Communication

When I heard the words of Sue Rubin describe her life before and after the introduction of facilitated communication (a method of communicating her thoughts through typing) it reminded me of my favourite movie 'The Miracle Worker'. In both situations, we see a young girl lost in her disabilities, to the extent that those around her, feel she is severely mentally challenged. She describes herself as a retarded child before she learned to communicate. With the assistance of a supportive family, a close neighbour and a team of support workers Sue soared.
She graduated from high school with honours and is now attending a college. Sue also travels around the United States giving keynote addresses and presentations at Autism Conferences.
Can we deny the importance of communication in the lives of each human being in this world? As an educator, I aspire to meet the challenges of my students in a positive and effective manner. After viewing this video, it reinforces my goals as a teacher of students with special needs.
When communicating we must have:

• a common language
• joint attention
• a communication partner

We as educators must consider the many modes of communication in order to facilitate our students best. A few modes of communication are:

1. speech
2. reading
3. body language
4. writing (books, magazines, etc.)
5. e-mail
6. sign language
7. gestures
8. touch
9. facial expressions
10. symbols
11. voice emotions
12. hair styles
13. voice intonations
14. dance
15. music
16. eye gaze
17. physical actions