“Orange.”
He said.
His first-ever spoken word.
One we thought we’d never hear.
But my son didn’t say it with his mouth.
He said it with his speech device, Monty (Proloqou2Go).
He was 5 years old and his speech hadn’t progressed naturally like it had for other children his age.
He’d never said “Dada” when he was 9 months old. Or screamed out for “Mummy” in the night when he was upset and needed me. There were grunts of silence and shouts. The unspoken words never came.
“Autism”, that’s what the doctors said.
“Global Development Delay”, they added.
The words hung heavy in the room after his diagnosis.
Not unexpected but they still settled in a little section of my heart where my hopes and dreams lay. Dreams I needed to reimagine.
Years later, we stand here together. My son aged 10, and I. We’ve weathered many storms together. But through it all, I have discovered this…
That my sweet-souled son. He is just the same as you and me, but his words and senses get mixed up.
The unspoken words don’t come easily.
But his heart and mind glow so brightly.
His speech device, Monty has given him a voice. The power to press words or type to communicate. It has given him a voice he wouldn’t have otherwise had.
And everyone. No matter the assumed competency or disability deserves that. To have a voice of their own. ♥️
Sharing this post to raise awareness of non-speaking autism and speech devices, because everyone deserves a voice of their own.
#NonSpeaking #Autism #AutismAwareness #AutismAcceptance #AAC #SpeechDevices
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