Trevor Byrd, teen advocate and Autistic Nonspeaker, reflects on feelings of isolation, self-blame, and dysregulation and the resolve to know and accept himself for who he is outside of the world’s projections.
Anantha Krishnamurthy, nonspeaking teen poet, is an Old Soul. This poem pulls readers through a layered theme from previous work with Layers lurking deep below the surface.
Tejas Rao Sankhar is a nonspeaking apraxic autistic. He talks about what feelings are the worst– and the best– when your brain and body don’t always communicate.
Rithik Sinhasan is a nonspeaking autistic teen who wants to be a travel writer, but before gaining access to rapid prompting method, or RPM, through Soma Mukhopadhyay, his dreams were grounded.
Chris Finnes is a nonspeaking autistic who was bored with being taught the same simple lessons over and over in a school for students with disabilities. He later met Soma Mukhopadhyay and learned to communicate using RPM. Now, he wants to help others gain access to age-appropriate education.
Kwame R. Brobbey is a nonspeaker who uses a letterboard to communicate. When his mother obtained guardianship, they had to hire a lawyer to avoid having his voting rights revoked.
The pandemic lockdown gave nonspeaking teen Trevor a dose of what will be like after high school. He explores the difference in what life will be like for him compared to other young adults his age.
Nonspeaker Trevor on the aftermath of an autistic meltdown: “The moment my consciousness begins to return from wherever it fled during my meltdown, I am horrified with what transpired.
In ABA, children are not given the same respect and access to care as with any other form of therapy. Their access to stimming, comfort objects, and other self-regulatory measures is blocked so the therapist can observe the child self-injurious behaviors.
Sharing opinions shouldn’t be a privilege, but for autistic people without access to the right communication tools, sharing opinions is not an option. Trevor wants that to change.
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