Comments on: Raymond Taylor, Best Wheel of Fortune Contestant Ever

By: Christin

Christin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:02:01 +0000

Thanks for the article; Raymond was by far the best Wheel contestant ever. I wondered if anyone else remembered him, & I don’t even know what made me think of it all these years later. Remember the ‘Walk’ puzzle? I don’t know who the hell could have possibly guessed that. Or, ‘Vanna, put those L’s up there!’. There were also a few times where he’d land on a high amount on the wheel & pretend to fall over. It was so hilarious. But I liked how he was just another contestant at first, but by the second night, the audience was like, ‘yeah Raymond’ when it’d be his turn.

By: kaly arsin

kaly arsin — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:40:58 +0000

i was just roaming around youtube videos and came across this. i am someone who really gets attached to small things like this it interest me. but i think Raymond did have some type of medical condition. No i do not think he was a crack head or on drugs, its evident that he wasnt. he was able to understand the concept and went as far as two bonus rounds. Raymond was an interesting man, and I plan on finding out more information about him.

By: Pook Pook

Pook Pook — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:53:35 +0000

I fell in love with this guy. I pray that its not true that he passed away.

By: SC

SC — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 03:53:44 +0000

When I saw this, I immediately thought “autism spectrum”. My son has autism, and has a friend who acts in a way very similar to this…very bright, but no eye contact, very uncoordinated, unaware of how to act socially, grabbing Vanna and hugging her too hard…I have seen all of those. It makes me sad that people in this day and age so misunderstand autism. Not surprising for when this was filmed (mid 1990′s), but it stuns me that with the prevalence of autism now and the education of the general public, this man is so misunderstood. I hope he did not get made fun of his whole life…I’m sure he did. I wish I could find him and help him…

By: ted

ted — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:49:08 +0000

nope, thats just a guy on crack

By: Teri Smith

Teri Smith — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:58:19 +0000

When a friend posted the WoF clip with the crack head term I thought it was going to be some messed up thing. Instead I saw something that broke my heart. I have an uncle who is mentally handicapped and was called names but is a sweet guy who just wants to help. Although Im not an MD I have been around several level of folks with Autism and I think you nailed it. My friend’s daughter was also just diagnosed with ASD. I hope he’s happy where ever he is and not being laughed at. Thanks for your post.

By: AskRonReed

AskRonReed — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:33:06 +0000

I saw the footage and I would also like to think he had some sort of neurological impairment. Can anyone find out more about this guy. It would make for an intersting movie line.

By: Willie

Willie — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 20:43:59 +0000

Lovely comment, I’ve read a lot about savants, especially the great Daniel Tamment. Thanks for contributing!

By: VM

VM — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:53:21 +0000

It seems pretty clear that Raymond has autism spectrum disorder – and while the social skills were lacking – such as his eye contact – impulse control – lack of taking cues from those around him or the situation, he clearly had a gift for “seeing” words. His later obsession with the show and wanting to be a part of it would be a common aspect of autism/aspergers. He would not have understood why that was a “problem.” I’ve read that he has since passed away (but don’t know if that is a fact) – but you can see the unique gentle soul he was in this video. He probably could have trounced most of us with his word puzzle solving.