Spellers...The Movie (Documentary)

[Neonatal RRT]

My interest started out with the Telepathy Tapes...and they are quite interesting, but a more practical approach to this is this topic of "communication". It wasn't that long ago that brail for the blind or sign language for the deaf was considered controversial...with skeptics actively trying to discredit it as a form of communication. Right now...we have a large population of our autism community in which they are fighting for their voice. Apraxia...common within a segment of the non-speaking population of autistics, but not limited to that, is a form of motor dysfunction that can, in some cases, be described as a mind-body disconnect. The use of letter boards and key boards for communication is the way for non-speakers to communicate. It seems so simple. Yet, we have an active community of people out there that want to delegitimize it.

There is a paradigm out there in which nearly ALL of our tests for cognition involve some form of fine motor skill...point to this, fill in the box, put these objects together, tap this on the computer...and for a lot of these children, they might not be able to do this. The conclusion..."They are not in there." "They will never be able to communicate." "They are mentally retarded"...whatever the case may be. For a parent to seek out professional help only to have the rug pulled out from under them in terms of hope. For the child trapped in silence...trapped in their body...and to seek out help and have them disregarded. It's pissing me off. Seriously. How ignorance and cognitive bias of these professionals can be so cruel.

Whether right now...you are skeptical about telepathy amongst the non-speakers...please do not be so cruel to deny the legitimacy of their communication via the letter and key boards.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Is the autism community that disconnected from this that we don't know what to say on the topic? I wrongly thought this would be a "hot topic" of discussion.

Interesting.

Are there any "spellers" on this forum?

 

[Richelle-H]

Being autistic presents challenges to communication without any additional deficits. By the time I was 7 I already had the reasoning powers of an adult and a vocabulary to match, but the adults around me could/would not treat me as anything but a child, which I have to admit instilled more than a little anger as I grew up.

Even so, I have always communicated more efficiently, with less misunderstanding, by text rather than by speech. Part of that is the ability to organize and revise, whereas when I speak, I may lack the requisite focus to succinctly impart my views or information.

However, I will admit to being, on the whole, a terrible speller. Imagine the chaos if we spoke in a manner that required us to spell out each concept, thought, or word to one's audience.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Being autistic presents challenges to communication without any additional deficits. By the time I was 7 I already had the reasoning powers of an adult and a vocabulary to match, but the adults around me could/would not treat me as anything but a child, which I have to admit instilled more than a little anger as I grew up.

Even so, I have always communicated more efficiently, with less misunderstanding, by text rather than by speech. Part of that is the ability to organize and revise, whereas when I speak, I may lack the requisite focus to succinctly impart my views or information.

However, I will admit to being, on the whole, a terrible speller. Imagine the chaos if we spoke in a manner that required us to spell out each concept, thought, or word to one's audience.

I agree...verbal and written language is very limiting. On the other hand, if that is your only way to communicate with certain people...you do what you must, as frustrating and limiting it is.

Maybe...someday...all of humanity will have the ability to communicate with each other on a much higher bandwidth...with true meaning, so there is no interpretation nor translation needed. It would erase any issues with miscommunication. I am thinking humans likely have this ability...some do...but the vast majority of us lack the skills to access that ability. I try to be optimistic, if nothing else. Another discussion perhaps.

 

[Glennwood Road Ent 21]

Being autistic presents challenges to communication without any additional deficits. By the time I was 7 I already had the reasoning powers of an adult and a vocabulary to match, but the adults around me could/would not treat me as anything but a child, which I have to admit instilled more than a little anger as I grew up.

Even so, I have always communicated more efficiently, with less misunderstanding, by text rather than by speech. Part of that is the ability to organize and revise, whereas when I speak, I may lack the requisite focus to succinctly impart my views or information.

However, I will admit to being, on the whole, a terrible speller. Imagine the chaos if we spoke in a manner that required us to spell out each concept, thought, or word to one's audience.

Correct, same thing as me too.