What is Spelling to Communicate ?
Spelling to Communicate (S2C) teaches non, minimal and unreliable speakers the motor skills to be able to point to letters to spell as a form of communication.
Apraxia is when someone’s brain is telling their body to do a motor task but their body doesn’t do it – there is a brain-body disconnect. For individuals with apraxia, fine motor skills including speech is extremely difficult. S2C teaches gross motor skills by coaching the speller to use their arm to point to letters on a series of boards spelling words and eventually sentences.
The boards we use form a hierarchy that we employ as skills are acquired. Progression from pointing to letters to typing independently on a keyboard is hard work but the goal of autonomous communication and being able to communicate choices, thoughts and dreams is immeasurable.
Here is an overview of S2C by Elizabeth Vossler – Executive Director of the International Association of Spelling to Communicate (I-ASC)
About Sarah Wright
I was inspired to work with non-speakers after reading Underestimated by JB and Jamie Handley. Reading about Jamie and this population being underestimated and presumed not competent broke my heart. I believe that communication is a human right and that everyone should be able to express their thoughts, dreams and ideas.
My training included an intensive 6-month practitioner training through the International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC). I continue to pursue additional training so as to provide the highest quality support to families of students with apraxia, and sensory-movement differences.
When I am not working, I enjoy being with my (now adult) children, hiking with my dogs and running.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not Seen
IS THERE AN “IDEAL’ AGE TO LEARN S2C?
No! The starting age is around 5 years old because that is developmentally where literacy begins, there is no upper age limit.
DOES S2C ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE WITH AUTISM?
WHERE DO SESSIONS TAKE PLACE?
HOW LONG IS A SESSION?
WHAT DOES A LESSON LOOK LIKE?
CAN SESSIONS BE DONE AT HOME?
Resources
Websites
International Association for Spelling as Communication (I-ASC)
United for Communication Choice
Advocate Blogs
Ido Kedar
Niko Boskovic
Typing 4 Change – Dillan Barmache
Ben Breau
Gregory Tino
Speak Without A Voice – Brian Foti
This is me Noah – Noah Sebak
Musings of a Beginners Mind – Alex Le Pap
Akha Khumalo
Mitchell’s Life with Autism
Research
Recommended Reading
- I Am in Here, Authors: Elizabeth Bonker and Virginia Breen
- The Autistic Boy and The Unruly Body, Author: Gregory Tino
- Ido in Autismland, Author: Ido Kedar
- In Two Worlds, Author: Ido Kedar
- Life in Letters, Author: Lia Assimakopoulo
- Anatomy of Autism, Author: Diego Pena
- The Reason I Jump, Author: Naoki Higashida
- Autism: The Movement Perspective, Author: Elizabeth Torres
- Leaders Around Me: Autobiographies of Autistics who Type, Point, & Spell to Communicate, Editor: Edlyn Vallejo Pena
Underestimated by J.B. Handley and Jamison Handley
Generation Rescue’s cofounder J.B. Handley and his teenage son Jamison tell the remarkable story of Jamison’s journey to find a method of communication that allowed him to show the world that he was a brilliant, wise, generous, and complex individual who had been misunderstood and underestimated by everyone in his life.
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