I saw on the news that a 13-year old girl, Carly, who is severely autistic, is now communicating on the computer. Her parents were astounded when, two years ago, Carly typed out some words. She is communicating, through the voice on the computer, what it’s like inside her world. What a tremendous insight Carly has given us. She is even taking questions [www.abcnews.com] to help us understand what it’s like to be autistic.

Communication can be difficult for those of us with seasoned skills. We have been exposed to all types of communication, verbal and non-verbal, and have conditioned ourselves to act or react to certain stimuli. And for those of us that talk a lot, having a sore throat and not being able to talk can be very painful in many ways.

Here is this 13 year old that has a strong desire to communicate with the outside world and she has found a way to do it. She believes she has something to share, words and perspectives of value to others, and she has found a way to communicate. It may not come as easily to her as it does to the rest of us, yet she perseveres.

How much effort do you put into your communication?

Tags: autism, communication, intention, listening

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 9:25 pm and is filed under communication, intention, listening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.