We have had two presentations today, one on Sue Rubin and the other on Tyler, not sure of his last name, to introduce us to the range of assistive technology and how that is beneficial to both of these students. The message was and is clear that communication is the key tool required in all of our lives to give us a voice and the ability to advocate for our own learning, even when co-dependence is part of the solution. These videos today just reaffirmed for me the importance of communication
and the commitment we must make to work towards all students having the opportunity to have a voice
It is clear both in these video presentations and for me as an educator and parent that communication is the key to providing the missing link between access to ability and knowledge. Rather than the alternative which is allowing people to make the assumption that non verbal means not competent, it is these stereotypes and generalization and the 'labeling of children' a huge risk. I must admit that I find it a bit difficult to try an imagine how a person like Sue or Tyler think and feel, a part of me would like to be able to be inside their heads, just to experience what is going on for them from their perspective. I am sure that we would be amazed at how much they are processing and learning their way similarly the way they must look at us and wonder about our learning abilities.
For Tyler this video starts in the beginning as a baby and his progression to from early childhood to upper elementary and his learning journey and adaptations annually. It begins with developmental milestones and that is when mum becomes aware that something might be happening with her child, this was about the three month mark, well within the next couple of months Tyler has a diagnosis, Cerebral Palsy (spastic) and non verbal. I am not even sure how you document this information politely and honestly am not sure how a family would prepare themselves for news of this nature. Ultimately it is the family and community support that give Tyler the opportunity to pen his window to learning because he is surround by people who want what is best for their child, regardless of the label.
I remember the Amanda Baggs video last summer and how it awakened me to a level of understanding about how critical it is to allow people to be accepted for who they are, not what we want them to be. To me this was a bit of a double edged sword, almost challenging the very idea that she is not normal and we are, or are we? I was pleasantly surprised at the manner in which she addressed her differences and shared her similarities from her perspective, very different from her view point. This is where the communication piece is crucial to our understanding an abilities to better support our learning communities.
Really a person should not be at all amazed, look at Helen Keller, a child left in silences, once her behavior was put in check and she realizes that she can learn; it is a life altering experience, It was clear to me that Sue Rubin had the support and commitment from her family to provide opportunity for her to flourish, what surprised me was it took thirteen years before she was introduced to a communication device. Then again I must remind myself about the length of time involved in making our way to providing communication opportunities to children with autism; a relatively recent diagnosis with several unknowns still associated to the spectrum. It is with time, research and money that we can better prepare ourself to become informed educators which will result in creating informed learners, or better still better communicators, because that is the key to opening the world and allowing us to become inclusive.
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