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New Autism Research Commentary by Dr. Gary Stobbe
A new open-access commentary co-authored by Dr. Gary Stobbe has been published in the journal Autism Research.
The article focuses on nonspeaking autistic people, who make up a large percentage of the autistic community. Many of these individuals are never given communication tools that allow them to fully express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings. This can limit their access to education, relationships, and employment.
The authors argue that assisted methods used to teach typing deserve renewed, careful study. These methods, which involve support from another person during learning, have long been dismissed due to concerns that helpers might influence what is typed. The authors suggest that this concern has often been overstated and that newer research, along with the experiences of people who now type independently, shows that these methods may help some individuals develop meaningful communication.
The commentary also explains that many nonspeaking autistic people have motor and attentional challenges that can affect communication rather than intelligence. In other words, difficulty speaking and communicating does not mean difficulty thinking.
Read the full article.
New Autism Research Commentary by Dr. Gary Stobbe
A new open-access commentary co-authored by Dr. Gary Stobbe has been published in the journal Autism Research.
The article focuses on nonspeaking autistic people, who make up at least one third of the autistic community. Many of these individuals are never given communication tools that allow them to fully express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings. This can limit their access to education, relationships, and employment.
The authors argue that assisted methods used to teach typing deserve renewed, careful study. These methods, which involve support from another person during learning, have long been dismissed due to concerns that helpers might influence what is typed. The authors suggest that this concern has often been overstated and that newer research, along with the experiences of people who now type independently, shows that these methods may help some individuals develop meaningful communication.
The commentary also explains that many nonspeaking autistic people have motor challenges that affect speech but not intelligence. In other words, difficulty speaking does not mean difficulty thinking. The authors call for research that centers the voices of nonspeaking autistic people and explores how typing may offer greater independence, self-expression, and quality of life.
Read the full article.
