I’ll try to amend it to the Constitution someday. I think this should be considered a basic human right offered to everyone, regardless of their diagnosis or society’s misunderstanding of their abilities. When I practice piano, drums and guitar, my brain is challenged and that’s such a wonderful feeling – only to be outdone by the feeling of accomplishment I get when I succeed at learning something new or master a specific technique. I began creating poetry at age 11 1/2 and started taking music and art lessons at age 13. I express myself best through poetry and creative writing. Most importantly, I was able to share what was in my head – my intelligence and competence, my ability to learn and express with spelled words my opinions, desires, thoughts and dreams. The clouds parted and the brightest ray of sunshine was bursting through – and everything about my daily life changed! It was as if duct tape had finally been ripped off my mouth, just when I thought it had been permanently adhered. When I learned to communicate with the letter board my life changed dramatically. We often don’t get credit for this brilliant disaster-prevention technique, especially when we’re younger and trying to figure out this game called “life.” We often get in trouble for the 3.0’s on the Ricter scale because society just doesn’t realize that we must have them to prevent the 8.0’s, when much more damage would occur. When it finally does, it’s labeled “behavior” and gets added to the ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) list of things to “extinguish.” I prefer to call these “pressure releases,” which are necessary to avoid total eruptions…just like an earthquake. But for me, that wasn’t the case and I know it’s not for my non-speaking (or unreliably verbal) colleagues on the autism spectrum.įrustration just builds and builds and simply must find a way out. At least you’d know that any frustration you’d be feeling during this experiment would be short-lived and that after an hour, you’d return to the societal status quo. When I give autism presentations, I challenge everyone to try it for just one hour go about your family or business life without speaking and you’ll get a taste of merely one aspect or challenge I face as a non-speaking autistic person in a predominantly pro-speaking society. To live in this society without the use of spoken language is so challenging. I was introduced to the letter board when I was 11½ years old. I have been silent most of my life, at least regarding using spoken language as a primary way of communicating.
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