Helen Keller was a young girl, misunderstood, and dehumanized because she couldn’t speak, see, or hear. Unable to express what was going on inside her head, she tried to express her needs and wants like an animal. It’s all she knew, so she relied on her instincts.
One day, she was introduced to a young lady, legally blind herself, to help Helen communicate. It was a desperate hope, but Anne Sullivan felt she could help Helen.
Helen’s parents consented, and the lessons began.
Taking Helen over to the water spigot, she introduced Helen to a new form of communication. She held Helen’s hand under the water, then made movements in her other hand to spell out “Water”. Repeating this over and over again, Helen began to connect the hand gestures to a means of describing something. Water. “W-a-t-e-r”.
Communication…
Today, we live in a world where braille and sign language is commonplace. Communication through computer technology has helped the likes of Steven Hawking to express their thoughts and ideas, their humanness, to the world around them when their body failed to function normally.
Last night, I listened to a young, non-speaking teen communicate. He is a mute Autistic – a “non-verbal” person. Trapped inside his dysfunctional body is a brilliant mind. He spells better than the best functionally literate students, learning to spell a word once and never forgetting how to replicate it.
His mode of communication is on a spelling board. He learned to spell when he was 8 using the board. He needs someone to speak the words he spells so that it is communicated clearly to those around him. He even uses an AI voice to “talk” for him.
He is now 15 and hasn’t lost his hope and energy for life. He loves his life and his way of living. And his parents are a big part of that. They have invested the time and energy it took to help him communicate. So while he’s still living in a broken body, he fully understands why it is broken, and has been given an opportunity to live a full and exciting life.
He is a blogger and offers insight into the world inside his mind. He is giving all of us the opportunity to see the world from his vantage point – something none of those who want to “fix” his problems have ever done.
He considers himself an ambassador for those millions who are non-verbal, and has not shyed away from the opportunities to be that voice. And he defies the voices of those who claim that lives like his are miserable and should be “cured”. He is happy with who he is, accepting of his disabilities, and fully able to communicate how he feels. There is no sorrow in his world. And he doesn’t want to be “cured”. He is content to be living as he is.
But he is not alone…
Meet others who have opened our world into seeing what is inside those seemingly broken bodies.
Change of perspectives?
Perhaps it is time for us to stop judging those who are so different from us. We need to learn to find ways of understanding the world through their eyes. It is far different than our preconceived notions, and worlds apart from what we only see from the outside.
Let’s stop trying to justify what we want as an excuse to “fix” those who really aren’t broken. They are still human, but in outward packaging that may nor fit the norm. And they deserve to be heard. It is their right and dignity at stake.
In Patrick’s words:
MY TIPS TO SUPPORT NON-SPEAKERS AND SPELLERS1
1. I wish people would stop talking about me like I’m not in the room.
2. Never stop reading to non-speakers because we don’t stop learning just because we don’t talk.
3. Always put the subtitles on the TV.
4. Please immerse your child or student in language.
5. Change stories and don’t keep reading the same book again and again.
6. Never stop believing in a non-speaking person.
7. Always presume they know what you are teaching or talking about.
8. Try to be kind and patient.
9. Help non-speakers to regulate when they are having difficulties with their emotions.
10. Provide more opportunities to communicate using a letterboard.
11. Parents must never stop advocating for their non-speaking child. When their child gets better at using a letterboard they can advocate for themselves.
12. Stimming can impact my spelling as I get distracted but it can also help me focus. Get to know the speller and support their needs at the time and accommodate them.
Share your views
How would you communicate what your insights are without speech or the functionality of the body to even type or write? We have all had communication deficits at one time or another. What were yours?
Share your ideas and experiences with us in the comments below. Or submit your ideas in an article for us to publish.
Either way, we’d love to hear your views.