In this episode I talk with Jacquelyn Stephanou about her 20 year old son Will who has a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and Autism. Will’s diagnosis brought challenges, especially regarding communication. By constantly reading, researching and connecting with others, Jacquelyn learned about Spelling to Communicate, a technique that teaches individuals with Autism & Apraxia the purposeful motor skills needed to communicate by spelling. Students are taught to point accurately to letters on a letter board to spell out words and eventually create sentences. For the first time in many years Will is now able to express his thoughts and feelings and even share his dreams for the future! Jacquelyn believes in presuming competence and continually pushing boundaries to raise the bar. The potential is there. You just have to figure out how to tap into it to give your child every opportunity for success.
Books:
Prizant, Barry: Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism. NY: Simon and Schuster, 2016
https://www.amazon.com/Uniquely-Human-Different-Seeing-Autism/dp/1476776245
Podcasts:
Uniquely Human, Barry Prizant and Dave Finch, cohosts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uniquely-human-the-podcast/id1532460901
https://uniquelyhuman.com/
The Heumann Perspective, with Judy Heumann
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-heumann-perspective/id1558688277
Movies:
Crip Camp
https://youtu.be/OFS8SpwioZ4
Spelling2Communicate:
International Association for Spelling to Communicate (I-asc).
The best place to learn about the basics of S2C and to find practitioners around the globe.
Spelling to Communicate | S2C | I-ASC
https://i-asc.org/
Rapid Promoting Method/HALO
https://www.halo-soma.org/what-is-rpm
Communication Choice as a Human Right:
Communication First
https://communicationfirst.orghttps://i-asc.org
Books By and About Spellers:
Handley, JB, Handley, J. Underestimated: An Autism Miracle, 2020.
https://www.amazon.com/Underestimated-Autism-Miracle-Childrens-Defense/dp/1510766367
Tino, Gregory. The Autistic Mind Finally Speaks: Letterboard Thoughts, 2020.
https://www.amazon.com/Autistic-Mind-Finally-Speaks-Letterboard/dp/B08LJN18BY
Pena EV, Editor. Leaders Around Me: Autobiographies of Autistics Who Type, Point, & Spell to Communicate, 2019.
https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Around-Autobiographies-Autistics-Communicate/dp/1791505953
Connect with Sandy:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/sandydeppisch
Embrace the Blessing Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/ETB4ME
Website: http://www.embracetheblessing.com/https://uniquelyhuman.com/