Spectrum Perspectives

Between 30-40% of people with autism spectrum disorder are non-speaking or minimally speaking, meaning they don't speak at all or speak fewer than 30 words. Spelling to Communicate (S2C) is a revolutionary method that teaches non-speaking people to communicate using a stencil board helping them to finally find their voice. In this episode you'll meet Elizabeth Vosseller, aka "EV", the founder of S...

Meet the founder of Spelling to Communicate! Typically we say people with Autism who can't speak are "non-verbal". But Elizabeth says that term is incorrect. She explains that "non verbal" means that there are no words going on inside their heads, (and there is plenty going on in there!) The proper term is "non speaking" which means they have thoughts and ideas and are capable of understanding, bu...

Renee is a Speech Language Pathologist who first worked in ABA therapy, then worked as an SLP in Nevada schools for 18 years. Now practicing on her own, in 2022 she also became an S2C practitioner. She talks about the differences between Apraxia, Aphasia and Dysarthria, and how her whole outlook has changed knowing what she knows now. When she learned S2C she realized she "had been doing it wrong...

Renee is a Speech Language Pathologist in Nevada who is also a Spelling to Communicate Practioner. She says she wishes she could travel in time back 18 years to work with students over again knowing what she knows now, and has a message to other SLPs. Listen to the full episode here on this channel. You can view the video version on Robbie's World on YouTube.

Darcy's story is very controversial because she is using a method typically used for Autistic kids with her son Brady who has Down Syndrome and minimally verbal because he has Apraxia of Speech. After seeing JB Handley and his son using Spelling to Communicate on TV , she flew to California to work with Dawn Marie of the "Spellers" movie to try the Spelling method with her son, and it worked! Brad...

Darcy Day has a son with a dual diagnosis of Down Syndrome and Autism. He uses the Spellers Method to communicate. Darcy preaches that "Down Syndrome is not an intellectual Disability" which gets her a lock of flack from the DS population. But she believes they have Apraxia, just like autistic kids, and can benefit from Spelling. She has become a practitioner and opened up a center in Arizona, mos...

Meet Honey from the movie "Spellers." Her twin boys were diagnosed with “Mercury Induced Autism" at 2yo, which set her on a lifelong journey to find help for them. She took her non-speaking son Vince to see Soma to learn RPM, and later explored the S2C and Spellers modalities. After he began fully communicating, she called her friend, JB Handley, encouraging him to try the method with his son. Thi...

Honey is he moms of twins with Autism who she believes are Vax injured. When Honey's son Vincent began to communicate using Spelling to Communicate, she called her friend JB Handley to tell him the news. He tried it, and his son also began to communicate miraculously! He and his son later wrote a book and later the movie Spellers. Honey and her son Vincent appeared in the movie with him. Listen to...

Alexandra is the mom of 4 including twins with "non speaking" Autism. They both learned to communicate using S2C (Spelling to Communicate) which uses letter boards. This interview was done with an "audience" of other Autism moms who ask questions, including Katie and Houston who have appeared in several other of out episodes. We also discuss the private screening of the movie "Spellers" which will...

Kristine is a ghost writer, the owner of a publishing company called "Gift and Author Publishing" and the mother of 5 young adults all diagnosed with ASD. When one child was being diagnosed the doctor said, "You do realize your husband is also on the Spectrum, right?" All 5 were born boys, but one son Samuel, identifies as a girl and now goes by the name Serenity. Her other son Jamie was non-verba...

Laura is a former college professor who had to quit her job so she could manage taking her son to therapies, and became a full time writer. Her son now attends Landmark College for kids with autism. When other parents realized she knew how to manage the system she started helping them with the process of getting their ASD kids into college too. She then started the Autism College Connection. She a...

Meet Dr. Christopher Manente, the director of the Center for Autism Services at Rutgers University in NJ. We talk about what has been lacking in the system and how he'd like to address it, including creating a new job field and courses to specifically train people in how to work with people on the spectrum. He also shares his own journey related to challenges that he has encountered as a neurodive...

Dr. Boles is a Pediatrician and Geneticist, who works with patients with Autism. He says all disorders have a genetic and environmental component. Autism has a genetic component, but most of it is not inherited, it's "de novo", a new mutation. In this interview he discusses the 4 channels of Mitochondria, Cations, inflammation and neurotransmission. After he tests the genetics of his patients he h...

Dr. Kolesk talks about the new center being built within RWJ Hospital in Hamilton NJ for people with Special Needs where doctors and specialists will be able to all be in one location and discuss a patient's care as a team. He is also available for Telehealth consultations and still makes house calls! His contact info is Stephen. Kolesk@Woods.org

Meet Ryan and Jared from Woods Healthcare. It's a medical facility in Langhorne, PA that specializes in healthcare for people with Special Needs bringing all types of medical care under one roof! The Medical Center has multiple doctors including Neurology, Optometry, and Gynecology. They also have a Dental Care facility and Mental/Behavioral Health Center. Parents can come get their kids an Autism...

When a child is first diagnosed with Autism, the first thing parents are told to do is to get their kids into ABA therapy. But when they look on-line they start to get confused about what it is, find conflicting reviews, and get scared. So what is ABA, and what is it NOT, and what's the controversy? Let's talk about it.

Group discussion about ABA Therapy. Alexandra has twin boys who are non-speaking and use Spelling to communicate. She has had bad experiences with ABA therapy where both her boys were restrained several times at school. The problem is, the school refused to allow them to use their preferred method of communication, which upset the boys. ABA only deals with "behaviors" but does not get to the CAUSE...

Lisa's son has the typical story, multiple ear infections and a regression and gut issues. When he was in a school that used strict ABA he was injured after being held down for over 3 hours. He now has PTSD and needed to go through trauma therapy. She now is starting the Spectrum Tech Trade School and Village to help you adults fund employment. She says "Don't listen to anyone who says your kid ca...

Andrew is a Child Development Specialist who has been working in the field of Autism for over 30 years. We discuss the past, present and future of teaching methods and therapies typically used, including the use of ABA Therapy. Andrew says we need to take a look at the “System”, what works and what doesn’t, be open to change and ways to improve the way things are being done.

In Part 2 of our interview, Cindy and Amanda discuss how the diagnosis of autism has changed over time. We have heard people use the words “Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3”, and Mild, Moderate, Severe and Profound Autism. But now it all seems to be under the same umbrella term of “autism”, and we no longer can use the word “Asperger’s Syndrome”. Amanda believes too much attention is paid publicly to...

Amanda is the mom of a 5 year old son with Autism. She says Nick had almost 50 words when he turned 2, and within months he regressed to only saying 5 words. He also began to lose his receptive understanding of language as well. Most of his speech is called “Scripting”, where he repeats lines he hears on TV or music lyrics. So even though he can speak, he doesn’t really understand what he is sayin...

Dr. Mark is a Naturopathic Doctor runs the Functional Medical Institute in Tulsa, OK. They look for the upstream causes of illness by looking at their genetics, diet, sleep, stress and movement. Their mission statement is to provide a pathway to healing by making lifestyle changes, rather than just treating symptoms. He is also an author and movie producer. We discuss the changes to our bodies ove...

Dr. Mark is a Naturopathic Doctor runs the Functional Medical Institute in Tulsa, OK. They look for the upstream causes of illness by looking at their genetics, diet, sleep, stress and movement. Their mission statement is to provide a pathway to healing by making lifestyle changes, rather than just treating symptoms. He is also an author and movie producer. We discuss the changes to our bodies ove...

As a doctor, Dr. Abend was surprised to find that when he tried to take his own son to other doctors, they refused to see him because he was autistic. So, when he started a Special Needs sports clinic in his town, he began to invite medical students to help out in order to integrate them into being comfortable with kids with Special Needs. He also started the “Autism Think Tank” where doctors from...

As a doctor, Dr. Abend was surprised to find that when he tried to take his own son to other doctors, they refused to see him because he was autistic. So, when he started a Special Needs sports clinic in his town, he began to invite medical students to help out in order to integrate them into being comfortable with kids with Special Needs. He also started the “Autism Think Tank” where doctors from...