S2C Serendipity
Recently graduated from Cal State University San Marcos with a Bachelors in Speech & Language Pathology, a young man looking to pursue a passion for helping others, I found my way into an ABA company. My first client; Evan Tastor. Now, having zero prior exposure or knowledge in the world of Autism, I found myself stumped by the complexity of his body along with the unfamiliarity of how to help this guy out. My mother always told me, “stay humble and kind”, so I would naturally apply that life lesson to how I approached this new job.
About a week into this new friendship and COVID-19 would send us into lockdown. I spent the following two unemployed weeks letting my new friend's active body settle into my mind. “Can it be this?” “I wonder if they have tried XYZ” “How can I slow him down?” His mom, Dawnmarie, had also mentioned that he was fluent and communicated… but how? I’ve learned about various AAC devices but all she had was a laminated set of the alphabet? Little did I know, I wouldn’t need to change the awesome active guy he is, I would just need to support his active body and make myself as helpful to the completion of tasks as possible.
When I first met Evan he had just transitioned schools escaping the local ableist high school environment. We began by using whiteboards with various ABCD combinations to successfully communicate throughout his classes. Although the reliability of answers was improving, I had no way to fully and fluently communicate as his mother did. Sure, I can help him take care of the basics like using the restroom and grabbing a snack, but what a massive limitation is that? What if he has a question or a comment? What if something I’m doing or I’m saying he really enjoys, or even really dislikes, and wants to let me know? Luckily, the I-ASC Spelling 2 Communicate training would be starting up via Zoom at the beginning of June. I knew, not only will I get the basics down, this course will take us to the next level!
And take us to the next level it did! I began learning the “why” behind what makes the letter-boards work and we followed the strict protocol of the cognitive hierarchy. We slowly worked our way up from known questions into semi-open questions followed by prior knowledge. Not only was I feeling more confident on the boards but our friendship was growing. Evan and I were finally able to exchange thoughts, opinions, preferences, and most of all… the cheeky little banter between one another!
I will never forget, right before our fluency peaked, sitting in his backyard talking about which songs may help his body find an optimal state of regulation. Dr. Dre was mentioned and I had to comment on my appreciation for Eminem. Evan grabbed at the board showing us he had something to say… “I like you even more” he commented, I knew communication allowed us to graduate from friends to best friends. However, there was one last component to all this that I had no clue about; how many other non-speakers found themselves walking a variation of the troubling experiences my best friend had also been through.
I was beyond fortunate that his mother helped these kiddos communicate for a living, and she wasn’t just another good practitioner, she is the best of the best. The universe worked its magic and allowed us all to meet under the strangest of circumstances and grow together. These amazing experiences and amazing people have all helped reconstruct my perspective on life allowing me to pursue my newfound passion. It is my ultimate goal to help your non-speaker communicate and utilize their voice.