Many people with autism who have trouble speaking can learn to point to letters on a board like this  to spell out their thoughts. They become "spellers."  The process requires working with a trained communication partner and can take weeks or  months. Many will go on to use a laminated letter board, and some will learn to type on a keyboard independently. 

It is all life-changing.

At first, people learning to use a letter board listen to articles and answer factual questions about them. Their communication partner helps them focus, holds up a letter board, and may even hold their arm. As the spellers gain fluidity and strength, they can point with less and less assistance. Their partner no longer holds their arm. Finally, they can answer open-ended questions, like, "How does it feel to communicate?" and, "What did it feel like before?" (Two questions I ask a speller named Jack in a video below.) 

It's easy to get frustrated when you can't communicate. Helen Keller pushed and bit people as a child before she learned to "speak" using sign language spelled in her hand. Thank goodness Anne Sullivan saw the intelligent girl locked inside and taught her a way to express herself!

I'm Lenore Skenazy, a reporter and childhood independence activist. 

I heard about Spelling to Communicate but had to see it for myself before writing about it. Pictured is Jack Libutti, one of three teens with autism I watched spelling, over the course of two in-person visits to the Acton Academy of Eastern Long Island in Riverhead, NY. 

I videotaped the students (see below) and created this site to share what I saw, as the technique is not well known or well studied yet. 

I am not a practitioner, expert, or parent of a speller. 

 To find out more about Spelling to Communicate, check out the International Association for Spelling as Communication, or Google "Spelling to Communicate," which is how I found this video I like. The books I enjoyed on this topic are  "Underestimated: An Autism Miracle," and "Ido in Autismland."