Spread the wonder! October is #AACawareness month.
Before there was even one butterfly, there were moths. The primeval moths flitted in darkness, avoiding flying dinosaurs and massive flying insects. If their colors were beautiful, no one could see them.
Then a moth stumbled into a new thing: flowers. As flowers evolved, moths came out into the light. Flying dinosaurs could see them now, and they were vulnerable. But they became more and more beautiful with every generation.
William was born listening to everything. As a baby, he was visibly excited by the peaks in Russian symphonic music, and he loved Spanish guitar or a good saxophone solo in anything. But he was unable to produce varied speech sounds. He also couldn’t use his fingers and hands well enough to sign words (like sign language).
When he was 4, we bought him a device the size of s small piano that could hold 8 words at a time. The world hadn’t created a synthetic voice for a child, so his young teacher recorded words in hers. There weren’t any flowers for him yet.
The world grew more possibilities. Touch screens became mobile, and more varied and expressive synthesized voices started opening up.
When William finally got his first high tech device, he was 15 years old. Now 7 years later, he’s speaking his mind in public meetings and just about learning where and what he can do. His colors are so beautiful, and he’s coming out into the world to show them.
wtcautism 