(11) Elizabeth Vosseller: Mind Your Motor... Lessons learned on the road to communication

Ian Nordling, a non-speaking autistic and apraxic advocate, and Elizabeth Vosseller, SLP, Educator, and Founder of Spelling to Communicate, will talk about the lessons they have learned over their 23 years of friendship. They have experienced their own autism renaissance as they shifted away from traditional cognitive and behavioral approaches to communication to a motor-sensory approach.
Elizabeth Vosseller, the Executive Director of I-ASC and founder of Spelling to Communicate (S2C), has worked with individuals with complex communication and sensory-motor differences since 1995 in hospital, university, and private practice settings. In 2013, she began using Assistive Technology to teach students the purposeful motor skills to Spell to Communicate. Teaching motor versus cognition to access communication, meaningful education, and inclusion have been game changers for non-speaking individuals. “26 letters equals infinite possibilities!” Since witnessing countless nonspeaking, minimally and unreliably speaking individuals successfully communicate and learn through spelling and typing, Elizabeth and I-ASC are committed to ensuring ALL non-speaking individuals have access to communication through training, education, advocacy, and research.
Ian has been spelling to communicate since 2014. He loves to learn, has a strong work ethic, and is a passionate autistic and apraxic non-speaking advocate. Ian is a founding member of the I&I Guys, a small business and self-advocacy. He is also a member of the I-ASC Non-speaking Leadership Council and served on the Youth Advisory for the Town of Herndon, Virginia. Ian has worked with law enforcement, first responders, and law enforcement to advocate for the communication, motor, and sensory needs of non-speaking people. He is hopeful for a brighter future for autistic children and adults.

[@amywheelerhealing1507]

Really enjoyed this, thank you Elizabeth and Ian!