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Ann Tomoko Rosen's avatar

Your way of getting right to the heart of things is magic. (Seriously, you're like a homing device for human hearts!) Thank you for pointing your readers towards Spellers and the work of parents like Alexandra!

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Teresa D Hill, PhD's avatar

This documentary is based on the paradigm-busting book "Underestimated" - I have been reviewing autism recovery claims for almost a decade in hopes of finding common denominators. What works for one does not work for another. But in this case --- communication --- these nonspeakers (with the condition apraxia) learn to use gross movement (their shoulder) to spell on letterboards. Some are able to eventually graduate to a mounted keyboard, at which point they 'prove' to the world that the words are their own. Way before reaching that point, they become 'open' with family, which is really the tear-jerking point -- the point where parents realize their child has 'been in there' the whole time. It begs the question: how much of autism (in nonspeakers) is a result of apraxia -- the inability of one's motor functioning to be controlled by one's will. This is very different than the description offered by the diagnostic label. I also reviewed the documentary on my substack - it is an unconventional review-- a poem ---- https://recoveryguild.substack.com/

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