I am a non-speaking Autistic. This is how I found my voice. | Throwback Thursday 

My daughter is 19 and nonverbal. That simple phrase shattered me.

I’m perfectly verbal, but have still often felt I just couldn’t get my body to do what I wanted. Too slow; too uncoordinated; too likely to get stuck along the way. The fact that I CAN speak; quite well, though my tone and word choice sound odd to others; is a great blessing I need to remember to cherish. Imagine if my intellect were trapped in an even-more-unruly body… 😕

Why can't he speak though? He clearly has a larynx, so what's stopping him from speaking? I'm not trying to be rude; I'm genuinely curious

@@Anonymous-df8it it's like being sat inside a machine that wants to do its own thing

It could be because of apraxia of speech, which is not uncommon for autistic folks. You can have legs but be unable to walk if you can’t get those muscles to do what you want them to. This is the same thing.

Its brain body disconnect in nervous system. Called apraxia of speech​@Anonymous-df8it

@@salmalaabi884 False. I know non-verbal autistics that sing with an absolutely wonderful voice. One in MN whose story broke shortly before this was aired. The brain is far more complex than you are giving it credit for. The correct answer is we really do not know.

Most Autistic people don’t like high functioning, low functioning labels/severe autism. thanks for sharing though. sounds interesting

how old is your daughter, can i connect with you , i am not able to get good acc trained speech pathologist , we have got word power. my son is now limited verbal earlier was non verbal

​💀💀💀💀💀🤖🤖

@@autismandstuff8532 most autistic people who can speak and have autonomy in their lives, and communicate their thoughts and preferences and be easily understood, and "pass" as neurotypical...those folks tend to have a very specific idea of what autism is and isn't and feel pretty confident that they speak for the entire autistic community. Only those people are NOT "most" autistic people, and they don't speak for the autistic community.

Pankaj Chand mzgghh

Why can't he speak though? He clearly has a larynx, so what's stopping him from speaking? I'm not trying to be rude; I'm genuinely curious.

the ben thing is probably all just made up garbage,by that i mean like the story is not real and its fiction

@@Anonymous-df8it For some with Autism they just can’t speak the words out right or it might pain them to speak the way we do. Sensory problems.

Systems need to listen to mums that take their kids to speech and language therapy. The not listening often begins there. Makes stuff worse. I would love to follow Ben's channel.

But he DID speak. And he cherishes those days.

Inspirational words Jean

Mine Too Is 6yr Old Boy Non Verbal 🥹 God Bless Them 🙏🏾

Hopefully you’re providing her with an age appropriate TEXT TO SPEECH program, with pictures, and of course teaching her to read 💕 My son uses an app on his tablet

@@KashyaSamuels hello, thank You for Your feed back. My small girl doesn't talk at all. I think she is smart, but I don't know what she knows or doesn't know. What is the name of the app Your Son use on his tablet ? And the TEXT TO SPEACH program, is that supposed to be an App too ?

I have a 16 Year OLD

We have a ten year old grandson who cannot speak but just beginning to use the letterboard.

I cried too. This may be my son's exact thoughts but he's four

you didnt cry writing stuff on a paper makes more sense than paying for stupid letterboard that will take more time to say things and you have to remember every letter that was pointed at

this method of communication has been discredited a long time ago, it's facilitated communication. The boy in the video is not speaking, his interpreter is speaking for him

yes because stupid video

However, I don’t like the political tinge of this video; Nonetheless, it IS W.A.P.O. lol...

My little brother (age 10) is autistic and he is able to speak basic sentences, and communicate simple concepts. Unfortunately, one of his classmates didn't improve due to seizures, so he actually lost cognitive capacity. I would love to see my brother have an "as normal" normal life one can live, but he is young and has a lot to learn.

We need to actually hear him speaking to state he regained his voice. After all he did not lose his vocal cords. Why? This is great question. I am glad that he found a new means of communication. But he needs to type instead of pointing finger to the letter board so he could deliver his thoughts in timely manner.

I wonder if something bothers him about the light, sound (like an imperceptible hum or something), or even static/touch sensations from screens or tablets. My cousin is nonverbal autistic, and when we were kids, we all knew NOT to let a VHS tape end and send the tv screen to static, or let the channel get flipped to a static station. _Even if the sound was off and his back was turned, he INSTANTLY knew when static came on the screen._ I don’t know how! But he’d wheel around and become distressed, start rocking, etc, until it was changed.

My non verbal son just started using an Ipad to communicate with his helper. Due to lack of muscle strength in the hands, wrist and forearm, he has to wear a brace and his therapist helps support his wrists as he types. We are doing strength exercises with him, but for now, the ipad sits in a special table top stand. He does prefers the ipad over the letter board. It's a progression, it'll probably take a long time before he'll type with me or his dad. He states it's too emotional. Overwhelming emotions and anxiety hinder typing with loved ones, this mom is lucky.

@@DannyD-lr5yg it’s also probable that he finds it more reliable in case he doesn’t have electricity.

But he can also just grab paper and a pencil to simply write instead of pointing at letters Stupid video Plus therapy is bad

I saw another individual who used a letter board and he said it was so he didn’t break it? But since this man does seem to carry a tablet, it might just be preference or something. Or because he finds it difficult to learn high tech when low tech works just fine? Who knows, everyone has unique needs and reasons for their chosen method of communication.

I'm unfamiliar with this. What has she said this time?

It changes over time as the brain develops. Its a developmental disorder.

martin martinez Good question! People like Ben suffer from motor apraxia - which means having a hard time having finite control over muscle memory and purposeful movement, there for having the ability to move the fingers as wanted/needed for sign language can be difficult.

@@benjaminbreaux1089 What about teaching him spoken language again?

They have a Special Gift and a Special Heart to Give Love.

therapists suck

garbage video

Why can't he speak though? He clearly has a larynx, so what's stopping him from speaking? I'm not trying to be rude; I'm genuinely curious.

@@Anonymous-df8iti am not non verbal and i do not know his reasons for not being able to speak. however, an example is that when i am very overwhelmed, specifically sensory overload, its INCREDIBLY difficult to speak. its like my head cant jumble my thoughts in the correct way so that i can formulate a sentence. its like im choking. if i was trying to say "hi my name is christopher, and i enjoy painting", on the way of trying to get me to actually SAY my thought, my brain starts distorting it into stuff like "hi, paint i am chris and paint enjoy paint and name paint". it makes no sense because i cant go from point a to point b. this is just one example though. theres a whole lot of reasons like selective mutism for example. ive heard some of them describe it as choking if they try to speak.

@@chriscintron3320 So, to summarize, you forget word order?

@@Anonymous-df8it that feels very simplified but yes

@@chriscintron3320 Why couldn't you just use a heavily inflected language so that word order doesn't matter?

Strength, hope, and courage to all parents of children with communication problems. It is so hard to see the way others look at the child you love. I was that child in my own family. I didn't have a communication problem, but I had severe juvenile arthritis that flared terribly when I was 17. My younger sibs used to glare at people who stared. I felt badly for all of them - the people who had no clue, and my family who was frustrated. Our society is so materialistic, so fast. No one has the leisure to wait for true communication, true relationship. I pray courage and patience to you and your son!! ~ Jean :)

this is adorable! i wish you all the best for you , and your lovely son!

It is known as "Regressive Autism" where there are a loss of skills and, often, out loud speech, around age two or so.

I'd argue that an omnipotent, omniscient creator, would be quite malevolent to make someone unable to speak

@@Anonymous-df8it it is not our business to question his work. However he has promised both in bible and Quran that he will never burden a soul with something that s/he can not carry. In the realm of souls he took each of us and asked face to face whether we would be willing to go to earth to have free will and endure difficulties and tests and still worship to him no matter what. We said yes! This is why we are on earth now. He created us, every inch of our body, every moment of our life, every single emotion sensation we have all are under his control. He loves us and he never wants his servants to suffer in vain. Many times things that you do not like are actually good for your own sake. It is just something that you cannot grasp because talking bad about your creator who has given you those fingers to type that message, this is making you blind and you are not able to see the truth anymore. We are in this world for approximately an hour for a simple test. For such simple test Allah is able to create such a universe just by saying “BE” ! And he indeed has the power to destroy it immediately and create us again and judge all of us. He is indeed merciful, although you are cursing to him, he lets me tell his truth to you. You see how much he loves you? Even when you talk nonsense about him he still wants you under his safety in eternal gardens of peace where all your desires would be satisfied and you will never face any kind of bad feelings. It is all about a test that we are going through for an hour. When we wake up you will see we all are walking towards our creator to be judged by him. Wait, you will see. You will see his angels when moment of death grasps you. There is nothing to discuss about Allah and his work, if you are really willing to learn why this and that happens with good intentions he will definitely lead you and guide you to his way. However if you question his creation with bad evil unrespectful intentions than you will never be able to understand the truth until God forgives you. And if he will not let you to see the truth you will think and feel that everything that you do are fine with your life and you are literally doing great. This is one of the worst thing to happen to someone, you think that you are on right path but Allah just let you enjoy this temporary realm for an hour. Indeed the day of judgment is near, may be your time of death is even few minutes later. Only Allah knows. Accept that he is the only God and we can only worship to him and his last messenger is Muhammed as just as Jesus as was also as his merely messenger. InshaAllah you will find peace. God does not leave you alone, you try to distance yourself from him. May peace be upon you.

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