Earlier today, I watched a video from this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4XMlhCfp3Q. It was the profound story about a girl who was labeled severely autistic and "mentally deficient." She was also diagnosed with an oral motor condition that prevented her from speaking. She never communicated with others, whether in speech or writing. When she was 11 years old, something life-changing happened. She walked over to a laptop and typed the following words: "hurt" and "help." She then proceeded to throw up
Her family and therapists couldn't believe what happened! It was at this time, that her parents and therapists realized there was a
lot more "going on" inside Carly than they had previously thought. While this was considered a breakthrough for the family, she didn't begin communicating regularly.
At age 14, typing became more of a normal tool for her. She learned that by communicating with others, she had some control and power over her environment. Without having any spelling or typing lessons, she could type with great fluency. Her family and therapists were amazed at her typing ability. With the help of a text-to-speech program, she was able to type words on her laptop, and have the words read out loud to her family and therapists. This is a truly amazing example of the power that assistive technology devices can have for people.
Now Carly has an Internet blog and a Twitter account that she uses regularly. She uses the websites to answer questions from people around the world. She views it as a way to help others who may be going through a similar situation, but also as a way to help people realize that people with autism have a lot to offer. She even wrote a novel, called Carly's Voice. This was an amazing story that made me appreciate the power of assistive technology more fully.
As a teacher, this makes me think about what's "going on" inside my students' heads that I'm unaware of. It is my job to tap in to each of my student's interests, strengths, and needs, in order to help them access the curriculum and succeed. Children are wonderful people, and as a teachers, it's our job to help them reach their potential.
Click here to go to Carly's website, where you can learn more about her novel and even order a copy for yourself!
I as amazed by this girl and the video. This was definitely one of the most outstanding videos I had seen and couldn't believe what a difference was made using computers and technology to help to communicate. I wondered though if this girl washable to communicate and had so much to say with such emotion and understanding, what do others have to say and offer. Do you agree that so many kids are left misunderstood because of a lack of communication? I would love to introduce this to students that I know who are unable to communicate and see what happens.
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