ONE MINUTE WITH MARLIN

A few months back, I shared how our 10-year-old son, Bennett, has been gaining in his communication skills. He is signing more and slowly adding to his small but wonderful bank of spoken words, not to mention the tremendous growth in his reading and writing skills. Recently, he added the best yet—in fact, the words that all parents long to hear. Bennett began saying “I love you!” It has been a massive blessing to watch him grow and learn how to communicate at a deeper level, and Lisa and I are hopeful and optimistic that he can and will learn how to share much more.

Darcy Day is mom to Brady, a young man who has Down syndrome. For the first 18 years of his life, he was completely locked inside, not having a method of communication that worked for him to share what he was thinking about. That is until Darcy found Spelling to Communicate and dared to wonder if things could be different for her son. Today, Brady shares his thoughts and feelings rather openly, even writing beautiful poetry. Spelling to Communicate is a gross motor skillset that was developed and geared to individuals on the autism spectrum. After learning about the program, Darcy simply applied and tweaked it to her son and has seen truly incredible results. There is a new documentary premiering in April called Spellers that takes a close look at the stories coming out of this work.

After coming home from the Down syndrome conference, where we met Darcy, Lisa did her own research and found a practitioner an hour from our home. After connecting with Samantha Fox, we decided to host an evening of learning. We will share the movie at our office, and Samantha will join us in the discussion and answer questions afterward. So, this is an open invitation for any and all to join us on May 5th in Winesburg at 6 pm. If you are curious and have questions about how Spelling to Communicate might help someone you love, or if you are interested in becoming a trained practitioner, please come. You can learn more about the documentary at spellersthemovie.com.

Below is a quote from Samantha with a brief description of the S2C method:

“Spelling to Communicate (S2C) is an alternative method of communication that is used for individuals who show difficulty expressing themselves through speech. These individuals may be non-speaking, minimally speaking, or unreliably speaking. There is often a disconnect between their brain and their body. With this, they do not have a consistent or reliable way of demonstrating their understanding or expressing their thoughts. These individuals are often labeled as “low functioning” or as having a “severe” cognitive/language disorder. S2C addresses the disconnect between the brain and the body by teaching the purposeful motor skills to point to letters on a letter board. Once the foundational motor skills are built, individuals work towards expressing their wants, needs, and ideas through spelling.”

-Samantha Fox M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Owner, Beyond Speech Therapy Center | S2C Practitioner

We hope to see you May 5th and as always, may you find joy in the simple things.

Marlin
Plain Values Publisher