Supporting Non-Speaking Autistics

Happy Spring Quarter! ☀️🌸🌱🌷

During this week’s general body meeting, we discussed the article, The Right to Privacy for Nonspeaking Autistics, written by Nick Barry, a non-speaking autistic individual and advocate. Please feel free to view more of their work here. Barry explains how word choice and personal perspectives significantly shape the way stories and ideas are communicated. For many non-speaking autistic individuals, their individuality and control over communication is stripped from them, as they have to communicate through other people’s perspectives. Additionally, with the implementation of communication through typing, messages can be shared with people in different ways than intended by the autistic person, losing meaning in translation. He also explains how “Spellers” are people who use a letterboard, typing on a keyboard or AAC device to spell out individual letters as a form of communication. Barry advocates for mindfulness when it comes to helping non-speaking autistic people communicate by making sure their messages are communicated in the way they intend.

Notable Quotes:

“And just like that, your day has been reduced to the tiny bad moment in an otherwise lovely day.”

“The feeling of not being able to control your own narrative is crushing.”

“Have a hard look at yourself. Do you let nonspeakers control their communication choices? Give the control back to them.”

Discussion Questions:

1. What are your general thoughts about the article? Do you have any insights?

2. What emotions do you experience when your narrative is controlled by others, and how does it impact your sense of agency and self-expression?

3. In what ways do typical communication practices overlook the autonomy and preferences of non-speaking autistics, particularly those who spell to communicate?

Thank you for reading this week’s topic: supporting non-speaking autistics! Please feel free to take some time to reflect and leave any questions or comments in the section below. Check out our instagram page for the post version of our weekly blog posts and future updates. Don’t forget to subscribe down below so that you don’t miss out on upcoming educational posts! 🦋