I had an interesting conversation with a university
professor this weekend about autism. I enjoyed it very much because he was so
open-minded and interested in learning new information about autism. That is
like a near miracle. Ha ha. More often, I think, people get used to their
theories and stay there their whole professional careers. He invited me to do a
training for his staff of professors and has assigned my book to two of his
classes. This is very cool. I love the chance to open people’s minds. In the
near future I will be speaking to staff at an autism agency, giving a speech to
families and staff at a disability support agency, doing an interview on
internet radio and maybe more. I hope little by little to help influence a change
in out understanding of severe autism. With the new DSM out in May, it is an
uphill struggle, but I believe truth will triumph over theory in the end.
ido, I have an autistic son who is now 8-he is non verbal at the moment. Why can't you speak? can u think the words out but not say them, or is it speed of thought? help me to help him. paul
ReplyDeleteHi Paul,
ReplyDeleteThis is Ido's mom and he asked me to reply on his behalf. I don't know if you have read his book yet, but he describes in several essays his challenges with speaking and why it is so hard for him. These may give you insight into what is going on with your son. There are a lot of aspects to the problem, but the main thing is that the brain's instructions simply do not always reach the body, especially with speech. Ido also recommends that you concentrate more on communication (letterboard or keyboard) than speech.
Tracy