Communication, Interaction, and Autism Acceptance
Communication, Interaction and Autism Acceptance Communication, Interaction, and
Communication, Interaction and Autism Acceptance Communication, Interaction, and
"Speechless" has been picked up by ABC. "Speechless”, is
Autistic high school student Dillan Barmache, has so much to say and
Martin Pistorius, author of the New York Times best-seller, Ghost Boy: The
My body movement speed is not average. It is not
For over ten years Martin Pistorius was trapped in his own body, fully cognizant, but unable to speak or move. He was surrounded by people who believed he was incapable of thinking and tried desperately to get just one person to notice. His story serves as a wake-up call for all of us to drastically change our assumptions about speech and intellectual capacity as well as the need to radically reform expectations and treatment of people with complex communication needs.
Having opportunities to learn with everyone could access more opportunities for all.
Dillan Barmache, a 14 year old autistic student, delivers his powerful 8th grade commencement speech using his iPad and brings the crowd to their feet.
This poem is for my young friends: Evie, Ty, Max, Fallon, Mu, Jack, Emma, H., Philip, Oliver, Brooke, Henry, Miri, Cody, MissG, MasterL, and many others I cannot name here but I know are going to grow up to change the conversation. You make me very happy!
“Some people think that kids who are autistic can’t handle getting a transplant. Kids with autism can handle it.” Lief O'Neill
‘Tis the season and we've teamed up with MyVoice for
Best place for all autistic people, all disabled not disabled people, all families to speak together. Speak together for acceptance, inclusion, communication, and rights for all people. I am thinking when you look closely, this is what autism is.
"Learning is easy when the teacher knows you can learn. " Henry Frost
Today is Autistics Speaking Day, a day to remind the world that we actually speak every day, even if we do it with our fingers.
Dr. Caroline Musselwhite addresses the topic of overall good literacy
In 2009, I published an article in The Reading Teacher
I said a long time ago that I would not only be an real student In a school that supports me but also a self advocate for those lost in segregated settings echoing the dreaded lives of people in the world that are like me without the right supports.
Ask me. Don't prompt me. Talk to me. Don't prompt
PrAACtical Suggestions: 5 Ways to Elicit Language Without Asking a
Modeling AAC Style - This is a strategy that is
"Thasya", a mini film by Dan Habib, highlights the power of presuming competence, differentiated instruction and augmentative and alternative communication. Inclusion works.
"If we were to go back to the 1960s and we were to talk to those leaders who were vehemently against desegregation, we would hear the conviction in their voices of them stating why they believe their decisions and what they were doing to those children were just. Just as I believe that some of you and some of the board members that have spoken believe that their decisions are just. But, I fear that the Hillsborough County School Board is standing on the wrong side of history."
" A lot of these kids end up not reaching their full potential because they suffer from low expectations. People think they don't speak well, so we shouldn't have them in the regular classroom, but a lot of the kids I work with, they're cognitively fine. They're perfectly capable. They just need a viable means of communication to really help them through that." Cathy Binger
PrAACtical AAC's latest post on the importance of presuming competence.
"No one affects a child's day, dreams and future like a mother. Of course we are never perfect, but perfect is never the goal." Tonya Whitlock
Pat Mervine has a great website and is the author
Standing together for inclusion, communication and civil rights. Please include all kids in your classroom.
"Not being able to speak is not the same as not having anything to say". Rosemary Crossley
Really, this is number one. Please presume my competence.
"All of these children have one thing in common. They were always having to prove themselves, over and over and over again." Ray Ellis
Connect and learn with other parents like Tonya who presume competence and celebrate their children for being exactly who they are. #allofakind
Our first Change Leader is artist and disability rights advocate, Larry Bissonnette. Larry's art, writing, presentations, and films are changing perceptions about disability around the world. His quote in Wretches & Jabberers, "More like you than not" says it all.