Sudden fame for Tim Walz's son focuses attention on challenges of people with learning disabilities

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An unexpected highlight of the Democratic National Convention on Night Three was an outburst of pride from the son of vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

“That’s my dad!” 17-year-old Gus Walz could be seen exclaiming Wednesday night. He stood, tears streaming down his face, and pointed to his father, the governor of Minnesota, who accepted the party nomination for vice president.

Gus wept through much of the 16-minute speech, and took the stage with his family afterward, wrapping his dad in a tight bear hug, burying his face in his shoulder.

The high school senior's joy quickly went viral. He was still trending Thursday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. And his newfound fame is focusing attention on the challenges of people with learning disabilities. His parents recently revealed to People magazine that Gus has ADHD, an anxiety disorder and something called a non-verbal learning disorder. Searches on Google have spiked for the disorder and for the teen’s name.

There’s no standard definition for non-verbal learning disorder. It doesn’t mean people with it can’t talk. But according to the NVLD Project at Columbia University, people with it “struggle with a range of conditions that include social and spatial disabilities. Often they are marginalized and isolated; consequently, they can experience social barriers throughout their lives.”

There has long been tension between Washington and local school districts over federal funding of special education. Federal law requires schools to provide special education services, but doesn't come close to covering the costs. When passed in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) committed the federal government to paying 40% of the average per-pupil expenditure for special education. But currently it's more like 13%.

That's one reason the Democratic Party platform adopted at the convention this week says, "We support fully funding IDEA to prioritize students with disabilities and the special educator workforce.” This year's Republican Party platform doesn't mention special education. But dozens of national education groups have long called for fully funding the costs that IDEA imposes on local schools.

The actual prospects for more money under a Harris-Walz administration are unclear. Much would depend on the future federal budget picture and the composition of the next Congress. And platforms aren’t binding on candidates.

But Walz as governor has approved large increases in education funding, including special education. The two-year budget he signed in 2024 included a 6% increase in per-pupil funding for local schools, and it indexes future funding to inflation. It also included a large boost in state support for special education to help fill the gap in federal funding.

Securing full funding for special education on the national level is the “number one public policy priority” of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, said John Eisenberg, the group's executive director. The association calls the federal act “first and foremost a civil rights law, meant to protect the right of students with disabilities to be educated in the nation’s public schools.”

Eisenberg said the unkept federal commitment is a problem across the country. He said the most that Washington has provided over the years has been 16%, which means local districts and states have had to bear most of the costs of the mandates under the act.

“The costs of educating students with disabilities is massively on the rise,” Eisenberg said. “The number of students with disabilities has doubled since 1975. The types of student needs have exponentially grown since 1975.”

While bills to mandate full funding have attracted bipartisan support over the years, they've failed to become law.

Governor Walz, a former social studies teacher, and first lady Gwen Walz, a former English teacher, revealed Gus' learning issues in a statement to People magazine that was published this week.

“When our youngest Gus was growing up, it became increasingly clear that he was different from his classmates,” they said. “Gus preferred video games and spending more time by himself.” They went on to say, "When he was becoming a teenager, we learned that Gus has a non-verbal learning disorder in addition to an anxiety disorder and ADHD, conditions that millions of Americans also have.”

The Walzes told People that it took time to figure out how to set Gus up for future success, "but what became so immediately clear to us was that Gus’ condition is not a setback — it’s his secret power.”

They also said he's “brilliant, hyper-aware of details that many of us pass by, and above all else, he’s an excellent son.” They didn't go into detail about how his condition has affected his life, however, and the Walz campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. They have previously noted that Gus got his driver's license last fall.

Associated Press reporter Heather Hollingsworth contributed to this story from Mission, Kansas.

Hope Walz, left, and Gus Walz, children of Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, right, hug after their father concludes a speech during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is joined on stage by his wife Gwen, and children Gus and Hope, on the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (Mike Segar/Pool via AP)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, second from right, appears on stage with his wife Gwen Walz, from right, son Gus Walz and daughter Hope Walz after speaking during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's son Gus and wife Gwen react during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, center, walks off stage with his wife Gwen Walz, right, and son Gus Walz after speaking during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, second from right, poses with his wife Gwen Walz, from right, son Gus Walz and daughter Hope Walz after speaking during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, second from right, poses with his wife Gwen Walz, from right, son Gus Walz and daughter Hope Walz after speaking during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, second from right, poses with his wife Gwen Walz, from right, son Gus Walz and daughter Hope Walz after speaking during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Gus Walz cries as Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz hugs his son Gus during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)