In this 11 minute video, 16-year-old Grant Blasko communicates a self-initiated topic by typing on an iPad using the Proloquo4text application with word prediction enabled. Grant, who is unable to communicate using speech, currently has diagnoses of developmental apraxia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, sensory processing disorder, and autism. After years failing to achieve reliable communication through traditional speech therapy, behavioral therapy, and many traditional AAC approaches, Grant began learning to type independently at the age of 9 using strategies from both Facilitated Communication and the Rapid Prompting Method.
In this video, his mother helps to keep his attention focused on the task while monitoring his regulation and motor sequencing, but does not need to provide additional communication partner support. Grant has attended general education classes at his local public school since 5th grade, and has been on the honor roll every year. In the video, he types: “Mom I know you think this is a good idea but it is not. I want to talk about something important to me. The truth is I am always trying to promote open communication to show that is what I do all day and I am getting really tired of people insinuating that I wear a puppet string because this is hard enough without people rooting against me.”
