Monday, July 5, 2010

Autism is a world : Sue Rubin ( CNN video)

Today we watched a video about Sue Rubin. Sue Ruben is a women who lives with Autism. Sue uses a small key board with a display screen to communicate with her family and supportive care people. (a facilitator for communication and for emotional support to stay on task while communicating)


Until she had a communication device she was unable to communicate with the people in her world. She felt she was a "non person" when she was unable to communicate. She felt that language washed over her and that she was not a participant in language.

Her communication device enabled her to slow down the wash of language and learn the literacy skills necessary to use language to communicate with the world.
Communication gave Sue access to her world and gave the people in her world access to her. This communication gave Sue the ability to share her competency and intelligence with the world and allowed her to embrace her love of learning. As a college student she learns with the support of her friends / caregivers.

One of the interesting issues that this video raises is the idea that people with autism are not capable. It is the assumption that people with autism are not thinkers. Sue Rubin proves that these ideas and assumptions are simply not true.



http://www.sue-rubin.org/
Check out this link for more information on Sue Rubin

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