the interview aftermath, E.R. (pp. 14–15)

Here the family enclosure is named from the outside, by hostile witnesses. As Hal lies pinned and unresponsive, the Deans turn on C.T. and diagnose the whole family apparatus: he is the boy's "mouthpiece," the machine that speaks in his place and, in speaking for him, "muzzling" — the same charge, "Instead of caring for the boy you send him here to enroll, compete?" The family's own defense inadvertently confirms it: C.T. keeps insisting Hal "functions" only "given a supportive situation," that "he's fine when he's by himself," that the Deans erred by asking "his support system" to leave the room. The system's case for itself is that the boy cannot be exposed without it — which is precisely the outsiders' indictment. What the family calls support the world calls a muzzle, and the boy on the floor is the evidence both sides read.