I’m warning you beforehand: SPELLERS is going to kick your ass. Let it. And then join the parents who know it is every child's right to communicate, but we have been holding them in a mental cage.
I read the book “Underestimated” upon which the documentary is based. It was incredible and uplifting. But when I described it by text to a friend who had a non-verbal, severely autistic adult brother, she literally ghosted me on that text even though she’s since responded to many others. I have no idea why she was triggered by the great news that there’s hope for people like her brother, but her chilly response is reminiscent of how some people react when you show them proof of vaccine failure, etc. They’re just so conditioned to their way of thinking that there’s no way to break through.
Fyi, I’m a huge fan of the Handley family. JB Handley’s book, “How to End the Autism Epidemic” was one of my first exposures to the side effects of the childhood vaccine schedule, and to some of the villains who are currently grabbing power like Peter Hotez.
One of our best friends here in Jacksonville has been using this new teaching Speller method for months now. The specialized teacher works with him once a week and the parents do hours of it every day at home. It takes a lot of time and patience. Their son(non-verbal) has completely lost his autism diagnosis although they said that he still remains frustrated that he cannot talk.
Though I could see letters, kinda, the words made no sense to me for years. I couldn’t actually read individual words right up to middle school, but just barely, and still had no comprehension of what I was reading. Nobody ever had any answers for me. I had to teach myself and barely graduated high school. Now I’m writing on Substack.com like a real amateur, almost.
some years before he died, my father- who was sharp as a tack until his death- got a case of sepsis. i was at work and my BF called the ambulance. the idiot EMTs determined that he wasn't having a stroke and wouldn't take him. on the phone, i screamed "but he's not making any sense!" and the guy said "he's old; it happens."
"he was old yesterday and he was making sense! you take my father to the hospital!" i ordered, with a good deal of added swearing.
they took him, my BF followed in the car and i left work and caught a train to the hospital. the ER doc asked him one word questions like "who's the president?" and "how old are you?" which dad answered. the doctor was satisfied. "no, ask him a question that requires making a sentence" i insisted. the doctor gave it another go and out came a random sequence of unrelated words "fish mud hanger." stuff like that.
his temperature was not that high but an EMT worker spending her day off in the ER went a step further and took a rectal temperature. she sounded the alarm, getting him on antibiotics before any lab work was done. she just had a "feeling" that something was not right.
the next night we visited him and he was back to his bright, articulate, charming self. "last night was terrible" he said "i couldn't make myself understood. i kept talking but the words were all coming out wrong. today i can say what i mean."
a horrible thought seized me: what if the people we think have autism or alzheimers are really in there, aware of everything that is going on around them but their words get lost and scrambled somewhere between their brain and their mouth? you could be sitting in a nursing home, saying out loud "i don't know why i bother to visit grandma. she's not even aware that i'm here" and she's saying in her head "no, i am aware. i love you. i hate this place. please take me home!" except that it all comes out as gibberish.
imagine the torture, being a person walled off from everything.
Wounded communication speaks to one of the great wounds of humanity at this time. How well do each of us communicate with our own non-verbal inner child .... that part of us which still knows its divinity? Heal that and we restore our connection to magic - our inherent and natural connection to spelling (pun intended).
I read the book “Underestimated” upon which the documentary is based. It was incredible and uplifting. But when I described it by text to a friend who had a non-verbal, severely autistic adult brother, she literally ghosted me on that text even though she’s since responded to many others. I have no idea why she was triggered by the great news that there’s hope for people like her brother, but her chilly response is reminiscent of how some people react when you show them proof of vaccine failure, etc. They’re just so conditioned to their way of thinking that there’s no way to break through.
Fyi, I’m a huge fan of the Handley family. JB Handley’s book, “How to End the Autism Epidemic” was one of my first exposures to the side effects of the childhood vaccine schedule, and to some of the villains who are currently grabbing power like Peter Hotez.
Would we need those if we stopped vaccinating our children?
30 miion autistic, unable to speak and we are wondering why young adults are having the most heart attacks. Stop the Iatrogeniccide.
Thank you for posting this! Many will be hosting private viewing of the film later this spring across the country. I am one of them!
One of our best friends here in Jacksonville has been using this new teaching Speller method for months now. The specialized teacher works with him once a week and the parents do hours of it every day at home. It takes a lot of time and patience. Their son(non-verbal) has completely lost his autism diagnosis although they said that he still remains frustrated that he cannot talk.
Though I could see letters, kinda, the words made no sense to me for years. I couldn’t actually read individual words right up to middle school, but just barely, and still had no comprehension of what I was reading. Nobody ever had any answers for me. I had to teach myself and barely graduated high school. Now I’m writing on Substack.com like a real amateur, almost.
some years before he died, my father- who was sharp as a tack until his death- got a case of sepsis. i was at work and my BF called the ambulance. the idiot EMTs determined that he wasn't having a stroke and wouldn't take him. on the phone, i screamed "but he's not making any sense!" and the guy said "he's old; it happens."
"he was old yesterday and he was making sense! you take my father to the hospital!" i ordered, with a good deal of added swearing.
they took him, my BF followed in the car and i left work and caught a train to the hospital. the ER doc asked him one word questions like "who's the president?" and "how old are you?" which dad answered. the doctor was satisfied. "no, ask him a question that requires making a sentence" i insisted. the doctor gave it another go and out came a random sequence of unrelated words "fish mud hanger." stuff like that.
his temperature was not that high but an EMT worker spending her day off in the ER went a step further and took a rectal temperature. she sounded the alarm, getting him on antibiotics before any lab work was done. she just had a "feeling" that something was not right.
the next night we visited him and he was back to his bright, articulate, charming self. "last night was terrible" he said "i couldn't make myself understood. i kept talking but the words were all coming out wrong. today i can say what i mean."
a horrible thought seized me: what if the people we think have autism or alzheimers are really in there, aware of everything that is going on around them but their words get lost and scrambled somewhere between their brain and their mouth? you could be sitting in a nursing home, saying out loud "i don't know why i bother to visit grandma. she's not even aware that i'm here" and she's saying in her head "no, i am aware. i love you. i hate this place. please take me home!" except that it all comes out as gibberish.
imagine the torture, being a person walled off from everything.
What this method could mean to so many non-speakers the world over!
I understand that people want to feel good about this. But it looks disturbingly like Facilitated Communication.
We have been down that road, and it does not end well.
The clip to the video doesn't work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pp7s8XF_Vw
Wounded communication speaks to one of the great wounds of humanity at this time. How well do each of us communicate with our own non-verbal inner child .... that part of us which still knows its divinity? Heal that and we restore our connection to magic - our inherent and natural connection to spelling (pun intended).