Left to right. Suzanna Yuuki, Harrison, and Haruhiko (Geo) walk to see a movie at the Regal in Temecula, CA.
Cumulatively, between the three of them, Harrison, Yuuki, and George have been working multiple times a week for 8 years learning to use Spelling to Communicate. And it was worth it.
(For those new to S2C: Geo, Harrison, and Yuuki pointed to or “poked” letters one by one to spell out the sentences in all caps below). It was not rehearsed. It was not practiced. It is their original thoughts. Because of their motor challenges, they are not able to solely use speech or another method to communicate effectively. They are Non/Minimal speakers who use Spelling to Communicate.
Geo - laminate / small 26 stencil. Yuuki - 26 sensory board. Harrison small 26 stencil / laminate
MY NAME IS GEORGE NELSON
I AM TEN YEARS OLD
I LIKE TO SPELL WITH NINA MY SISTER AND I LIKE WORKING WITH MY MOM TO LEARN HOW TO COMMUNICATE OPENLY
HI! IM HARRISON TURLEY AND I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA
IM 10 YEARS OLD AND I ENJOY GOING TO THE BEACH AND DISNEYLAND
I WANT TO BE AN ASTRONAUT WHEN IM OLDER
IM INTERESTED IN THE UNIVERSE AND HOW IT WORKS
MY NAME AND AGE ARE SUZANNA YUUKI
10 GOING ON 100
IM GOING TO PLAY YOU A SONG I LIKE FOR MY BIO
ITS BY GUSTAV HOLST AND CALLED THE PLANETS
AND THE SONG IS
Some of the questions were asked individually and some during a group triad session.
Gigi: In your own words, what is S2C?
Yuuki: S2C IS THE BEST CHANCE AT LIFE FOR PEOPLE WITH MOTOR DIFFERENCES
George: S2C IS LIFE
Harrison: S2C IS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME
Gigi: What is one piece of advice that you would give to a person with motor differences just starting their S2C journey?
Yuuki: LOVE EVERY PART OF THE JOURNEY
SHOULD BE ENJOYABLE
I WANT TO ALWAYS REMIND EVERY SPELLER TO ALWAYS TRUST PEOPLE REMEMBER THEY ARE ON A JOURNEY TOO LETS ALL TRY TO SURPRISE THE WORLD WITH FORGIVENESS
George: S2C IS THE RIGHT WAY TO ACHIEVE SPELLING AS COMMUNICATION
KEEP TRUSTING THE PROCESS
Harrison: DONT WORRY EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT
Let’s all try to surprise the world with forgiveness.
Gigi: What was walking into your first S2C session like? Did you already know that it would open up communication forever?
George: THE FIRST SESSION I HAD WAS NOT SO GOOD
NOT TO WORRY THESE DAYS IM SPELLING OPENLY
Harrison: AT THE FIRST SESSION I FELT LIKE SOMETHING HAD BEEN LIFTED OFF MY CHEST AND I KNEW THAT I WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME
Gigi: What advice would you give to practitioners?
George: SLOW TIME DOWN FOR YOUR SPELLER SO THEY HAVE TIME TO THINK
Gigi: What advice would you give to parents in the beginning of this journey?
George: NO SPELLER LIMITATION SEEMS TO EXIST SO JUST RELAX BECAUSE
Gigi: What are you most looking forward to this year?
George: MOTOMORPHOSIS OF COURSE
Gigi: What’s one thing you enjoyed from last year?
George: I DEFINITELY LOVED MEETING TONS OF SPELLERS
George works on the 26 stencil and laminate with S2C practitioner Gigi Nelson. He also just answered with an open sentence on the 26 stencil with S2C practitioner Tara that he recently began working with! He is practicing on the three boards with an additional CRP so that he can generalize the use of letter boards in his school.
Harrison is working on the laminate and keyboard with Gigi and is open on the 26 stencil with his CRP (mom) at home! He has access to education at home and is hoping to start learning Trigonometry.
Suzanna Yuuki is open on the sensory 26 board with Gigi and working with Tara as well. She is also beginning to work with an additional CRP so that she can use her letterboard in school. Yuuki continues to work on flow! She has a very complex motor system and has navigated a lot during her journey to fluency.
Learn more:
I have included The Big Tens formatted as a short group lesson.
Thanks for sharing these, Gigi- Pictures like these are always warming and reminding of what's important.