Spectrum Perspectives

Susan works with mostly non-speaking autistic patients who also use the Spellers method to communicate. She says 80% of them have an "eye turn" and double vision. Once she works with them to correct it, it helps them see their spelling boards better enabling them to communicate.

Dana Johnson is an OT (Occupational Therapist) who also helped create the Spellers Method with Dawnmarie Gaivin of the Spellers Movie. The method teaches non-speaking students to communicate using spelling. She discusses Apraxia, Proprioception, and the brain-body disconnect in many with autism, which is why she incorporates motor activities to help. She also talks about spellers being disregulated and how actions which are typically seen as "behaviors" are not intentional. She can be reached through their website Spellers.com

Dana Johnson is an Occupational Therapist who helped create the Spellers Method which teaches autistic kids to communicate. She incorporates movement and vision to help them spell. Through working with spellers she has learned how spellers are affected by apraxia and how movement needs to be incorporated. These are things they never her taught in school to become an OT.

Between 30-40% of people with autism spectrum disorder are non-speaking or minimally speaking, meaning they don't speak at all or speak fewer than 30 words. Spelling to Communicate (S2C) is a revolutionary method that teaches non-speaking people to communicate using a stencil board helping them to finally find their voice. In this episode you'll meet Elizabeth Vosseller, aka "EV", the founder of S2C. She discusses the difference between being "non-speaking", "minimally speaking" and "unreliably speaking", and how the reason many cannot speak is due to "Apraxia" which is a motor planning issue, not a cognitive issue. She discussed the 4 pillars of her foundation I-ASC, the International Association for Spelling as Communication, which are: 1) Training 2) Education 3) Advocacy and 4) Research, which will help bring S2C to the main stream making it available to be taught in schools. You can watch the video version on Robbie's World channel on YouTube..

Meet the founder of Spelling to Communicate! Typically we say people with Autism who can't speak are "non-verbal". But Elizabeth says that term is incorrect. She explains that "non verbal" means that there are no words going on inside their heads, (and there is plenty going on in there!) The proper term is "non speaking" which means they have thoughts and ideas and are capable of understanding, but they can't use speech as their primary way of communicating. "Just because you can't speak it doesn't mean you have nothing to say." The problem is a motor planning issue called "apraxia", and S2C has opened the door to allow them to communicate. Watch the full episode here on this channel.

Renee is a Speech Language Pathologist who first worked in ABA therapy, then worked as an SLP in Nevada schools for 18 years. Now practicing on her own, in 2022 she also became an S2C practitioner. She talks about the differences between Apraxia, Aphasia and Dysarthria, and how her whole outlook has changed knowing what she knows now. When she learned S2C she realized she "had been doing it wrong for 18 years" and wishes she could go back and work with her former students all over again. She has a message for fellow SLP's that "seeing is believing. Don't let fear stop you from trying this method." You can view the video version on Robbie's World channel on YouTube.

Renee is a Speech Language Pathologist in Nevada who is also a Spelling to Communicate Practioner. She says she wishes she could travel in time back 18 years to work with students over again knowing what she knows now, and has a message to other SLPs. Listen to the full episode here on this channel. You can view the video version on Robbie's World on YouTube.

Darcy's story is very controversial because she is using a method typically used for Autistic kids with her son Brady who has Down Syndrome and minimally verbal because he has Apraxia of Speech. After seeing JB Handley and his son using Spelling to Communicate on TV , she flew to California to work with Dawn Marie of the "Spellers" movie to try the Spelling method with her son, and it worked! Brady now appears in Episode 4 of Spellers TV, and Darcy has her own business "Brand New Day" where she teaches others with Down Syndrome to communicate using the Spellers method. Reach her at BrandNewDay.life.  You can view the video version on Robbie's World YouTube channel.

Meet Honey from the movie "Spellers." Her twin boys were diagnosed with “Mercury Induced Autism" at 2yo, which set her on a lifelong journey to find help for them. She took her non-speaking son Vince to see Soma to learn RPM, and later explored the S2C and Spellers modalities. After he began fully communicating, she called her friend, JB Handley, encouraging him to try the method with his son. This led to JB's son also beginning to communicate, inspiring him to write a book that eventually became the basis for the movie "Spellers," in which Honey and her son appear. For nearly 20 years, Honey held leadership roles in parent support organizations, including The National Autism Association. Recently, she assumed the role of Executive Director at MAPS (Medical Academy of Pediatrics and Special Needs), where she runs a training program and organizes conferences to educate the medical community about proper treatment for autism and special needs children and young adults. At the end of the interview, Honey also shares insight into the cause of her other son’s life-threatening seizures and how she was able to finally stop them.