In Conversation with the I-ASC 4 Star Spellebrity

It is my pleasure to introduce you to this year’s FOUR STAR SPELLEBRITY, Wyatt Dutton. Every year, I-ASC declares September as Spelltember!  During Spelltember, we put out a call for nominations to spotlight nonspeaking people who are making a difference in the nonspeaking community!  It has been my pleasure to know Wyatt for the past 5 years.  We started working together virtually and finally met in person in an outreach in Montreal arranged by Wyatt and his mother. Since then, Wyatt has been instrumental in building a community of spellers in Montreal.  Wyatt is without a doubt, one of the most TENACIOUS people I know, who has been indefatigable in his perseverance to practice the purposeful motor skills for accurate, reliable communication.  Wyatt knows no obstacles, only solutions to the challenges he has met and conquered, time and time again.  It was my pleasure to interview Wyatt as this year’s Four Star Spellebrity!

Elizabeth Vosseller is the Executive Director of I-ASC.  Elizabeth recognizes nonspeakers as the true subject matter experts and loves partnering with spellers to insure that ALL nonspeaking people have a reliable means of communication!

EV:  Hi Wyatt!  I am so excited that you’re this year’s FOUR STAR Spellebrity!  This means that you were nominated by multiple people and that you demonstrate the attributes of all four of our Spellebrity categories – Dauntless, Humanitarian, Influencer, and Ambassador.  It’s a treat for me to interview you! 

Wyatt:  I like being a Spellebrity!

EV: What is something that you want people to know about you?

Wyatt: I want people to know I feel happy and love being a friend. 

EV: Can you tell me a little about the friendships you have made now that you can communicate? 

Wyatt: I like that I have friends now.  I like classes online and hanging out.  Love when they come to my house too. 

EV: What’s something that most people don’t know about you? 

Wyatt:  Life can have hard times and good times too.  I have challenges and good times too. 

EV:  If you could choose a song to play every time you walked into the room, what would it be? 

Wyatt: Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark! 

EV: Oooh!  I love the Boss.  Reminds me of my high school days! 

EV: This has been a rough year.  What is bringing you life and joy these days?

Wyatt: I love that I have pleasing friendships. My friends are my life now. We support each other and cheer life on for each other. I love having friends that understand all the life challenges we face.

EV:  Imagine a map of the world, where does your mind’s eye land, and why?

Wyatt: I like Germany.  I’d love to visit one day.  There’s so much history. 

EV: That would be a fantastic trip!

EV: Tell me what communication means to you. 

Wyatt: Communication means everything. Where would any of us be without it? I cringe at that life without a means to communicate. I love to share my thoughts and especially love to hear the thoughts of all my friends.

EV:  I LOVE that you can share your thoughts with us now. If your life was a book, what would the title be?

Wyatt: My Life in Letters. 

EV: It has been a privilege and honor to interview you!  If you could interview someone you admire, who would it be?

Wyatt: My life’s dream is to interview Bruce Springsteen!  He is my soul mate! 

Wyatt Dutton is a fierce friend. He can be found hanging out online in classes and on Facebook. He is a badass advocate for the non speaking autistic community. Be sure to check out Wyatt’s SpellX Presentation.

The mission of I-ASC is to advance communication access for nonspeaking individuals globally through training, education, advocacy and research.  I-ASC supports all forms of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with a focus on methods of spelling and typing. I-ASC currently offers Practitioner training in Spelling to Communicate (S2C)with the hope that other methods of AAC using spelling or typing will join our association