My childhood was full of people underestimating me for many years. Yes, all of it was done with a belief that they were helping me. Very few people saw my actual potential until a woman named EV came along and showed them differently.
Once you know better, you do better.
Nonspeaking autistics from Spellers and Allies have shown you for years now, through blog posts, social media, and presentations, that we are much more than what meets the eye. Let’s start off this school year differently this year. Here are 5 things nonspeaking autistics want their teacher to try this year so we can actually learn something!
1. Give us age appropriate learning material.
Nonspeaking autistics already know their colors and numbers. They know the alphabet and how many quarters are in a dollar. I know it looks like we don’t though because our apraxic bodies won’t cooperate. Please teach us about current events and history, math and English, and everything else you are teaching the other students in our grade. Harm does not come from over-teaching. It comes from under-teaching the same elementary stuff for years and years on end. I am still traumatized by the years of mindless boredom I had to endure.
2. Talk to us as if we understand you, because we do!
No baby talk or sing/song conversation. You don’t have to keep repeating what you just told nonspeaking autistics. We heard you the first time. Talk to us as you would a typical person of our age, but know that we won’t be able to respond back due to our apraxia.
3. Learn how apraxia affects us.
This is most important! Read everything you can that is written by nonspeakers about apraxia on our blogs or books we have written. Apraxia affects every single thing we do and say, and it affects our education in such a negative way. We are unable to show you how capable we are and how much we want to learn. This is why you need to presume competence ALWAYS!
4. Focus on the positive instead of the negative.
All nonspeaking autistics ever hear is what we can’t do. Focus on what we CAN. Our confidence improves with each success, be it big or small. Know that this is a marathon and not a race. Sometimes we need to consider success to be baby steps instead of a giant leap. No one enjoys hearing a teacher tell our parents that we won’t be able to learn something. Trust me when I tell you that we DO hear it and internalize those negative feelings about ourselves, which is not easy to come back from.
5. Include us in the plan, goals, and IEP.
Until we have a reliable method of communication this may be difficult. It is hardly worth it to work on goals that we don’t care about. Include us in prioritizing goals. Have us sit in on our IEP’s. Believe in us! Be an advocate for us as well as our teacher. If my teachers would have realized the potential in me and taught me differently my years at school would have been a happy memory instead of one filled with anxiety and boredom.
Let’s start the school year right!
Spellers and Allies is trying to change the perception of nonspeaking autism in the hope of improving nonspeakers’ lives in every facet. This includes education. If you are a teacher, we welcome you to sit in on one of our meetings, sign up for the I-ASC newsletter, or host us for a presentation. Please email us at spellers-allies@i-asc.org.
About the author
Gregory Tino is a nonspeaking autistic who has been spelling on a letterboard to communicate since 2017. He is an advocate for other nonspeakers, presents at conferences, and his goal is to educate people on the incredible capabilities of people with autism. He has written five books, all available on Amazon at Gregory C Tino. He also has written the narrative for multiple videos on his YouTube channel which is entitled Gregory C Tino. He is a proud member of the Spellers & Allies advocacy group and SEEN (Spellers Empowering Education for Nonspeakers). In his free time he enjoys writing for his blog The Autistic Mind Finally Speaks on WordPress and spending time with family and his Inside Voice friends.
One Response
Love these tips Greg. Thanks for the reminders