disinterest

"As the mother of an autistic child who is lacking in interest and enthusiasm about almost anything, I have to manipulate my son's fingers for him when he first plays with a new toy.
He wants me to do everything for him.

"You don't believe that autistic children become autistic because of something that happens to them or because of the way their mother treats them.
But I do and my psychiatrist does, too.
I know, that my son wants control and direction, but being autistic myself I cannot give full control or direction.

"One thing I notice which I have seldom heard mentioned.
This is that autistic people don't enjoy physical contact with others -- for instance, my children and I.
When I hold my son he stiffens his whole body in my arms until he is as straight and stiff as a board.
He pushes and straightens himself as if he can't stand the feeling of being held.
Physical contact is uncomfortable for him"!

This mother is quite correct.
As a rule, the autistic child doesn't enjoy physical contact with others.
Parents have to find other ways of comforting him.
For the young child this may be no more than providing food, light or movement.
As he grows older it may be a matter of providing some accustomed object (his "magic" thing).
Or certain words or rituals that child and adult go through may do the trick.
The answer is different for each autistic child, but for most there is an answer.
Only ingenuity will uncover it.

What future holds

"Dear Doctors: We learned this year that our older son, Daniel, is autistic.
We did not accept the diagnosis at once, but gradually we are coming to.
Fortunately, there is a nursery school which he has been able to attend, with a group of normal children.

"I try to treat Daniel as if he were normal, though of course I realize he is far from that at present.
What I do is to try to bring him into contact with reality as much as possible.
I try to give him as many normal experiences as possible.

"What is your experience with autistic children?
How do they turn out later"?

Many autistic children grow up to lead relatively normal lives.
Certainly, most continue to lack a certain warmth in communication with other people, but many adjust to school, even college, to jobs and even to marriage and parenthood.

Single-color use

question

-- A first grader colors pictures one solid color, everything -- sky, grass, boy, wagon, etc.
When different colors are used, she is just as likely to color trees purple, hair green, etc.

The other children in the class use this same coloring book and do a fairly good job with things their proper color.
Should I show my daughter how things should be colored?
She is an aggressive, nervous child.
Is a relaxed home atmosphere enough to help her outgrow these traits?
Answer

-- Her choice of one color means she is simply enjoying the motor act of coloring, without having reached the point of selecting suitable colors for different objects.
This immature use of crayons may suggest that she is a little immature for the first grade.

No, coloring isn't exactly something you teach a child.
You sometimes give them a little demonstration, a little guidance, and suggestions about staying inside the lines.
But most learn to color and paint as and when they are ready with only a very little demonstration.

Seen in decorating circles of late is a renewed interest in an old art: embroidery.
Possibly responsible for this is the incoming trend toward multicolor schemes in rooms, which seems slated to replace the one-color look to which we have been accustomed.
Just as a varitinted Oriental rug may suggest the starting point for a room scheme, so may some of the newest versions of embroidery.

One such, in fact, is a rug.
Though not actually crewel embroidery, it has that look with its over-stitched raised pattern in blue, pink, bronze and gold and a sauterne background.
The twirled, stylized design of winding stems and floral forms strongly suggests the embroidered patterns used so extensively for upholstery during the Jacobean period in England.

Traditional crewel embroidery which seems to be appearing more frequently this fall than in the past few years is still available in this country.
The work is executed in England (by hand) and can be worked in any desired design and color.

Among some recent imports were seat covers for one series of dining room chairs on which were depicted salad plates overflowing with tomatoes and greens and another set on which a pineapple was worked in naturalistic color.

Chinese influence

For a particularly fabulous room which houses a collection of fine English Chippendale furniture, fabric wall panels were embroidered with a typically Chinese-inspired design of this revered Eighteenth Century period.
Since the work is done by hand, the only limitation, it is said, "is that of human conception".

Modern embroidered panels, framed and meant to be hung on the wall, are another aspect of this trend.
These have never gone out of style in Scandinavian homes and now seem to be reappearing here and there in shops which specialize in handicrafts.
An amateur decorator might try her hand at a pair during the long winter evenings, and, by picking up her living room color scheme, add a decorative do-it-yourself note to the room.