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Unspoken
My Autism Allows Me To See the World in a Different Way
Time (Japan)
Time magazine interviews Naoki Higashida, author of The Reason I Jump and Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8, about what it is like to be a person with nonspeaking autism.
“My basic methods of communication are my letter board and computer. The letter-board method involves a card with the alphabet arranged in the QWERTY format. I point to individual letters and “voice” the letters as I touch them. I can also type on a computer keyboard, but I get stuck on or obsessed about certain letters.”
Link: https://ti.me/2ujFdy7
Brilliance of Autistic Teen ‘Set Free’ By New Device
Staten Island Real-Time News (New York)
Nineteen-year-old autistic Staten Island resident Nicholas D’Amora communicates with a QWERTY letterboard.
“‘It has to be at their appropriate level; you have to assume competence, but this is just a teaching method. The communication is later on. It takes time, patience, persistence, and trust on their part to know that you are confident and you believe in them,’ Cannella said. In Nicholas’ case, Cannella holds a board with a QWERTY keyboard printed on it and spells words by pointing to each letter…. Barbara and Nicholas were taught in 2010, and after learning — and struggling — for almost two years, Nicholas reached the point of open-ended communication and has been “fluent” for nearly five years.”
Link to story and video (2:34): https://bit.ly/2yEkusD
Autistic Portland boy who won a prestigious trip told he can’t go
Niko Boskovic, “Autistic Portland Boy Who Won a Prestigious Trip Told He Can’t Go”
This video clip from April 2017 was filmed by The Oregonian newspaper and tells the story of Niko Boskovic being denied the award of a trip to New York City he won in an essay contest. (He was later allowed to attend.) In the video, Niko communicates by pointing to letters on a letterboard.