That was wonderful, Maria! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you!

Thank you for sharing Maria…

I’m sorry we can’t get the closed captioning reinstated in this meeting.

That was amazing!

THANK YOU! 💕

Thank you so much, Lisa V!!!

Thank you.

Thank you !!

Thank you so much, Lisa! You were wonderful!

Brilliant!

Thank you, Lisa! That was beautifully expressed.

thank you Lisa!

You are amazing, Lisa!

Feel free to enter any questions in the chat for our panelists!

Wow Lisa you inspire and teach us Thx you

that was amazing, thank you!

Thank you- that was amazing!

so good Lisa, thank you!

So proud of you, Lisa!

Thank you Lisa for sharing your story.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. You are incredible!

thank you Lisa ,you are a very impressive student .

Incredible Lisa! Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on all your successes! So many more to come!

Thank you Lisa. Your story is amazing!

Thank you for your excellent presentation, LIsa! I am a guy who types, so feel I am a kindred spirit.

Thank you Lisa for sharing your story.

That was amazing, Gordy!

Gordy, it's not too much to ask for! thank you!

Awesome Gordy!

Thank you, Gordy!

Gordy, you're brilliant, and I'm lucky to know you.

Thank you, Gordy!

thank you Gordy

Thank you, Gordy, for letting us know how you feel!

Thank you so much, Gordy!

Great job Gordy!!

Lisa and Gordy! Great job and thank you for sharing

Gordy, so great! Thank you, sir

Thank you Gordy! You are inspiring!

Thank you Gordy

Thank you for sharing, Gordy!

Great job Lisa and Gordy. thank you for sharing your thoughts us.

No it is not too much to ask for Gordy, thank you for sharing your story

Thank you, Gordy! I know you will find teachers one day who will appreciate your brilliance and assume competence!

Bravo Gordon on your ongoing advocacy!

So grateful to hear the stories of these amazing young people. Thank you Gordy for sharing with us.

I love your website, Ms. Vance. Thank you for your service.

For Lisa: How do you approach your teachers to tell them that you are non-speaking? How did you let your peers at Montgomery College and Washington Adventist College know how they could help you?

For Gordy: What helps you stay regulated during the school day? Does it help you to be able to move around during virtual learning, stand instead of sitting, etc. How do you advocate for yourself to your teachers?

If you have any questions for any of our panelists, please feel free to enter them here.

Gordy, what is your favorite way to relax?

interdependence 💕 I love that reframe.

I stay regulated by pacing and jumping. I sit but it is hard. I wrote a letter to my professor telling her about my accommodations

Thank you, Gordy!

I like to watch tv and movies

Me too Gordy!

My son is 5, Autistic, and non-speaking. He just got his first device and is communicating through pictures. What would be your best piece of advice for him?

I send emails to all my professors before classes start each semester. And at some point, we meet in their office to further clarify their questions. I let the professors share with the class how I communicate, and they usually are kind and respectful. For some professors, keeping track of my comments in the chatbox is easy, but others just ask a student to keep track of the chat. I had several classmates that were my lab partners, and it always worked fine.

Thanks so much, Lisa. You've been very proactive!

To Lisa and Gordy: do you have any advice on finding communication partners that are able to support your way of communicating?

Thats is my biggest challenge. I still struggle with that.

He should try to spell to open up his world

That's great. Thank you!

Terra, so glad you were able to recognize competence in your students. It is so difficult for people to reconcile that the exterior presentation might hide a competent human being.

For Lisa, I really appreciate you telling your story.

I don’t know. It is hard to find good people

Terra, this is important. We are the experts of of our competence. THANK YOU!

Thank you, Terra! I love the website.

Damon! I'm a huge fan of you!

Terra, I wonder how autistic people can tackle the issue of knowledge and understanding without being disrespectful to people who are actually ID?

For Lisa, would you be comfortable telling us more about how you feel about being ignored? Also, do you have any advice for teachers on how we might better pay attention to our students who do not speak and who are not given AAC due to lack of diagnosis or supports?

Your writing is amazing!

Thank you everyone, this has been wonderful

I asked the question to Terra re: intelligence because it comes up when I have been denied access to education. I am nonspeaking, but do type my thoughts

Thank you for sharing your experience, Terra!

Great job Terra! Very helpful for an educator. I will seek resources from your website.

Lisa and Gordy what is something that you wish your special educators/case managers wish they knew that would have better supported you during you elementary school years?

Tara could i get the web site you referred to

sorry Terra

Care.com, indeed.com. It takes a lot of practice

Yes, Terra, we are fans of one another!

Some communication partners just do not work and some work great but schedules changes and they are not available any longer.

Damon, that's a very important question. We have to toss our ideas about ID and what that means unless someone is in a coma. We approach each individual and try to meet them where they are and troubleshoot by working with them.Not every nonspeaking person is going to be a prolific writer. Sometimes, spelling to communicate is not going to work for them, but there are other ways to figure out what they can do and then just work on refining those to make them more accommodating and give more options for expression.

Lisa, what makes a great communication partner?

https://Neuroclastic.com

Thank you, Terra!

I wish that elementary teachers knew that I was smart. I was very ready to learn but my body was not

Thank you Gordy!!

A great communication partner is someone that is open to learn with you and it is not trying to change you. It is patient, kind, respectful, and fun.

any tutoring services that you would recommend? so far I was unable to find anyone willing to work with my child. once I mention the diagnosis, the conversation ends within seconds.

I'll be here, but need to take a quick break to do bedtime.

with my 4 year old

Thank you Lisa, that is a great list for what makes a great communication partner, I am just taking a course to be a S2C practitioner. Eventually I will be training CRPs...do you mind if I share this with my other co-horts in the course?

Of course!

Thank you!

Here here!

Right on, Lisa Mihalich Quinn!

Thank you! Stop presuming we know the function of the behavior! A major downside of PBIS.

Angela…can you share where you are taking a course to be a S2C practitioner?

I-ASC

Thank you!

I have learned so much! I am an Education Assistant in the public school system in BC. I am hoping to make a difference and open peoples eyes and change their perspectives about non-speaking autistics. Damon has been an inspiration for me. I love all that I am learning from him and other non-speakers.

as a nonspeaker, professionals are often certain that they know my intentions. Yet, these same professionals would not think that about themselves. They would not believe that people could know their reason for behaving a certain way. The paradigm exists to understand only autistic people, it seems. Particularly nonspeaking autistics. Ironically, nonspeaking people should be considered the most enigmatic--not the least.

Well said, Damon!

Thank you, Lisa!

Lisa M. Quinn, thank you!

Wishing Early Happy Birthday to Jack!

Amy, Thank you so much for sharing the experience of the real boys and girl. So beautiful.

Thank you to all the presenters?

I am an EA in BC Canada and almost all of our kids have 1;1 support but unfortunately the lack of presuming competencies common

https://www.halo-soma.org/

Amy-how long did your son use a letter board before transitioning to keyboard?

https://xminds.org/Nonspeaking-Autistics

I'm here

https://www.reacheveryvoice.org/

Thank you for listing these resources!

https://i-asc.org

For Lisa — Can every child learn to type?

In thinking about programming is it best to use the alphabet in the natural alphabet order or to learn from the beginning with the QWERTY because that is what they will see everywhere

Amy, you talked about your journey in presuming competence in Jack. Was Jack's statement of being really smart at the SOMA camp your a-ha moment as a parent? Has it been difficult to convince others, not only Jack's school team, but others of his competence? How have family members, for example, evolved in Jack's presumption of competence?

Great documentary. You can find it on Vimeo.

Wretches and Jabberers

will send link in a second...

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wretchesjabberers

Thank you, Amy.

I type independently, and sometimes the competence issue still comes up. I have the paperwork, and still... It is going to be a long battle

This is me trying to steal more of your writers right now

and to Damon and any other autistic people here, if you would ever like to publish on NeuroClastic, you can email me at terra.vance@neuroclastic.com

This has been fabulous! Will this be available to refer others to watch/listen to?

Thanks Terra Vance!

Yes, Beth, they are recording

We will send everyone a link to the recording and post the recording on our website tonight or tomorrow.

Thank you.

I have the same question as Bethy. Thanks for asking.

My son went through many assistive devices but did not connect. He was graced with that one teacher who believed me when I said he can read though he couldn't speak. A whiteboard and dollar store letter magnets later, he was spelling out words and responding to her questions.

It will be posted on our web site, www.xminds.org.

Thank you so much to everyone, this has been so helpful 💜

This has been great! I am looking forward to checking out all the websites!

As a future educator, this has all been very informative for me and I am feeling very inspired. Thank you all very much for presenting.

My sister did a movie about us called Sisterly. I am bias, but I think it is pretty good! https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sisterly

Kudos, Maria, for everything!

Wish you best of luck, Maria!

Sisterly was great, Lisa

Thank you for that link, Lisa!

Absolutely superb to every single one of you!

Thank you; so appreciative of tonight's message.

Great discussions and sharing. Glad to be part of this group tonight.

thank you all

Thanks for persisting past the initial challenges! You guys rock!

great discussion

This was wonderful...thank you!!

Thank you everyone!

Thank you!

Thank you for this webinar! Thank you speakers, this was wonderful.