Pressure & Managing Expectations

What’s the difference between support or encouragement and pressure?

We have launched a new monthly blog feature called “I-ASC(I Ask) the Experts”. Our goal is to turn over some of the most frequently asked questions or issues to the true subject matter experts – the spellers!

“There is indeed a fine line between encouragement and pressure. Because my body presents with this disconnect, I do need more support to do and complete tasks. it is important to have a good relationship with your speller. get to know them. I personally feel that I value my voice, and my body tends to rob me of this so I want my CRP to push me – if it’s done right. stick to the basics.” ~Thoulu, South Africa

“Support is giving space to navigate at my own pace with prompting that is given in a loving, caring manner. Pressure is rushing me to fit the mold of your timeline. Be patient and tender with your speller; we all are trying incredibly hard to perform the most basic tasks. Confidence is key. You must trust us and yourself when guiding us, the alternative is chaos. A straight line cannot be drawn by a shaking hand.” ~Parker Scheu, Florida

“Support is being a regulating and positive person. It is important to have expectations of people, but it is just as important how you react to them. If you have expectations of spellers, you should think about your expressions when they’re not met. Not everyone meets expectations all the time. I don’t. How you react will determine my future success working with you. If I know you’ll be positive and encouraging, I’ll be relaxed around you. If you act mad or frustrated when I don’t meet the expectation, I’ll be nervous about disappointing you in the future. I have more supportive people now, and I’m usually able to exceed expectations because of it.” ~Victoria, Illinois

“Support and encouragement make learning always more accessible. Pressure is anxiety-inducing. expectations are important but can also be a lot of pressure. always assume ability but be aware of our limits.” ~Caoimh, Ireland

“To offer encouragement allows a feeling of pride. Initiating pressure feels persuading as if you have to perform to please others and not yourself. I advise offering encouragement in order to support emotional regulation, helping one to feel capable and confident.” ~Nick D’Amora, New York

“Support always includes understanding the challenges of this person adapting their learning journey to facilitate their path to be successful. Pressure is pushing the learner without giving them effective tools to gain their skills.” ~Leo Santana

“Many respectable CRPs cannot support nonspeaking spellers and typers if they haven’t taken the time to build up skills properly. Many mistake their own confidence for proper training and we, the easily manipulated spellers, feel pressure to perform. Then, we are either going to freeze, get anxious and dysregulated, or type anything to get it over with. Don’t assume that rushing to open-ended communication ends up earning you a pass on training. In the end, spellers get blamed for hacks by insufficiently trained CRPs. Proper support and encouragement means respecting that no response is ok if the partnership isn’t ready yet with sufficient practice in that spelling methodology. Make time for practice with lessons rather than practice with your own personal questions for us.” ~William T, Canada